A DOUBLE dose of legal drama comes to the Malvern Theatres next month.

John Mortimer, well known for penning the long-running television series Rumpole of the Bailey, drew from his own personal experiences to write Legal Fictions, a show comprising of two short plays, The Dock Brief and Edwin.

Mortimer, one of Britain's most prolific writers, was a successful barrister for more than 40 years.

In The Dock Brief, Edward Fox plays an incompetent barrister, Morganhill, who is asked to represent the lugubrious Mr Fowle who confesses to murdering his wife. Although the two of them rehearse a masterly defence in the cell, when they reach the courtroom everything goes horribly wrong.

In Edwin, Fox is Fennimore Truscott, a retired High Court judge who can not break old habits and ends up opening a large, personal, can of worms.

Legal Fictions runs from Monday, February 4, to Saturday, February 9. For tickets, priced from £8 for under 25s to £24, call the Malvern Theatres box office on 01684 892277.