RENOWNED actor Timothy West returns to Malvern Theatres on Sunday for one performance only of his show A Thousand Years of Christmas.

The show gives Christmas the in-depth treatment, looking at every side of the event from medieval mysticism to a hangover.

The programme draws on a wide variety of music and readings, passing through the centuries and taking in Dickensian scenes, 17th Century frosts and the dark poetry of Ted Hughes.

Timothy West and Sally Bradshaw have been performing this show for several years and have amassed a wide range of diverse material.

Sally Bradshaw sings songs by Britten and Debussy as well as music hall numbers, medieval carols and folk songs.

The show has been a sell-out hit from London to Manila and has been performed on the island of Borneo and in Greece and Italy for the British Council.

In the week following the Malvern appearance, Timothy and Sally take the show to the south of France for two evenings in the Red Pear Theatre, Antibes, after which they come back to the National Portrait Gallery, London, where they will do the show accompanied by Timothy's wife, Prunella Scales.

Timothy has performed most leading Shakespearean and classic roles, and appeared in numerous films and TV programmes.

He was most recently in Malvern in The External earlier this year and Ibsen's The Master Builder in 1999.

Sally Bradshaw has sung in opera and concerts around the world, and her recording of Handel's Agripina was a Sunday Times record of the year.

The show is directed by Michael Haslam, who has worked on one-man shows with Judi Dench, Miriam Margolyes, Maureen Lipman and Barry Humphreys.

Tickets, at £12-£10 (students £8), are available from the box office on 01684 892277.