Welcome to your round-up of unmissable West End and touring theatre.

I’m Sorry, Prime Minister

Apollo Theatre, London. Booking until 09 May 2026. Save up to 50%

From the BAFTA Award-winning co-creator of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, Jonathan Lynn returns with the long-awaited final chapter of British political satire, I’m Sorry, Prime Minister.

Jim Hacker is back – older, but not necessarily wiser – and still spectacularly out of step with the modern world. Hoping for a quiet retirement at Hacker College, Oxford, he instead finds himself engulfed in a contemporary institutional crisis: cancellation by committee.

As ever, Sir Humphrey Appleby is on hand, armed with bureaucracy, Latin phrases and an instinct for elegant obstruction. What follows is a sharp, affectionate and fast-moving clash between old political instincts and modern institutional chaos, delivered with trademark wit and layered wordplay.

Best for: Fans of Yes Minister, political satire, and classic British comedy writing.

Tips: It’s a dialogue-heavy production, so lean in and catch the rapid-fire exchanges.

Buy tickets

Brainiac Live

Garrick Theatre, London. West End return. Save up to 43%

Science’s most chaotic live experience returns to the West End following its Olivier Award win for Best Family Show.

Brainiac Live is a fast-paced, high-energy explosion of experiments, curiosity and controlled chaos. From liquid nitrogen clouds and vortex smoke rings to exploding hydrogen balloons and spinning CO₂ chairs, the show pushes science to its most entertaining extremes.

Designed for families, this is theatre as spectacle – loud, bright, and deliberately unpredictable – where the Brainiacs do all the things you’re definitely not meant to try at home.

Best for: Families and children aged 5+, science enthusiasts, and first-time theatre audiences.

Tips: Expect noise, bangs and visual effects throughout. Earlier performances are better for younger children.

Buy tickets

I’m Every Woman – The Chaka Khan Musical

Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, London. 22 Jul to 27 Sep. No Booking Fees.

The life and legacy of global icon Chaka Khan comes to the stage in this powerful new musical starring Alexandra Burke.

Spanning five decades, the production charts Chaka Khan’s journey from early struggle to international superstardom, told through the music that defined generations – including Ain’t Nobody, I Feel for You, Sweet Thing and Through the Fire.

Beyond the hits, the show explores the woman behind the legend: her creative collaborations with artists including Prince and Stevie Wonder, her personal battles, and her enduring influence on music and culture.

Best for: Fans of jukebox musicals, soul and R&B, and biographical theatre.

Tips: Check casting notices for select performances where the lead role is performed by an alternate cast member.

Buy tickets

Legally Blonde The Musical

New Theatre Oxford, Tue 26 to Sat 30 May 2026

The international smash-hit musical comedy Legally Blonde returns in a bold new production starring Amber Davies as Elle Woods.

Based on the beloved film, the story follows Elle’s transformation from fashion-forward sorority queen to determined Harvard Law student. What begins as a quest for love becomes a journey of self-belief, resilience and reinvention.

From the creative team behind Kinky Boots, this revival leans into big energy, sharp choreography and crowd-pleasing musical numbers, delivering a feel-good night out packed with humour and heart.

Best for: Musical theatre fans, rom-com lovers, and uplifting feel-good entertainment.

Tips: Book early for peak performances. Ensemble numbers are a highlight throughout.

Buy tickets

The Rocky Horror Show

Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Tue 26 to Sat 30 May 2026

Richard O’Brien’s legendary rock ’n’ roll musical The Rocky Horror Show returns as part of a new world tour, bringing its cult chaos to Aylesbury.

When straight-laced couple Brad and Janet’s car breaks down, they find themselves at the castle of Dr Frank-n-Furter – a night of chaos, transformation, and liberation follows. What unfolds is a riotous mix of rock music, outrageous characters and audience participation.

Directed by Christopher Luscombe, the production features iconic numbers including Sweet Transvestite, Dammit Janet, and Time Warp – a guaranteed showstopper that has thrilled audiences for decades.

Best for: Cult theatre fans, party audiences, and lovers of classic rock musicals.

Tips: Expect audience interaction. Dress up and join in if you want the full experience.

Buy tickets

A chilling new chapter in one of popular culture’s most enduring psychological thrillers is set to unfold on stage, as The Silence of the Lambs prepares for its world premiere theatre adaptation. The electrifying new production comes to New Theatre Oxford from Monday, 19 October 2026.

Leading the first casting announcement, John Partridge will step into the unnerving role of Dr Hannibal Lecter, bringing to life one of fiction’s most refined yet terrifying figures. Best known to many for his long-running stint as Christian Clarke in EastEnders, Partridge’s stage credentials – from Cats to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – mark him as a performer with both range and presence. Now, he takes on a role that has long cast a shadow across the stage and screen.

Adapted by acclaimed playwright Gina Gionfriddo from Thomas Harris’s multi-million-selling novel, the production promises a taut, psychologically charged reimagining of the story. Under the direction of Nikolai Foster, Artistic Director of Curve Theatre, the play will explore the intricate and unsettling dynamic between FBI trainee Clarice Starling and the incarcerated psychiatrist whose insight may be key to catching a killer.

The narrative remains as gripping as ever: a young woman missing, a serial killer at large, and a race against time. But at its core lies a more intimate duel- one of intellect, manipulation and psychological brinkmanship- as Clarice is drawn ever deeper into Lecter’s orbit. The question is no longer simply whether she can solve the case, but how close she is willing to get to a monster’s mind.

Speaking on the role, Partridge described the opportunity as both rare and formidable, noting the weight carried by a character whose very name evokes unease, saying, “How often does an actor get to play a role that by simply saying the character’s name, it takes your breath away. It’s a huge honour, and I intend to savour every morsel of it!’’          

