Sherlock star’s West End Show confirms return with Lee Mack

The Unfriend, the stage play directed by Sherlock star and co-creator Mark Gatiss, will return to the West End with Lee Mack in the lead role.

The 2022 play, which was written by Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat, follows a suburban couple whose polite invitation to a stranger on holiday has dire consequences.

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Mack, best known for his work on Not Going Out and Would I Lie to You?, will star alongside Sarah Alexander, with the pair playing married couple Peter and Debbie. Nick Sampson will star as The Neighbour, whilst Frances Barber reprises her role as Elsa Jean Krakowski.

“I’m delighted to be joining The Unfriend with the brilliant Sarah Alexander and the wonderful Frances Barber, and of course all the other amazing cast. It’s such a fantastically written play by Steven Moffat that I might even go the whole hog and learn the words,” said Mack in a statement (via London Theatre).

Gatiss, who played Mycroft Holmes on Sherlock, will return to direct the production, which will play at Wyndham’s Theatre in London in a limited run from December 16 until March 9 2024. Ticket information for The Unfriend can be found here.

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Moffat and Gatiss wrote all four series of Sherlock, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in the lead roles. Despite concluding in 2017, Moffat revealed earlier this year that he would love to bring the BBC show back at some point in the future.

“They’re onto bigger and better things but, Benedict and Martin, please come back,” he said, before stating that he would “start writing Sherlock tomorrow” if the duo agreed to return as Homes and Watson respectively.

The Unfriend will run at Wyndham's Theatre in London from December 16 until March 9 2024.

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