CHESTER-BASED ACTOR APPEARS IN TV MURDER CRIME STORY

A Chester-based Actor and Drama Teacher has appeared on national television in a dramatic reconstruction of a police investigation into a shocking murder which saw pioneering DNA mapping technology used for the first time to help crack the case.

Actor Stuart Evans appeared recently in an episode of the popular TV series Judge Rinder’s Crime Stories. The episode which aired on ITV saw Stuart playing Senior Investigating Officer Kevin Flint of Nottinghamshire Police in a dramatised reconstruction of the events surrounding the investigation into the brutal murder of 87-year-old Mansfield resident Gladys Godfrey in 2002. The show told how the use of a technique known as familial DNA mapping helped to bring Mrs Godfrey’s killer to justice, resulting in the handing down of a life sentence.

Stuart 39, originally from The Wirral travelled from Chester to the ITV Studios at Salford's Media City to film the episode back in April last year. Speaking about filming for the show, Stuart whose previous TV credits include the classic BBC comedy “Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps” said "It was a great experience to work at Media City. The feeling in the studio was difficult to explain, it was strange, we were filming scenes about this awful crime, yet we were having a great time on set. I think we were all trying to lift each other, being very aware of the sensitive nature of what we were portraying".

Stuart, a graduate of the Liverpool Academy of Performing Arts(LIPA) and a drama teacher with Wirral Academy of Performing Arts (WAPA) is also well known to theatregoers for his stage appearances with companies including Tip Top Productions and Chester Little Theatre. Last year, Stuart co-founded theatre company Against The Grain with colleagues Mark and Marian Newman and Paul Crofts. The company made its debut at Storyhouse in Chester in 2019 with a production of “Worldly Women” written by popular Chester based writer Jan Bengree for the Storyhouse Women’s Festival. Other projects to date with Against The Grain have included a sell-out out production of Jan’s "Small Tales" which saw Stuart both acting and directing. Stuart's numerous theatre credits include "Bouncers", "Flint St Nativity", "Fawlty Towers", "The Homecoming", "The Killing of Sister George" and "Glorious!".

Most recently Stuart filmed scenes for “It’s A Sin” (formally “Boys”), a 5-part CH4 drama series by acclaimed Doctor Who and Years and Years screenwriter Russell T Davies OBE starring Olly Alexander which follows the lives of three young gay men in 1980s London as they cope with the start of the AIDS epidemic. In March, prior to Lockdown, Stuart appeared in a production of the classic Ealing comedy “The Ladykilllers” at Chester Little Theatre.

Amongst Stuart’s upcoming projects post Covid will be the staging of brand-new twisted comedy "Mr Dumpling" penned by his good friend and colleague Mark Newman for Against The Grain. The play was due to have been staged by the company at The Forum Studio Theatre in Chester in July this year but sadly had to be postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking about the impact of Covid restrictions on the arts and his desire to perform in front of a live theatre audience as soon as restrictions are lifted Stuart said "I don't think people fully realise the impact that the restrictions around the closure of theatres and other venues continues to have on the industry. It's not just the actors, the directors, the people we automatically think about when we hear theatre or film and TV, it's so much more, the dressers, the props team, the set designers, lighting, sound, ushers, box office, caterers I could go on and on. I miss being in a theatre or on set, there's a creative energy there. I miss my students, my colleagues and just being in that environment. My hope for the new year is that things will improve and the industry will bounce back."

Further details of Against The Grain, the theatre company co-founded by Stuart, can be found at www.facebook.com/atgtc

Pictured - Chester-based Actor Stuart Evans who has appeared in an episode of "Judge Rinder's Crime Stories" on ITV.