ONE of the world’s most recognisable fictional detectives is due to arrive in the county next week when he will be played by one of Britain’s most instantly recognisable actors.

The official Agatha Christie Theatre Company is delighted to announce that Robert Powell is to star as Hercule Poirot in a new production of her first ever play, Black Coffee, which is coming to Malvern’s Festival Theatre from Monday, April 7 through to Saturday, April 12.

This eagerly anticipated whodunit sees a quintessential English country estate thrown into chaos following the murder of eccentric inventor Sir Claud Amory, and the theft of his new earth shattering formula.

Arriving at the estate just moments too late, one man immediately senses a potent brew of despair, treachery, and deception amid the estate’s occupants. That man is Hercule Poirot.

Robert Powell, who received multiple awards and a BAFTA nomination for his portrayal of Jesus in Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, went on to star in numerous hit films including: The 39 Steps, Four Feathers and Shaka Zulu. His extensive stage performances include: Alan Bennett’s Single Spies, Keith Waterhouse’s Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

He is supported by a heavyweight cast including Agatha Christie Company regulars – Liza Goddard, star of such TV hits as Bergerac and the long running Give Us A Clue, Gary Mavers who is best known for playing heart-throb doctor Andrew Attwood in Peak Practice and Ben Nealon, perhaps best loved for his role as Captain Forsythe in the ITV drama Soldier Soldier.

From the pen of the great Dame Agatha – (who, having sold over four billion books worldwide is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare) - Poirot debuted in Christie’s 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, making his first - and only - stage outing in the mistress of murder’s debut play, Black Coffee.

The Belgian sleuth went on to become one of world’s most cherished and long-lived fictional characters, appearing in 33 novels, one play and more than 50 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.

To this day he remains the only fictitious character to receive a front-page obituary in the New York Times. His legend has proved ripe for adaptation and Poirot has been portrayed in comics, on radio and on screen for films and television. He recently bid audiences an emotional farewell as series 13 of the classic television series concluded with his demise in Christie’s dramatic farewell, Curtain.

Intrigue and suspense form the back-bone of this classic spy-thriller which follows The Agatha Christie Theatre Company’s hugely successful - The Hollow, The Unexpected Guest, And Then There Were None, Spider’s Web, Witness for the Prosecution, Verdict, Murder on the Nile and Go Back for Murder