THE world premiere production of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain has embarked on a national tour and one of it’s stopping-off points will be in Worcestershire.

This brand new thriller by Simon Reade - after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - is a Kenny Wax and Theatre Royal Bath production which opened in Bath and will now wend it’s way to Malvern’s Festival Theatre to open a one week run from Monday, May 21 to Saturday, May 26.

Starring will be Robert Powell (Holby City, The Detectives, Jesus of Nazareth) as the world famous detective and Liza Goddard (The Brothers, Bergerac, Take Three Girls) as Mary Watson in this new play which sees the duo reunited following huge acclaim for their performances in Single Spies and Relatively Speaking.

Sherlock Holmes lives in retirement on the South Coast. He keeps bees, occasionally casts his fly fishing rod, and even plays his Stradivarius when the rheumatism allows.

All too aware that he’s older and slower, he’s concerned that he might have lost his touch, paranoid he may now be an easy target for his enemies – there have been so many over the years. Some of whom play heavier on his mind, namely his arch nemesis Moriarty.

So when Mary Watson (wife of his former associate Dr John Watson) tracks him down to tell him she has seen her long-dead son, James, through the window of 221B Baker Street, apparently alive and well, Holmes is determined to solve the mystery and confront his own demons at the same time.

Chilling, gripping and filled with unforeseen twists and revelations, this new play featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary super sleuth has been commissioned by Theatre Royal Bath from award-winning dramatist Simon Reade, who was previously the Literary Manager at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Robert Powell is one of the country’s most loved actors. Having received multiple awards and a BAFTA nomination for playing the title role in Franco Zefferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, he starred in five series of the hit BBC comedy The Detectives with Jasper Carrott, and played Mark Williams in BBC1’s Holby City for six years.

His television work also includes the title roles in the BBC TV film Shelley, the series Hannay and Jude the Obscure, and the ten-part series Shaka Zulu.

His many film roles also include Richard Hannay in The Thirty Nine Steps, the title role in Mahler for Ken Russell, Captain Walker in The Who’s Tommy and Color Me Kubrick.

His extensive theatre credits include starring in Pirates and Ubu Roi at London’s Royal Court Theatre; Travesties for the RSC; Tovarich at Chichester and in the West End; and Singin' in the Rain in the West End. He has toured the UK in Keith Waterhouse's Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell and played the title role in Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III in 2015.

Meanwhile Liza Goddard, who is one of the UK’s favourite actresses, has performed at theatres across the country, and productions have included Alan Ayckbourn’s Communicating Doors, Life of Riley, Season’s Greetings, Life and Beth and If I Were You.

Her extensive television work includes cult classics The Brothers, Doctor Who, Bergerac, the Australian series Skippy (The Bush Kangaroo) and Take Three Girls; and the comedies Pig in the Middle, The Upchat Line and Yes Honestly.

She played Mrs Jessop in the ITV Children’s series Woof!; narrated Bernard’s Watch for CITV; and has made guest appearances in BBC’s Wild West, CITV’s Out of Sight and ITV’s Midsomer Murders.

The cast also features Roy Sampson as Mycroft Holmes, Timothy Kightley as Dr Watson, Anna O’Grady as Mrs Hudson and Lewis Collier as Officer Newman, with all other parts played by Daniel Cech-Lucas, Peter Cadden, Peter Yapp and Louise Templeton.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional private detective Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print in 1887 in A Study in Scarlet. His popularity soon grew through a series of short stories published in The Strand Magazine from 1891 onwards, with additional tales totalling 56 short stories and four novels published by 1927.

His first screen appearance came in 1900 in the film Sherlock Holmes Baffled.

Now, the Guinness Book of Records lists Sherlock Holmes as the most portrayed movie character in history with more than 70 actors playing the role in over 200 films, including Jeremy Brett, Robert Downey Jr, Jonny Lee Miller and Sir Ian McKellen.

Most recently, the BBC’s drama Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role and Martin Freeman as John Watson, received huge acclaim and won numerous accolades including both BAFTA and Emmy Awards.

Created by Mark Gattis and Steve Moffat and broadcast across four series between 2010 and 2017, Sherlock, based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s original, is a global phenomenon with broadcasting rights sold to 180 territories worldwide.