Dallas star Patrick Duffy looking forward to Blackpool stage role

Patrick Duffy was more used to the hot Texan sun than the breezy Fylde coast when he starred in prime time US television drama Dallas as handsome oil tycoon Bobby Ewing.

In its heyday the show had a global audience, but from Monday he will be headlining in Catch Me If You Can at Blackpool's Grand Theatre.

Appearing alongside him is Linda Purl, his partner in real life, who has an equally impressive TV record stretching from Happy Days to Homeland.

But for now the pair are loving being on the road as part of a six month theatre tour taking them across the country.

Linda said: "We are looking forward to being by the seashore and coming into contact with your audience at what I understand is one of the jewels of theatre in England."

But she adds: "I have Californian blood so if we take a walk on the sands, we will be very bundled up!"

The couple fell in love via Zoom during the pandemic, and jumped at the chance to share the stage in this classic thriller.

Patrick says: "Working together is a treat and that's part of the draw. Yes we're a couple and live together, and are in love, but on stage we are protagonists and it's a real test.

"And a lot of people who come to the play know our story and that we're together.

"But we dropped all our commitments in the US to come over here and do this."

Patrick famously left Dallas only to return, with Bobby back from the dead in the famous shower scene.

It turned out it was all a dream, and while fans of the show had to suspend their own reality to take it all in, most welcomed the restoration of the Ewing brothers at Southfork.

Patrick said: "Dallas was one of the greatest things to happen in my career. I don't think I would have been asked to do this play if it hadn't been for Dallas.

"I owe so much of what my life has become to that show.

"I think people are getting used to the fact that I played Bobby and I'm not Bobby. I'm glad they come to see me on stage because of that history, but glad they see another page in the history of me."

As for the chances of Dallas ever coming back to our screens, Patrick quips: "If that is ever going to happen, they had better hurry!

"If Bobby is going to be in it, he'll probably be in a nursing home!"

Having experienced the somewhat outlandish plots of Dallas, it is perhaps no surprise Patrick is enjoying the twists and turns of Catch Me If You Can.

He said: "It's not a dark murder mystery, there are as many laughs as there are gasps. The audience takes the ride with us.

"The people here are really listening and they are there not just to listen, but to participate.

"This play drops loads of red herrings so by the end they are thinking, oh so that's what's happened."

The couple are delighted to be performing in front of live audiences and helping with the revival of theatre-going after the pandemic.

They understand the importance of theatres such as The Grand to the communities they serve.

Linda said: "Especially now coming out of the pandemic, it's a moving experience to be at a live event and coming together as a collective.

"We have a spectacular cast and it is a fast paced, quick-witted piece.

"It's always terrifying to go on stage because the possibility of falling apart is there, but especially now when we have all been separated by the pandemic, the opportunity to come together is a real honour."

Catch Me If You Can is at The Grand Theatre from March 7 to 12

To book tickets call (01253) 290190, go to www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk or visit the box office on Church Street