I missed Ladies Of Letters’ original 13-year run on BBC Radio Four. I also missed the television version which followed. I’m relieved that I didn’t make it an unwanted hat-trick by missing the stage adaptation too. 

The currently touring production - penned by Beautiful Thing playwright and Coronation Street writer Jonathan Harvey - stars Tessa Peake-Jones and Gwyneth Strong. Tessa and Gwyneth both had prominent roles in several series of BBC One sitcom Only Fools And Horses, as the partners of brothers Del Boy and Rodney Trotter respectively. Reunited here, they play the two sixtysomething widows of the title, who bond at a wedding when they’re both the worse for wear after consuming too much sherry! 

Irene (Peake-Jones) and Vera (Strong) quickly become the best of frenemies. In the years which follow, they voice their views in the letters which they write to one another. Theirs is a complex relationship, and their letters recount their many and varied humorous life experiences as they try their best to make sense of irksome 21st century issues, find love in their later years and come to terms with how ungrateful, dismissive and increasingly distant their grown-up children have become.

Both actors give solid performances, and even though they directly speak to one another only once during the whole show, there’s a subtle chemistry between them which it’s easy to imagine is the result of all those years spent making television together as the Trotter women in Only Fools. The comedy in the main is gentle but shot through with some real laugh-out-loud moments. The storyline does get a bit silly in the second half, but by that point Peake-Jones and Strong have ensured we’re so invested in their characters that we really don’t mind where the script is taking us.

All in all, Ladies Of Letters is a hugely entertaining celebration of middle-aged female friendship that’s well worth an evening of your time.

Five stars.

Reviewed by Sue Hull at Malvern Theatre on Wednesday 25 May. Ladies of Letters continues to show at the theatre until Sat 28 May. The show will return to the Midlands at Warwick Arts Centre from Tues 7 - Thurs 9 June.