IT has more twists than a 1960s dance festival and – if done properly – a jaw-dropping surprise. Sleuth, which opens at Theatre Royal in Newcastle tonight, is a cat and mouse thriller which continually wrong-foots audiences – if they haven’t seen it before, of course.
Simon MacCorkindale, who stars in Anthony Schaffer’s award-winning play alongside former Dynasty actor Michael Praed, reckons there are still plenty of Sleuth novices around.
(Mainly a Sleuth review) Thanks to Sylvia for this article
THE stage is set for the ultimate game of chance this week – played out in this version of the Anthony Shaffer classic by two of the most attractive actors in the business. Simon MacCorkindale (best-known for his role of Harry Harper in Casualty) plays Andrew Wyke, who takes on his wife’s lover Milo Tindle (played by Michael Praed of Robin of Sherwood fame) in the biggest game of his life – and there can only be one winner.
A screen and stage star raised the spirits of a group of brain injury survivors with an inspiring talk.
Thanks to maggiesangel at Holby.TV for this article
Ely- born Simon MacCorkindale – best known for his role as Harry Harper in the BBC1 hospital drama Casualty – visited members of Headway Cambridgeshire at Brookfields, in Mill Road, Cambridge.
Headway is a charity which provides support, services and information to brain injury survivors, their families and carers, as well as to professionals in the health and legal fields.
The big interview Simon MacCorkindale has rubbed shoulders with tinseltown’s elite but is just as happy on stage in Glasgow
WHEN Simon MacCorkindale watches hit US shows like Lost, Ugly Betty or Pushing Daisies he can say: “Been there, done that.”
The veteran actor might be best known as Casualty heart-throb Harry Harper but his long and successful career saw him cross the Atlantic and crack America 30 years ago.
But not just on TV— in real life, accident-prone actor often finds himself in hospital
THERE’S a reason why Simon MacCorkindale carries off the role of consultant Harry Harper in BBC’s Casualty so well — he’s never out of his local hospital’s casualty department as a patient!
He and his wife, actress Susan George, run a very successful horse farm when not appearing on stage or screen, and Simon is very much hands-on down on the farm.
Casualty star Simon MacCorkindale tells Alison Jones why he has packed away his stethoscope and returned to the stage.
It is always a challenge following in the footsteps of an actor who has become irrevocably associated with a part.
Particularly if that actor casts as long a shadow as the late Sir Laurence Olivier.
In the recent film remake of the thriller Sleuth, director Kenneth Branagh rather cleverly got round the problem by having Michael Caine swop roles.
In the 1972 Joseph L Mankiewicz version, Caine played Milo Tindle, the upstart young lover of Olivier’s wife who is unwillingly drawn into an elaborate battle of wits.
In 2007 it was Caine’s turn to play the vengeful, cuckolded husband (Andrew Wyke), with Jude Law repeating another Caine role after already starring in Alfie.
For the stage production currently doing the regional rounds, comparisons to Larry are avoided by the fact that Andrew, played by Simon MacCorkindale, has effectively been aged down and Milo, played by Michael Praed, aged up.
STAGE CLASSIC IS BRINGING OUT THE MANIMAL IN SIMON
He was the English aristocrat of choice a decade before Colin Firth emerged from a lake to become a housewife heartthrob and Hollywood star.
Simon MacCorkindale played the upper-crust cad in some of the most popular American television series of the 1980s – from The Dukes of Hazzard and Hart To Hart to Dynasty and Falcon Crest.
Now he’s taking to the Nottingham stage as a devious author in the revival of psychological thriller Sleuth, alongside his Dynasty co-star and former TV Robin Hood Michael Praed.
SIMON LEAVES CASUALTY TO TAKE ON OLIVIER’S KEY ROLE
One of television’s best-loved doctors has marched out of accident and emergency and into a stage play that has become a modern classic.Simon MacCorkindale, whose character Harry Harper left Casualty two episodes ago, takes the leading role of Andrew in Sleuth which comes to the Theatre Royal, Bath, next Monday.
The doctor is given his marching orders by hospital bosses…
There are tears all round this week when A&E stalwart Harry Harper bids farewell to his colleagues. After deciding to leak Ruth’s diary to the press, the senior consultant is forced to leave the ward.
‘Harry believes that Ruth’s diary highlights the pressure doctors are under,’ says Simon MacCorkindale, who’s played the doc for six years. ‘But he put his career on the line and he knows he has to go.’ After an emotional goodbye, he visits his old pal Charlie at a private clinic and asks him to return to Holby.
