Play is a hilarious study of human relationships

9:00am Wednesday 11th June 2008

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NATHANIEL Parker and Christopher Timothy go back to school as they star in Simon Gray's comedy Quartermaine's Terms - at the Theatre Royal Bath until Saturday, June 14.

The staff common room at a Cambridge School of English is filled with the vivid and idiosyncratic characters of academic life, none more so than the affable, if somewhat befuddled, St.John Quartermaine (played by Nathaniel Parker).

Whilst his colleagues lead varied and exciting lives around him, Quartermaine bumbles through an existence which has remained cosily the same for years. However, with the prospect of the appointment of a new principal, a wind of change appears to be on its way.

Written with the sparkling wit and incisiveness for which Simon Gray is acclaimed, Quartermaine's Terms is a fascinating and frequently hilarious study of human relationships. In Bath, this sharp-witted play stars two of the UK's most popular actors.

Nathaniel Parker can currently be seen on television as Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the title role he has played in seven series of the BBC's hugely successful The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. His many television appearances also include the roles of Harold Skimpole in Bleak House and Albert Speer in Nuremburg. His film work includes the role of Wilfred Owen in War Requiem, which also starred Laurence Olivier, and the 2007 film Stardust. On stage, he has performed on a number of occasions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including as Bassanio in Peter Hall's 1989 production of The Merchant of Venice with Dustin Hoffman in London and on Broadway. More recently, he starred in the West End revival of David Mamet's Speed the Plow in 2000.

Christopher Timothy, who appears as Henry Windscape, became a household name playing vet James Herriot in the long-running BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. He has seldom been off our screens since, and recently created the leading role of Dr Brendan Mac' MacGuire in the BBC hospital drama Doctors, which he also directed. His many performances at the Theatre Royal Bath include, most recently, Hay Fever with Stephanie Beacham in June 2007; Heroes with Art Malik and Michael Jayston in September 2006; and The Safari Party in May 2006.