Birmingham Rep has announced key casting news for the World Premiere of the play with songs, Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Humphrey Ker and David Reed, the co-writers of the new comedy whodunnit that begins performances at Birmingham Rep in November 2025, will be playing Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson respectively. They are joined by award-winning comedian and actor John Kearns as Inspector Lestrade and comedy actress and podcaster Margaret Cabourn-Smith. Further casting will be announced soon.
Humphrey Ker said: ‘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.'
David Reed added. ‘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 features original songs by the legendery musical theatre duo Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Sherlock Holmes and the Twelve Days of Christmas will be directed by Phillip Breen with Becky Hope-Palmer. Phillip Breen is currently directing Anna Karenina at Chichester Festival Theatre. His previous credits include Crime and Punishment in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong Arts Festival and The Comedy of Errors for the RSC. Becky Hope-Palmer’s credits include Letters to Our Future Government for Traverse Theatre, Romeo and Juliet for Petersfield Shakespeare Festival and Bridezilla and the Orchard of Sin for The Traverse Theatre/Play and a Pint.
Further members of the creative team announced today are Mark Bailey (Designer), Anna Watson (Lighting Designer), Georgina Lamb (Movement), Renny Krupinksi (Fights) and Helena Palmer (Casting).
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...?
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.
Please note: Not all the actors in the workshop images and video are in the final cast of Sherlock and the 12 Days of Christmas.
Birmingham Rep, Friday 14 November 2025 – Sunday 11 January 2026, Tickets from £25
L to R - Margot Jardine, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, David Reed, Humphrey Ker, John Kearns & Alexia McIntosh. ©Ellie Kurttz