After six years as consultant Harry Harper, Simon MacCorkindale tells us why he’s after a new challenge
Simon MacCorkindale is very happy with the storyline that sees him leave his role Casualty this week.
There are all kinds of unpleasant ways I could have left,’ he says. ‘I could have been murdered by an ungrateful patient, for instance! So I’m delighted to be leaving with Harry’s dignity intact, via the moral high ground! And I’m glad to be leaving on a story that might make people think.’
Harry Harper works his last Casualty shift this week when he leaves after exposing troubled colleague Ruth’s diary to the press, Simon MacCorkindale, who plays him, is delighted Harry isn’t departing on a stretcher! “Often in these shows, characters get blown up, shot or stabbed to death,” smiles Simon, 56. “Doctors do take great risks, but few get shot or stabbed!”
Holby A&E manager Harry Harper bids farewell to the hospital this week – but the top doctor doesn’t leave his post willingly! Harry put his job on the line recently by choosing to leak the emotional diary of suicidal trainee medic Ruth Winters to the press, and now he must face the consequences…
“Harry feels very strongly that junior doctors are being put under too much pressure,” explains Simon MacCorkindale, who plays the department head. “He thinks Ruth should be used as an example of what can happen when they’re pushed too far, and wants to make everyone aware of the issue. His superiors aren’t happy with his actions, though, and force him to resign.”
Having handed Ruth’s diary to the press, Harry prepares to hang up his stethoscope
This week, as Ruth lies in a coma, the truth behind the juniors doctor’s suicide attempt is all over the papers. By leaking her diary, Harry has plunged Holby City into the media spotlight, forfeiting his future as a senior consultant.
‘Harry feels it’s in the best interest of all young doctors for Ruth’s diary to be printed,’ says actor Simon MacCorkindale. ‘It’ll make the public and the NHS fully aware of all the pressure.’
Consultant Harry Harper was shocked by the breakdown of poor Ruth – who was so overworked she attempted suicide. ‘He decides to publish her diary to heighten awareness of the plight of these doctors says actor Simon MacCorkindale, who this week plays his final scenes as Harry, with the dashing doc in trouble for airing the hospital’s dirty laundry in public.
A DARK psychological thriller featuring top television stars will be on stage at the town’s theatre this week.
Sleuth, one of the greatest ever stage thrillers, is being performed at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking until Saturday.
The play, written by Anthony Shaffer, promises to baffle even the most proficient sleuth so budding Miss Marples and Poirots should grab their magnifying glasses and book their seats.
Casualty favourite Simon MacCorkindale is returning to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, appearing alongside ex-Robin Hood star Michael Praed in a new production of Sleuth. We take a look at the ever-popular touring show…
Simon MacCorkindale is back at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre for the second time in just over a year.
The popular actor, who’s nowadays best recognised for his portrayal of Harry Harper in the BBC TV drama series Casualty, is returning to the Midlands to star as Andrew Wyke in a new touring production of Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth. He will be joined by another familiar television face – Michael Praed, a onetime Robin Hood and Dynasty star. Sleuth tells the story of Andrew Wyke’s devious attempt to gain revenge on his wife’s lover, Milo Tindle. Wyke cajoles Tindle into burgling his property, promising him the money, but in reality plans to kill the younger man and claim to police that he thought he was a prowler.
Series: Casualty Episode: S22Ep24 – Before a Fall First Aired: 2 February 2008 Character: Harry Harper
Description: When Ruth makes a mistake and the team find out, she decides she can’t take any more. Toby and Abs are shocked by what they find when they go to her house
Busy Simon MacCorkindale chats to Viv Hardwick about leaving BBC1 ‘s Casualty, taking on a stage tour and finding time to breed expensive Arabian horses
YES sighs Simon MacCorkindale with mock irony, “I have gone down in history as the man who sacked Charlie Fairhead in Casualty.” The plot of the Christmas episode of the BBC1 drama made the right kind of headlines for the programme as actor Derek Thompson became the last member of the original cast to leave after 21 years.
Series: Casualty Episode: S22Ep22 – Take It Back First Aired: 19 January 2008 Character: Harry Harper
Description: New nurse Jessica provides a surprise for Adam, while Maggie is shocked when she gets an unexpected visitor and Greg bonds with a little girl and her cyber pet.
