Eastenders’ Kat and Alfie hit King’s Theatre stage

Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie. Picture: BBC

So who better to star in a hit play with the tagline “marriage can be murder” than Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace?

The duo are set to swap the Queen Vic for the King’s Theatre as they bring more marital mayhem to the 2016 production of The Perfect Murder.

They have played lovers on the BBC soap for more than a decade but this tour will be the first time they have appeared on stage together.

Shane, who last performed at the King’s in 1998 in musical comedy Boogie Nights, said: “I can’t wait to return to Edinburgh and the King’s Theatre as the last time was so enjoyable.

“As always the people are warm and friendly and the evening life is second to none.

“I still remember a night out after the show and dancing into the early hours. A wee dram or two may have also been enjoyed and will be again.

“I record my Saturday night BBC1 show Win Your Wish List in Scotland, but this will be the first time back on stage and I can’t wait.

“Jessie and I have never worked together on stage before and it’s going to be ‘murder’.”

The crime thriller, adapted from a novel by crime writer Peter James, follows Victor and Joan, whose marriage has hit the rocks.

Victor has decided there is only one way to get her out of his life forever.

And as detective Roy Grace begins his very first murder case, dark forces intervene and he starts to fear that nothing is quite as it seems.

Opening at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, on Tuesday, February 2, The Perfect Murder will then embark on a major UK tour, playing at the King’s from Monday, February 29 to Saturday, March 5.

The play is directed by Olivier Award-winner Ian Talbot and adapted by writer Shaun McKenna.

James, an international  bestselling writer, said: “To have Shane and Jessie star in The Perfect Murder really is  another dream come true.

“They have been loved on television by huge audiences over a number of years, which just goes to show how great they are together, and I can’t wait to see them planning to murder each other on stage every night.

“It has always been my dream that one day the curtains would rise in a theatre and a play of my work would be performed.

“That dream came true in 2014 after a chance meeting with my old friend, producer Joshua Andrews.

“The first run of The Perfect Murder was a sell-out success and we have followed that this year with an even more successful run of my bestselling book Dead Simple.”