POPULAR British actor Nigel Havers is to star in a spell-binding production of the classic masterpiece, Rebecca, at Malvern Theatres.

Playing Maxim De Winter, Havers has helped the show break box office records up and down the country during its tour, which will come to Malvern from Monday, October 24.

The genius of Daphne Du Maurier's great thriller is brought to the stage in a new adaptation by the Tony Award winning writer Frank McGuinness.

Set in Cornwall, Maxim De Winter and his new wife return to Manderley, the place of his first wife Rebecca's death and a past sinisterly guarded by the housekeeper, Mrs Danvers.

Havers is one of Britain's most loved actors, having starred in a string of hit television series and films including The Charmer, Born and Bred, Manchild, Don't Wait Up, Dangerfield, Chariots of Fire and A Passage to India.

Most recently he starred in See U Next Tuesday at the Albery Theatre in London's West End. His first movie appearance was a small part in Pope Joan, in 1972, but his first major success came with the leading role in a BBC dramatisation of Nicholas Nickleby, in 1977.

Maureen Beattie, whose credits include seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre and the Traverse Theatre and playing Sandra Nicholl in three series of Casualty, plays Mrs Danvers.

Elisabeth Dermot Walsh, who has starred in Pride and Prejudice, The Shape of Things and The Misanthrope at the Gate Theatre in Dublin, plays the second Mrs De Winter.

"Rebecca is, without a doubt, one of the most compelling and best loved novels ever written," said a spokeswoman for the production. "It has delighted generations of readers, remaining a best seller ever since its publication in 1938, and Alfred Hitchcock's Oscar Award-winning film is frequently cited as a favourite by the critics and public alike."

EMMA CULLWICK