TYLDESLEY Little Theatre welcomes in the New Year with a suitably chilling mystery for the cold, dark nights of January.

The show, period thriller The Edge of Darkness, is one close to director Ian Taylor's heart as it is presented in tribute to one of his favourite screen and stage writers, Brian Clemens, who died last year.

Clemens is perhaps best known for his television work on The Avengers, The Professionals and the spooky 1970s anthology series Thriller. He also provided scripts for some of the spookiest suspense thrillers of the 1970s, such as And Soon the Darkness starring Michelle Dotrice and Blind Terror starring Mia Farrow.

Clemens went on to write prolifically for the theatre and The Edge of Darkness is typical of his sinister work, featuring mysterious manservants, sleepwalking heroines with a subconscious fear of knives and plenty of twists and turns before the good guys (if there are any) at least try to save the day.

Ian said: “On screen, Brian’s work was brought to life by vibrant performers such as Tom Baker, Bette Davies and Jenny Agutter so I knew that I needed an impressive cast to match them on stage. So I gathered a number of players who are either award-winners or have been principal members of award winning shows.

“The key character of Emma, an amnesiac girl brought to a strange house for reasons unclear is played by Alana Howarth-Lees, who last year won the Best Actress Under 21 award at the Greater Manchester Drama Awards.”

Other cast members include Rhiannon Williams, Alex Clarke, Karen Ward and Connor Parkinson.

The show will run from January 26 to 30 at the theatre in Lemon Street, Tyldesley.

Tickets are on sale and selling fast. They are available via the box office number 01204 655619.