David Walliams’ Grandpa’s Great Escape turned into live stage show

Britain’s Got Talent judge David Walliams has had his best selling book turned into a live stage show.

A live arena version of David’s Grandpa’s Great Escape will tour the UK this Christmas.

The live version of the kids’ favourite, which has sold over two million copies around the world begins in Birmingham on 23 December. It will then visit London, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow before culminating in Liverpool on 4 January. Tickets are on sale now.

Grandpa’s Great Escape Live follows the acclaimed television film which aired on BBC One in December 2018, and will be directed by Tony® Award nominee Sean Foley (The Catherine Tate Show Live & The Painkiller).

A teaser for the show reads: “Many years ago, Grandpa was a World War II flying ace. But when he is sent to old folk’s home Twilight Towers – run by sinister Matron Swine – it’s up to Grandpa and his grandson, Jack, to plot a daring escape. Little do they know, the wicked matron is on to them.”

David Walliams said: “Grandpa’s Great Escape Live is an incredible new development for the book. We’re not just turning it into a live show, but into a spectacular live arena show for all the family this Christmas.

“Being in arenas means we can have a life-size Spitfire, a tank, the London landscape and a dramatic escape from the Imperial War Museum. It’s great because we can really go to town with all of those elements and this story demands that scale.

“I’m delighted to be involved with this arena tour of Grandpa’s Great Escape Live, working with fantastic people like the director Sean Foley and Kevin Cecil, who’s written the script. I couldn’t be more excited about it!”

Dates, venues and tickets are available now from TicketMaster here.

Grandpa’s Great Escape is the eighth book by David and was published in September 2015 by HarperCollins Children’s Books.

You can see all of David’s books here.