Who is in Wish You Were Dead at Norwich Theatre Royal 2023?

But later this month the actor is returning to his first love – the stage - as dogged detective Roy Grace in a thrilling new adaptation of Peter James’s mystery Wish You Were Dead.

Joining him in the cast are actress, writer and I’m a Celebrity…winner Giovanna Fletcher, fellow Casualty alumnus Clive Mantle (who has also starred in Game of Thrones and appeared in the iconic ‘puddle’ scene in The Vicar of Dibley) and Leon Stewart, whose credits include Endeavour and Vera.

George is speaking to the EDP towards the end of the first week of rehearsals as the show is starting to take shape.

“We’re day five of rehearsals,” he says. “We had the read through on the first day, which is always quite intimidating and scary and which I don’t think anybody in the industry enjoys doing. But everyone seems lovely, so it’s really good.

“And you also get to see the model box, which is when they show you a miniature version of the set, and that’s always really exciting because you kind of imagine what it’s going to look like.”

This is the sixth Peter James novel to transfer from page to stage.

The prolific best-selling author’s books have also been brought to the small screen, with John Simm starring as the titular ‘tec.

It means that George has had plenty of material to immerse himself in while preparing for the role and getting a sense of the character.

“It’s been really fun reading so much material for Grace,” he says. “Obviously the book on which it’s based is the main one, and I’ve been watching the TV series too. You get a nice sense of the location, around the Brighton area.”

The story starts with Grace and Cleo on their first holiday together – with Cleo hoping to finally get him to herself for a few days.

But it’s not to be – and, as George explains (spoiler free), that dream escape quickly turns into the holiday from hell.

“When I read it, I couldn’t see where it was going – in a good way,” says George.

“Things start off bad and get worse, and Grace is in the middle of it all trying to work out if he should be suspicious about things. Then about half way through there’s a big twist, which I won’t ruin, but Grace is suddenly faced with something more familiar, which is an old case which has come back to haunt him.”

READ MORE: West End musicals coming to Norwich Theatre in 2023

George is looking forward to his week in Norfolk with the show. His only previous visit was when he took a residential driving course here.

“It’s a bit random, I know,” he laughs. “Basically I was learning to drive in London and it was too scary and I found this place where you could stay for a week and I learned to drive in King’s Lynn.”

And he’s especially looking forward to performing at Norwich Theatre Royal, having heard one of his former Casualty colleagues raving about it.

“I’ve heard such good things about the theatre because my friend Amanda Henderson has just been in the panto, playing Pat the Cow.”

George’s first taste of the stage came at school. “Without being too gushy, it’s the thing that I got into acting for, it’s my first love,” he says.

“I’m really excited to get back into the live bearpit and get a visceral reaction back. The whole idea of rehearsals is fun, because you don’t really get to rehearse on television - and it’s nice being part of an ensemble cast again.”

While evidence of his first stage role does exist, George is making sure that it never sees the light of day.

“I got roped into doing a production of Grease at school when I was about 15. I was a pre-pubescent T-Bird. I thought I was hilarious in it because I was getting all the laughs, but I think with hindsight it was just because my voice hadn’t broken and I was really small compared to all the others,” he says.

“I’ve got it on VHS, but I’ve never converted it to DVD.”

After doing a few more school plays, George’s auntie suggested that he tried out for the National Youth Theatre.

“That was my lightbulb moment really,” he says. “You do this big three-week course down in London and I suddenly just met all my people and go to have these amazing experiences and then I just got the bug.”

It’s a brilliant time for TV – and like many of us George has been gripped by Happy Valley in the last few weeks as Sarah Lancashire’s Sgt Catherine Cawood and James Norton’s Tommy Lee Royce headed for their final showdown.

“I love that sort of dark crime with a black humour and, also, I’m from that area of the country, so I love that show. Working with somebody like [writer] Sally Wainwright, I can imagine that being an absolute dream,” he says.

Casualty, he says, was “a bit like joining a moving train.”

One storyline saw George’s character discovering that he was carrying the gene which causes the neurodegenerative disease, Huntingdon’s. Since liaising with the Huntingdon’s Disease Association to research the story, he has become one of the charity’s patrons and, as a keen runner, takes part in events to raise vital funds and awareness.

“For a long time [on Casualty] I felt like I had to wing it, in the nicest possible way, and pretend I knew exactly what was going on because the schedules are so complicated and the way we film is all out of sequence and they’re filming multiple episodes at the same time and you are joining this very well-oiled machine.

“It’s a bit of a baptism of fire really, but everyone there is amazing and supportive and it’s a really good place for taking talent and nurturing it. It’s a lovely place to work.”

Having been on such a high profile show, George does tend to get recognised by the public. But, unlike one of his co-stars, he’s never been mistaken for a real doctor.

“Rich Winsor, who played my brother in the show, he had one where he was walking through an actual A&E department and one of the consultants came up and started talking to him about work. He made the connection that he was a doctor, but didn’t twig that he wasn’t a real one,” he says.

Wish You Were Dead is at Norwich Theatre Royal from February 20-25. To book tickets and find out more visit norwichtheatre.org or phone 01603 630000.