PETER James is of the UK’s most popular crime writers, and DSI Roy Grace is his best-known character, from the novels, television versions, starring John Simm, and stage adaptations, the latest of which, Picture You Dead, comes to Bath Theatre Royal from Tuesday 17th to Saturday 21st June.
Set in Brighton, Picture You Dead sees DSI Grace investigate a cold case that leads him to the rarified air of fine art, but beneath the respectable veneer lurks a murky underworld of greed, deception and murder. When an unsuspecting couple unwittingly buy a potentially long-lost masterpiece in a car boot sale, they discover that their dream find is about to turn into their worst nightmare. The story has been adapted for the stage by Shaun McKenna. The cast is led by Ore Oduba, with Fiona Wade and George Rainsford.
Actor, presenter and Strictly Come Dancing champion Ore Oduba stars as Stuart Piper, an eccentric millionaire art collector who gets tangled up in the dark underworld of stolen art. Ore joined the cast of Picture You Dead last month, direct from starring as Caractacus Potts in the 2025 UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He also recently played Brad Majors in the 50th anniversary production of The Rocky Horror Show in the West End and on tour. He made his screen acting debut in the BBC One drama Noughts + Crosses. As a presenter, his many credits include This Morning and The One Show; while on BBC Radio 2 he has fronted some of the biggest national events live to millions. Ore won the 14th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2016.
Fiona Wade plays Freya Kipling, who naively attracts the attention of dodgy dealers after buying a potentially multi-million-pound masterpiece at a car boot sale. Best known on television for her role as Priya Sharma in ITV’s long-running drama Emmerdale, her many screen credits also include Grange Hill, Where The Heart Is, Doctors, Silent Witness, Tracy Beaker Returns and Law & Order: UK. She recently toured the UK in the hit play 2:22 A Ghost Story, and earlier this year appeared in the highly anticipated Fox comedy series, Going Dutch. Fiona’s stage roles also include the title role of Kim in Miss Saigon in the West End.
George Rainsford returns to the role of DSI Roy Grace, which he first played in the 2023 stage production of Wish You Were Dead. One of the nation’s favourite TV doctors after playing Ethan Hardy in more than 300 episodes of BBC1’s Casualty, George won the Inside Soap Award for Best Drama Star in 2017. His many screen roles also include Luke in Waking the Dead, Jimmy in Call the Midwife and JJ Bell in Doctors. His stage credits include All’s Well That Ends Well at the National Theatre; Significance at the RSC, and The Three Musketeers at Bristol Old Vic.
Picture You Dead’s story was inspired when Peter James met real-life former master art forger, and now acclaimed copyist, David Henty. Henty was arrested in the 1990s for forging passports and learnt how to copy major artworks while in prison. Mark Oxtoby plays David Hegarty – based on Henty – he has history with DSI Roy Grace, having previously been nicked for forgery. Hegarty is now a reformed man but maintains an air of intrigue.
Photographs by Chris Bisho