Katy Manning On Stage

If you're looking for a laugh and a night of pure entertainment, then Death By Fatal Murder is the perfect place to find it.

A comedy twist on classic 'whodunit' murder mysteries like those of Agatha Christie, Ian Dickens Productions presents you with an evening full of slapstick comedy and ribald laughs in the style of “Allo Allo” and “Are You Being Served”.

Death By Fatal Murder is the third play in the Inspector Pratt trilogy by Peter Gordon, but it needed no introduction. Inspector Pratt's foolishness made you take an instant liking to the character. With an all star cast there was no doubt that it would be a fun filled, entertaining evening.

When David Callister first made an appearance as Pratt, the whole stage lit up with his cracking performance. His charming, but somewhat idiotic character fills the story with cheeky innuendos and almost cringe worthy jokes that never fail to receive a snigger from the audience.

Accompanied by Christopher Elderwood playing PC Thompkins (or Napkins as Pratt continually, to much laughter, accidentally called him), Pratt returns to Bagshot House to investigate the disappearance of Constable Atkins and finds himself in the middle of something much more complicated and chaotic.

Where is the lady of the house's estranged husband? What is she hiding? Is the barmy Welsh medium really conversing with dead spirits? And what happened to that mysterious cheese sandwich!?

Alongside actors Leslie Grantham, more commonly known as Eastenders' Dirty Den who plays Enzo Garibaldi and Richard Gibson, the brilliant Herr Flick from “'Allo 'Allo” as Squadron Leader Roger Allwright, Death By Fatal Murder stars Michelle Hardwick from “The Royal” as Nancy Allwright and Katy Manning from classic Doctor Who as the eccentric Blodwyn Morgan.

I would recommend this play to anyone who wants an evening of risqué jokes, raucous laughs and quality, unadulterated entertainment. A fantastic play if you're new to trips to the theatre.


Katy Manning's performance was always going to be the thing I adored the most, and I have to say that she didn't disappoint. She has this fantastic ability to effortlessly change her voice to suit any character she's playing in an instant.

When I caught up with her after the show, she told me that she had only had only been given the script two weeks before the show opened in Blackpool at the end of May. She's currently working on a film, The Haunting of Harry Payne, to be released in 2012 and took on Death by Fatal Murder in between.

If any of you are big fans of Katy, like myself, you'll be pleased to hear that she's thinking about taking her one woman show, Not a Well Woman, on stage in the UK.

Death by Fatal Murder can be seen until the 25th June in Lincoln,
5th-9th July, Wolverhampton
12th-16th July, Malvern
18th-23rd July, Derby
2nd-6th Aug, Swansea
12th-17th Sept, Colchester
29th Sept-1st Oct, Horsham
4th-8th Oct, Lichfield
10th-15th Oct, Chelmsford
18th-22nd Oct, Worthing
8th-12th Nov, Billingham
15th-19th Nov, Crewe
22nd-26th Nov, Basingstoke