Huddersfield-born George Rainsford on Picture You Dead stage adaptation coming to Sheffield Lyceum and Bradford St George's Hall

After years on television, he has recently returned to his roots in theatre, appearing as DSI Roy Grace in the latest stage adaptation of Peter James’s books, Picture You Dead, a whodunnit which is appearing in Sheffield and Bradford over the coming weeks.

The story was inspired by James’s real-life meeting with acclaimed copyist, David Henty, who was arrested in the 1990s for forging passports and learned how to copy major artworks while in prison.

It is writer Sean McKenna’s seventh such theatre production of the author’s books, which have sold 23 million copies worldwide, been turned into the television series Grace and the character has reportedly been named by Queen Consort Camilla as her favourite literary detective.

"I think as a nation we're fans of that genre,” says Rainsford, who has been playing the role since the show started in March.

"The books are obviously so popular. Peter's sold millions of copies and there's a real appetite for the character and the stories. I think that's what appeals to me, and having been a fan of them already. I like a crime thriller. I really enjoy the nature of a case that changes and goes through various twists and turns to reach its conclusion and with this one, what's lovely is that Peter always writes these very larger than life villains and interesting plot, so it's a really fun journey to go on.”

Rainsford, 42, grew up in various parts of Huddersfield including Holmfirth and Birkby, and realised young that he wanted to act.

"I actually went to school in Wakefield and I remember doing a production of Kes, the Barry Hines story about the boy with the Kestrel, and started to get the bug from there. I actually then moved with my family to Derbyshire and carried on doing acting from there, but I've always felt like a Yorkshireman at heart."

He joined the National Youth Theatre in 1999 and, he says, “met my tribe” – people from all walks of life with a common interest in performing – and in 2003 he won a Goldman-Sachs Scholarship to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Early television roles included 10 episodes of Doctors in 2008, before in 2012 he joined the cast of Call the Midwife, appearing in the first two series of a hit show as Jimmy Wilson.

"Nobody knew it was going to be as big a hit as it was,” says Rainsford. “You always hope that these things are going to land, but the first series was getting nine million viewers on the Sunday night, and it was amazing, because you want to be involved with something that's popular, but you just never really know until it actually comes on telly whether it’s going be such a hit. That was wonderful, and I remember coming back to series two, and there was just a buzz about it."

On Casualty, he racked up hundreds of episodes between 2014 and 2023 as Ethan Hardy, and has been doing theatre since, including the hit play 2:22 A Ghost Story.

Was he apprehensive about the move back to theatre after years of steady TV work? Rainsford says: "They are different disciplines. The one thing they've got in common is it relies a lot on company and camaraderie and all that kind of thing. And I loved my time on Casualty but I felt, after nine years of a long commute from where I live in the south of England to Cardiff, with this young family, it was just sort of taking its toll on me a little bit. So I felt that it was time to come back to my roots and explore other challenges, and it's been lovely. Most of my work since has been theatre. So it's been really fun going back and doing it, and I suppose you worry, maybe, that you're going to forget how you did it but, of course, it does all come back."

Set in Brighton, Picture You Dead sees his character investigate a cold case that leads him to the rarified air of fine art, but beneath the respectable veneer lurks a murky underworld of greed, deception and murder. When an unsuspecting couple unwittingly buy a potentially long-lost masterpiece in a car boot sale, they discover that their dream find is about to turn into their worst nightmare.

Returning to the stage to portray the ex-convict is Peter Ash, following his emotional exit from Coronation Street, and joining him is Fiona Wade who, following 11 years playing Priya in Leeds-based soap Emmerdale, performed last year in the hit 2:22 A Ghost Story alongside Rainsford.

In Picture You Dead, Wade plays Freya Kipling, who naively attracts the attention of dodgy dealers after buying a potentially multi-million-pound masterpiece at a car boot sale.

Jodie Steele stars as the villain, Roberta Kilgore, while presenter and Strictly Come Dancing champion, Ore Oduba, has now also joined the cast in the role of Stuart Piper, an eccentric millionaire art collector who gets tangled up in the dark underworld of stolen art.

Joshua Andrews and Peter James himself are producing the show, which runs at various venues nationwide until August 2.

The author says: “It is truly incredible for me to see the seventh stage adaptation of my books. I am so grateful to the hundreds of thousands of people around the UK who have come to their local theatre and enjoyed the plays over the last 10 years. Now that I have seen Picture You Dead performed, I am thrilled to say I think this new play is the best one so far!”

Picture You Dead is at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre from June 3 to 7, and Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre from July 8 to 12. For tickets, visit: peterjames.com.