Picture You Dead - Milton Keynes Theatre

Peter James does it again in Picture You Dead which is at Milton Keynes Theatre this week.  It’s a thriller with so many twists and turns, it felt like watching a game of cups.  Who will end up with the painting?  This is a brilliant play featuring our favourite detective, Roy Grace.

Can you imagine going to a car boot and picking up a painting for a frame you like, to then find out the painting has a secret much older painting underneath that is worth millions?  I would do exactly what Freya and Henry Kipling did – I would go on Antique’s Roadshow to find out its value.  But after watching Picture You Dead, I have had second thoughts.  I don’t want dodgy and violent people after me for a painting I don’t even like that much.

Freya and Henry are expecting someone from Sotheby’s to come round to evaluate the painting.  However, their 15 minutes of fame on TV has aroused unwarranted attention from some rather unsavoury people. Stuart Piper (Nicholas Maude) is a rich art collector.  He already has three of his favourite artist but is missing ‘summer’ to complete the collection.  Sometimes the art world isn’t as respectable as one would expect, and his associate Roberta Kilgore (Jodie Steele) will do anything she needs to for the money and if that means threatening people, theft and even murder isn’t off the cards.

Dave Hegarty is a local painter.  He has a bit of a dodgy history in his past for doing ‘deep fakes’ but now is legit or so he says.  Roy Grace knows him of old and pays him a visit, but is not the only one paying Dave a visit, who still has some dodgy connections from 20 years ago.

Roy Grace is played by George Rainsford and it isn’t George’s first time round playing Grace so you feel you are in safe hands.  George makes Grace very likeable as a detective, and we are willing him to catch up and find out what exactly is going on in the unscrupulous world of art forgeries.

Freya is played by Fiona Wade with Ben Cutler playing her loving husband, Henry.  The chemistry between Fiona and Ben is palpable and their reactions to imagine themselves becoming millionaires is not unlike Rodney and Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses.

Picture You Dead is beautifully played out and all the cast deserve the rousing applause at curtain call.  I found myself holding my breath for much of the show.

Peter James said: “It is truly incredible for me to see the seventh stage adaptation of my books coming to theatres in 2025. I am so grateful to the hundreds of thousands of people around the country who have come to their local theatre and enjoyed the plays over the last 10 years, and I am thrilled to tell you all that personally, I think this brand new play, is the best one so far! On top of that, I could not be more delighted by the fantastic cast that we have assembled to star in the World Premiere production of Picture You Dead – they are all brilliant actors and it’s going to be a great and thrilling night at the theatre!”

If you are a Peter James fan you will love it and for all those loving a good detective show – you will become a Peter James fan.

Picture You Dead is at Milton Keynes Theatre until 10 May.