THERE’S death in the Dales this month as Skipton Players present a murder mystery.

Leslie Sands’s play Intent to Murder will be performed at the town’s Little Theatre from Tuesday to Saturday, April 16 to 20.

Within moments of the curtain opening an explosive situation develops at a remote cottage in the Yorkshire moors.

Janet Preston, a well-known author of mystery thrillers who lives alone, has apparently killed her estranged husband who arrived unexpectedly while on the run from the police.

Before she can get rid of his body, she is confronted by her husband’s accomplice George, who

blackmails her into agreeing to pass him off as the dead man until he can make a getaway.

The Players say the subsequent events are full of twists and excitement, building to an unexpected denouement at the very last moment.

Leslie Sands, born in 1921 in Bradford, was a British actor who specialised in dour types in authority, often policemen.

He made his theatrical debut in 1941 at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield, and went on to become a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appear in several National Theatre.

His many TV roles included the lead character role of Cluff, as well as TV and thriller series The Saint, The Avengers, Z-Cars, Department S and Juliet Bravo.

He wrote several episodes of Z-Cars, as well as popular 1970s TV series Van Der Valk and A Family at War.

His film roles included appearances in The Deadly Affair (1966), Danger Route (1967), One More Time (1970), The Ragman’s Daughter (1972), Escape from the Dark (1976) and Bloodline (1979).

Visit skiptonlittletheatre.org.uk or call 07527 141176 to book tickets, which cost £10 for adults and fans and 15 for under 16’s and students. The play begins at 7.30pm.