Hale & Pace, Godard in Blackpool tour Dry Rot, 28 May

Gareth Hale & Norman Pace, Liza Goddard and Susan Penhaligon are starring in the play Dry Rot – which tours to Blackpool next week.

A crooked bookie and his two accomplices devise a cunning ‘get rich quick’ plan; to kidnap the odds-on favourite horse and replace it with their own decrepit nag. But Honest Alf, Flash Harry and Fred find more hurdles than they bargained for on their way to the final post – a comatose horse, a blossoming love affair and a bewildered French jockey all see chaos reign under the roof of the eccentric Colonel Wagstaff and his wife.

Listed in the National Theatre’s top 100 plays, Dry Rot ran for more than 3 years in the West End. Written by John Chapman, who wrote over 200 TV comedies including the
Emmy award winning Fresh Fields and Happy Ever After John is also known
for his collaborations with Carla Lane on The Liver Birds and Ray Cooney
on Move over Mrs Markham, My Giddy Aunt, Not Now Darling and There Goes
the Bride.

Liza Goddard began her career in Australia, where she starred as Clarissa ‘Clancy’ Merrick in Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. When she moved to the UK in 1969 she appeared in Take Three Girls and its sequel, Take Three Women. Her career breakthrough was in the 1972 series The Brothers which also starred her first husband, Colin Baker.

Liza has starred in Doctor Who, Yes, Honestly, Woof! and Brendon Chase. She replaced Una Stubbs as the team leader on Give Us a Clue and has had a recurring role in Bergerac and alongside Catherine Tate and Dawn French in Wild West.

Gareth Hale and Norman Pace are better known as the comedy duo Hale and Pace. Both former teachers they fronted several TV programmes in their comedy partnership including The Management, Pushing Up Daisies and Jobs for the Boys. As actors Gareth and Norman fronted the original TV adaptation of Dalziel and Pascoe and made a guest appearance in the 1989 Doctor Who serial, The Survivor.

Gareth Hale was a regular on Family Affairs until 2005. In 2008 he joined the cast of The Royal. On stage Gareth has appeared in A Christmas Carol, Keeping Up Appearances and Murder By Misadventure.

Norman Pace appeared as Amos Hart in Chicago in the West End. Since Hale and Pace ended he has concentrated on theatre and has appeared in, amongst others, Satin and Steele, Murdered to Death, Our Man in Havana, Murder by Misadventure and Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson. He is also a regular presenter for The Open on the Sky Poker Channel.  

Susan Penhaligon appeared at The Grand in last year’s gripping crime chiller Verdict. She shot to fame after appearing in Bouquet of Barbed Wire in the 1970s and since then has appeared in Upstairs Downstairs, A Fine Romance alongside  Judi Dench, Doctor Who and Emmerdale.

Dry Rot runs at the Blackpool Grand from 28 May – 2 June.