At just 16, John Partridge left college to join the original UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS, later transferring to the West End production at the New London Theatre to star as Rum Tum Tugger. He reprised the role in the official filmed version opposite Elaine Paige and John Mills.

Director Foster echoed this sentiment, saying, “Taking on a role like Hannibal Lecter requires real guts, tenacity and an appetite to confront the darkest depths of the human condition. Working with John on the role has been incredibly inspiring – his instincts are razor sharp – and there is no finer actor to bring to life Thomas Harris’s most chilling creation in our world premiere stage adaptation.”

Gionfriddo’s adaptation is expected to lean into the claustrophobic tension that made the novel a landmark in crime fiction, offering audiences a more immediate and immersive encounter with its characters. By shifting the story to the stage, the production invites viewers into the same confined, high-stakes exchanges that define Clarice and Lecter’s relationship – where every word carries consequence.

Further casting and full creative details are yet to be announced, but anticipation is already building for what promises to be one of the most talked-about theatrical events of 2026.

The Silence of the Lambs opens at New Theatre Oxford from Monday, 19 October 2026. To book, please visit the atgtickets website.

There is something quietly poetic about Daniel Casey’s return to Midsomer Murders. For audiences who remember him as the dependable Sergeant Troy, his reappearance in The Killings at Badger’s Drift – this time as DCI Tom Barnaby – carries a sense of full-circle inevitability.

“So it’s a massive promotion, going from a detective sergeant to a chief inspector. I’ve certainly earned my spurs,” he says, with a wry awareness of the journey.

It is, however, more than a simple step up the ranks. The role of Barnaby is indelibly associated with John Nettles, who defined the character across 13 series of the television adaptation. For Casey, the transition is both deeply personal and professionally significant – rooted in a relationship that mirrors the very dynamic at the heart of the show.

“Barnaby and Troy had an almost father/son, mentor/pupil relationship and that is very much like my relationship with John,” he reflects. When Nettles heard the news, his response was characteristically understated: “Well, he’s learned at the feet of the master.”

“That is certainly true,” Casey adds. And with that lineage comes a clear guiding principle: “John’s advice to me has always been ‘Be true to yourself,’ so that is how I have approached playing Barnaby.”

Honouring the past, shaping the present

Casey is careful to strike a balance between reverence and originality. Having spent years observing Nettles at close quarters – “standing next to him, watching and listening” – he acknowledges the influence, but resists imitation.

“I think it is important not to do an impression, so I will be bringing my own ideas to the role, while honouring John’s original Barnaby’s essential attributes of honesty and integrity.”

Those qualities – steadiness, moral clarity, quiet observation – remain central to the character, and Casey’s interpretation leans into them with a subtle confidence. It is less about reinvention and more about continuity, filtered through experience.

Returning to Midsomer

Revisiting the world of Midsomer Murders was not, by Casey’s own admission, part of the plan. Having left the series in 2003 to pursue other opportunities, he had assumed that chapter was closed.

“I never thought that I would revisit it,” he says. “I had such a happy time playing Troy… but when I made the decision to leave to pursue other things I thought that was that.”

It was only when director Guy Unsworth approached him about the stage adaptation that the possibility resurfaced. Even then, it took a moment of clarity – a workshop reading – to convince him.

“Sitting down and reading Barnaby out loud, it just felt right.”

Now, stepping into the role at a similar age to Nettles when the original episode aired, the experience carries an added resonance. “It brought back so many memories from a really lovely part of my career.”

The enduring appeal of Midsomer

Part of that nostalgia is tied to the show’s remarkable longevity. Syndicated in over 200 territories worldwide, Midsomer Murders has achieved a rare cross-generational appeal – something Casey believes is rooted in its distinctive tone.

“It’s set in the modern day yet it has a kind of 1940s or 1950s feel to it. It’s a wonderful form of escapism… It’s good versus evil, right versus wrong.”

There is, too, a uniquely British quality to its world: the idyllic countryside, the eccentric characters, the quiet tension beneath polite society. “It’s full of eccentrics, which British actors play so well,” he notes – a sentiment that feels particularly apt in the context of a stage production, where those characters can be amplified and explored in new ways.

Theatre, transformation, and the joy of touring

For Casey, the move to theatre is not simply a return, but a reaffirmation of a long-held passion. With an extensive stage career alongside his television work, he relishes the immediacy and unpredictability of live performance.

“I love being part of a company of actors… the challenge is to keep something fresh, real and immediate every night, and I like that challenge.”

That sense of dynamism is at the heart of The Killings at Badger’s Drift, where a multi-rolling cast shifts seamlessly between characters. It is, Casey suggests, part of the production’s appeal.

“We have a fantastic cast of actors who are multi-roling… I challenge the audience to guess how many actors there are in the cast as they transform into so many different characters between scenes!”

Touring, too, offers its own rewards – not least the connection with audiences. “It’s lovely to be able to meet the audience afterwards – especially with something like Midsomer Murders that’s got such a loyal fan base.”

A world worth returning to

Ultimately, Casey’s return to Midsomer is underpinned by something simple: affection. For the character, for the story, and for the experience that shaped a formative part of his career.

“I never expected to revisit the world of Midsomer, with its weird and wonderful characters and all their dark, twisted secrets,” he has said elsewhere. And yet, in stepping into Barnaby’s shoes, he has done precisely that – bringing with him both the weight of legacy and the freedom of rediscovery.

For audiences, it is an opportunity to see a familiar world through a slightly different lens. For Casey, it is something perhaps rarer: a return that feels earned.