EastEnders star Adam Woodyatt heads to the Worthing stage

Hours after finding a discarded USB memory stick, Tom Bryce (Adam Woodyatt) inadvertently becomes a witness to a vicious murder. Reporting the crime to the police has disastrous conse-quences, placing him and his family in grave danger.

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace soon becomes involved as he tries to crack the case in time to save the Bryce family, as well as contending with his own inner demons.

Adapted by Shaun McKenna, Looking Good Dead follows the stage success of The Perfect Murder and Dead Simple.

And for Adam Woodyatt, it’s a very significant tour.

The last time – before this – Adam was on the stage in a straight play, it was 1981 and he was 13.

In between times, Adam has, of course, become the longest serving cast member in EastEnders having appeared continuously as Ian Beale since the show began in 1985.

Now he’s on an extended break from the show, touring the country as businessman Tom Bryce in James’ thriller.

Adam has read the book: “And I would love to read the other Roy Grace books.

“But I spend my entire life reading scripts.

“It is very rare that I get to read a book!”

It’s a pleasure as rare as the theatre.

“We opened in July, and the reaction has been great.

“The best quote I have read so far is that it has as many twists and turns as an Olympic gymnast! I liked that!”

Aside from pantos, it’s Adam’s first return to the stage for a play since Tom Stoppard’s On The Razzle as a 13-year-old at the National Theatre.

“I was a kid back then and I really didn’t know what I had let myself in for.

“It is just the exuberance of youth, and I just thought great and did it.

“There was no fear for me then and there is no fear now.

“The chance came up to do a Peter James a while ago and we just couldn’t make it work. The producer approached my agent again and this time we could make it work.

“We were determined to make it work – and we managed to make it work around a worldwide pandemic.

“We should have started in January (last) year. We actually got started in July.”

It’s a huge transition from the screen work.

“Everything is different. There is no comparison be-tween working on TV and working on stage.

“Some of the preparation is the same but the whole process is different.”

For his portrayal of EastEnders’ Ian Beale, Adam was honoured in 2013 with the Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2015, after the EastEnders’ 30th anniversary live episode, he received Best Actor at the British Soap Awards.

Peter James is a UK number-one bestselling author, best known for his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, now a hit ITV drama starring John Simm as the troubled Brighton copper.

Looking Good Dead is Peter James’s fifth novel to be brought to the stage and follows successful productions of The House on Cold Hill starring Joe McFadden and Rita Simons, Not Dead Enough starring Shane Richie and Laura Whitmore in 2017, The Perfect Murder starring Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace in 2016 and Dead Simple starring Tina Hobley in 2015.

Peter has won more than 40 awards for his work including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award and Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger.

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