Former Bread star Jonathon Morris appears in Dead Ringer at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage

A DEAD good thriller plays in Stevenage this week featuring menace and murder in high places.

Joanne Heywood appears in Dead Ringer at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage

The Gordon Craig Theatre stages witty thriller Dead Ringer until Saturday.

An all-star cast at the Lytton Way theatre is led by two popular faces from TV screens in the 80s.

The play stars Jonathon Morris, who entertained millions as Adrian Boswell in Carla Lane’s social comedy Bread, and Tony Adams, who became a household name as Adam Chance in the long-running soap opera Crossroads.

A quality cast also features Keith Drinkel, who played Liz Macdonald’s dodgy boyfriend Bob in Coronation Street, Joanne Heywood, who appeared as Miss Lovelock in Grace & Favour, and popular stage actor David Callister.

When the Prime Minister drops dead from an apparent heart attack on the eve of a General Election, two cabinet members who fear they need his charisma to get re-elected hire an out of work actor to replace the deceased.

This ‘dead ringer’ is supposed to fill in until after the election is won, but he grows to like the role – until he discovers that the real PM was poisoned.

This thriller plunges from early amusing fantasy into murder and dark plots.

Laced with humour throughout, Dead Ringer is, at its heart, a murder mystery, and one which will keep the audience guessing right up to the moment of the explosive denouement.

Performances of this new production start at 7.45pm, with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.

Ticket prices start at £16. Call the box office on 01438363200 or visit www.gordon-craig.co.uk to book your seats.