Coronation Street’s Katie McGlynn stars in Peter James’ ‘Wish you were dead’

‘First Look’ production images have been released of former Coronation Street star Katie McGlynn in the UK tour of Peter James’ Wish You Were Dead.

The show comes to The Lowry, Salford from Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th May.

Katie, best known for her seven-year starring role as Sinead Tinker in Coronation Street (for which she won a National Television Award), as well as Waterloo Road, Hollyoaks and the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing – will be

be making her professional stage play debut playing the role of Cleo Morey.

Katie McGlynn said: “I can’t think of a better way to make my stage play debut than with this brilliant and thrilling Peter James masterpiece and am so excited to be performing alongside such an incredibly talented cast. I’m really looking forward to visiting theatres all over the country, witnessing the audience reaction to the many twists, turns and edge-of-your-seat moments in the show.”

Katie joins other cast members, George Rainsford (Casualty, Holby City, Call The Midwife) as DSI Roy Grace and Clive Mantle (Game of Thrones, The Vicar of Dibley, Sherlock, Casualty) as Curtis. Other cast include Rebecca McKinnis, Callum Sheridan-Lee, Alex Stedman and Gemma Stroyan and Leon Stewart will reprise his role as DS Glenn Branson, having previously starred in another Peter James stage adaptation, Looking Good Dead. The understudies are Lizzie Grace, Jayda Kariuki and Christopher Killik.

Wish You Were Dead follows five successful stage plays and the critically acclaimed smash-hit primetime ITV series ‘Grace’, which are all based on the best-selling novels by the UK’s number one crime author Peter James. This will be the sixth stage adaptation of James’ novels – making it the most successful crime thriller stage franchise since Agatha Christie.

The stage play of Wish You Were Dead follows DSI Roy Grace and Cleo Morey as they take a much-needed holiday together. They are hoping for a few days away from their dark worlds of murder and the mortuary. But their dream escape turns out to be the holiday from hell, as the past comes back to haunt them.

Produced by Josh Andrews and Peter James and adapted by award-winning writer Shaun McKenna, who has adapted the five previous Peter James plays, the production will also reunite the creative team from Looking Good Dead, with Jonathan O’Boyle directing, Design by Michael Holt, Lighting by Jason Taylor and Sound by Max Pappenheim.

Previous Peter James novels brought to the stage include: ‘Looking Good Dead’ which premiered last year starring Adam Woodyatt and Gaynor Faye; ‘The House on Cold Hill’ starring Joe McFadden and Rita Simons in 2019; ‘Not Dead Enough’ starring Shane Richie and Laura Whitmore in 2017; ‘Dead Simple’ starring Tina Hobley in 2015 and ‘The Perfect Murder’ starring Les Dennis and Claire Goose in 2014.

The gripping television series ‘Grace’ was an immediate success with audiences when it launched on ITV in 2021, with almost nine million viewers tuning in to watch the primetime drama starring John Simm as DSI Roy Grace. Series two returned to TV screens last year, with five more thrilling episodes being the most watched programme across all channels on each of the Sundays they were broadcast. A third series returns to ITV later this year.

Peter James is a number one bestselling author of crime and thriller novels and the creator of the much loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. He has topped the Sunday Times bestseller list 19 times and has achieved global book sales of over 21 million copies which have been translated into 37 languages. Synonymous with plot twisting page turners, he has garnered an army of loyal fans throughout his storytelling career which also included writing for TV and producing films. He has won over 40 awards for his work, including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award, Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger and a BAFTA nomination for The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons, which he also executive produced.

Peter James’ Wish You Were Dead will be at The Lowry, Salford from Tuesday 23rd to Saturday 27th May. For more information and tickets visit www.thelowry.com.