Comedian Freddie Starr will be topping the bill for the second half of the autumn/winter season at Malvern Theatres.

The zany performer is bringing his one-man show to the Forum on November 7.

A programme which promises something for everyone also features such well-known entertainers as Rik Mayall and Des O'Connor.

It kicks-off on Monday, October 23, with Louis de Berniere's bestseller Captain Corelli's Mandolin. This musical story is set on the Greek island of Cephalonia and tells a passionate tale of the triumph of life over death.

Narrator Mike Moran is accompanied by world-class musicians Alison Stevens on mandolin and Anne Evans on piano and flute.

Following the success of The Mikado in the spring, the World's oldest opera company Carl Rosa is back with two more Gilbert and Sullivan favourites in the original style.

On November 6-8, they are doing Iolanthe, and on November 9-11, it's the turn of Yeomen of the Guard.

The Almeida Theatre returns to Malvern with their second British premiere of the season. Conversations After A Burial is the new play by Yasmina Reza, author of the international hit Art. David Calder and one of Britain's most distinguished actresses, Claire Bloom, star in this web of love affairs, infidelities, deceits and betrayals on November 14-18.

On November 16-17, the Richard Alston Dance Company returns with an autumnal feat for all dance lovers. In Waltzes In Disorder, Slow Air Almost All and The Signal of a Shake, Alston has created full-throttle dancing of both melting tenderness and wild abandon.

Another welcome return is on November 20, when explorer and broadcaster Benedict Allen presents another Royal Geographical Society lecture.

Entitled Last of the Medicine Men, it covers travels to Haiti, Siberia and Mexico, where Allen explored the mysterious world of vodou priests, shamans and witchdoctors.

Celebrating the music of the late, great Freddie Mercury, Queen Magic play in the Forum on November 25.

Richard Swerrun, local boy made good and star of last winter's Aladdin, performs with his seven-piece band on December 1, in aid of the Malvern Theatres Equipment Campaign.

The evening of cabaret includes songs from Lennon and McCartney, Lloyd Webber and Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Des O'Connor, one of Britain's most popular entertainers, is back in the Festival Theatre on December 2 with his special brand of comedy, laughter and music.

Malvern Theatre Players return with the ingenious and imaginative Plotters of Cabbage Patch Corner, which is visually exciting, has terrific songs and lots of audience participation. A sequel to last year's The Gingerbread Man, runs from December 5-9 and 26-30.

Rik Mayall makes his Malvern debut in A Family Affair, by Agnes Jaqui and Jean-Pierre Bacri, on December 11-16.

And the Carl Rosa Opera Company return on December 19-30 with a lavish production of Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus.

Tickets for all these shows are available, from the box office or on 892277.