Move over wholesome Christmas movies. This December, East Midlanders are getting murder, suspicious Santas and a dangerously high level of Jessica Fletcher knowledge.
Cult interactive show Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote is returning to the city’s Phoenix Theatre with a festive screening of ‘A Christmas Secret’, the only Murder, She Wrote episode to give Cabot Cove the full yuletide treatment.
And naturally, Christmas doesn’t exactly bring peace and goodwill to Jessica Fletcher’s neighbourhood.
The episode sees everyone’s favourite amateur sleuth uncovering the sort of shady secrets that Cabot Cove residents really ought to have learned to keep away from JB by now. Then somebody dressed as Santa Claus shoots someone.
Merry Christmas!
But this isn’t just a screening. The audience is invited to play detective alongside Jessica and attempt to crack the case before she does.
Hosted by Murder, She Wrote super-fan Tim Benzie, the show mixes the episode with games, prizes, quizzes and plenty of audience participation.
Expect a race to identify the murderer using the show’s Fameometer and Suspiciometer, a Cabot Cove quiz, suitably camp clips and biographies of the episode’s guest stars and even a singalong version of the Murder, She Wrote theme tune with added lyrics.
Yes, really.
The interactive show has previously played to sell-out audiences across the UK, Ireland, USA and Australia, as well as appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and the Murder, She Wrote Festival in California.
Benzie certainly knows his Jessica Fletcher. A lifelong fan of the series, he is also an award-winning playwright, co-writer of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern’s pantomimes and co-producer of cult club night PopHorror.
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So if your idea of festive entertainment involves questionable alibis, enormous shoulder pads and trying to work out who Santa has just shot, this might be considerably more fun than watching Love Actually again.
The only question is: can you solve it before Jessica does?
Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote comes to Phoenix Leicester on Friday, December 11; 7.30pm
You can buy tickets HERE
