Birmingham Rep has announced casting for its World Premiere production of Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas.
The new play-with-music boasts songs by award-winning musicals creators Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice (Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar), and is co-written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed.
Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas is running at Birmingham Rep from 14 November 2025 to 11 January 2026.
Humphrey Ker (Welcome to Wrexham) will play Sherlock Holmes in the show, with David Reed (Endeavour, The Real History of Sex) as Dr Watson.
They are joined by award-winning comedian and actor John Kearns as Inspector Lestrade, and comedy actress and podcaster Margaret Cabourn-Smith. Further casting is to be announced.
The show is billed as a laugh-out-loud festive murder mystery for all the family, join us at 221b Baker Street this Christmas for mischief, mayhem and a Partridge in a Pear Tree!
Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas is directed by Phillip Breen (Anna Karenina, Chichester Festival Theatre) with Becky Hope-Palmer (Letters to Our Future Government, Traverse Theatre).
The creative team also includes Mark Bailey (Designer), Anna Watson (Lighting Designer), Georgina Lamb (Movement), Renny Krupinksi (Fights) and Helena Palmer (Casting).
In the show, it’s Christmas in Victorian London, but in the West End – where dreams come true and nothing bad ever happens – a flurry of performers are suddenly dying mid-scene. Scotland Yard rules out foul play… until the world’s greatest consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, discovers an intriguing link to The Twelve Days of Christmas. The game is afoot!
Racing against the clock to save French Hens, find Gold Rings and rescue Mother Goose, Sherlock plunges himself into mortal danger. Will this really be the last stand for our hero or will his trusty sidekick Dr Watson and rival hotshot detective Athena Faversham ensure he lives to consume another Christmas Pudding…?
The show was originated and developed by Donald Rice and Eva Rice for Tim Rice’s company Heartaches Limited.
Actor and co-writer Humphrey Ker said in a statement: “As diehard Sherlock Holmes fans, Dave and I are absolutely delighted to have tricked the Birmingham Rep into allowing us to write and star in a wildly silly Holmes and Watson adventure. And to do it with such beloved friends and collaborators in Margaret, John, Tim, Andrew and directing superstar Phillip Breen is the stuff of dreams. Can’t wait to don the deerstalker and BECOME Sherlock Holmes.”
Actor and co-writer David Reed said: “Humphrey and I have been obsessed with the characters of Holmes and Watson ever since we met on a stage in Edinburgh some 20 years ago. We pastiched them in our first radio series The Brothers Faversham and crowbarred them into our turns on BBC Two improvised sketch show Fast & Loose. To now get to play them in earnest is quite honestly a dream come true. And to be joined by the cosmic comedic talents of Margaret Cabourn-Smith and John Kearns as Mrs Hudson and Lestrade is preposterous good fortune. I can’t quite believe it’s real, but barring being framed for a series of genuine murders and having to become fugitives from the law, it appears to be actually happening. I’m pinching myself daily. Incredibly exciting.”
Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas is playing at Birmingham Rep from 14 November 2025 to 11 January 2026.
More about Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas tickets
More about the cast
Humphrey Ker is an actor, writer, and comedian, best known as the Community Director for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s beloved Wrexham football team in FX and Disney+’s Emmy-winning Welcome to Wrexham, where he also serves as an Executive Producer. He won his first Emmy for the show last year and previously worked as the club’s Executive Director. Previously, Humphrey starred as Elliot Chisholm in NBC’s American Auto and wrote for Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest, also appearing across its first two seasons. Also a respected comedian, he won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer in 2011 and is known for The Penny Dreadfuls, the Victorian-themed sketch troupe that wrote and performed comic plays on historical subjects.
David Reed is a playwright, actor and comedian. His television roles include Endeavour, Beyond Paradise, Father Brown, Ghosts, Citadel and Daddy Issues. For radio he has written comedy plays Guy Fawkes, Revolution, Hereward the Wake, Macbeth Rebothered, The Odyssey, Curse of The Beagle, Le Carré On Spying, Don Quixote, Hadrian’s Beard, Richard III Rebothered and Severus (Co-written with Paterson Joseph). He is the writer/creator of Audible Original series Zeroes and BBC3 animated sketch show The Real History of Sex. His television writing credits include Daddy Issues & It’s Kevin. In 2022 he wrote and starred in his debut theatrical production, Guy Fawkes, for York Theatre Royal.
John Kearns is an actor, writer and the only comedian to have won both the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for Best Show and Best Newcomer in the awards’ 40-year history. He was a breakout star of Series 14 of Taskmaster and his wider credits include the lead role in cult hit BBC3/Netflix sitcom Top Coppers, co-host of Guessable alongside Sara Pascoe and team captain Alan Davies, Would I Lie To You?, Live at the Apollo, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and House of Games. John’s fifth stand-up comedy hour The Varnishing Days was filmed and released as a special on Sky and Now TV in August 2024 following a sold-out nationwide tour and his new show will tour the UK in 2026.
Margaret Cabourn-Smith’s theatre work includes Spike (Watermill Theatre & National Tour), Dick Whittington (Lyric Hammersmith), The Half, The Congress of Oddities (Pleasance), John Finnemore’s Flying Visit (Tour/Yellow Car Productions), Di & Viv & Rose (Stephen Joseph Theatre). Her TV and film credits include : Cheaters, Daddy Issues, Eastenders, Motherland, Catastrophe, Miranda, Buffering, The Hustle, Holby City, Bucket, The Agency, Evermoor, The IT Crowd, Father Figure, In and Out of the Kitchen, Fresh Meat, Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, We Are Mongrels, Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show, Psychoville. Her many radio credits include” Randy Feltface’s Destruction Manual, The Archers, Sick, Woman’s Hour, The Penny Dreadfuls, John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme, The Missing Hancocks, The Pin, Ed Reardon’s Week, The Brig Society, The Secret World, Beauty of Britain, Newsjack, The Now Show, Another Case of Milton Jones, Bigipedia, In and Out of the Kitchen, Sarah Millican’s Support Group, Brian Gulliver’s Travels. Amongst her podcast work is: Crushed By Margaret Cabourn-Smith, The Guilty Feminist, Do the Right Thing, Inside the Comedian, Hoovering and Smershpod.
Alexandra Palace Theatre, London
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