Poldark's Aidan Turner to make West End debut as a 'cat-loving terrorist'

Once filming is completed on the fourth and penultimate series of the runaway BBC hit Poldark, Aidan Turner will fill his time with a decidedly less romantic character.

Turner will make his West End debut in 2018 in the controversial black comedy The Lieutenant of Inishmore, written by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Martin McDonagh.

Turner plays an Irish terrorist by the name of Mad Padraic, who cares more for his cat Wee Thomas than Irish independence. When Wee Thomas dies, Mad Padraic embarks on a rampage through the streets of Belfast in pursuit of revenge.

"I think people will be surprised," Turner told the Daily Mail. "It's the furthest I can get from Ross Poldark that I can possibly imagine."

The Lieutenant of Inishmore is one of two plays announced today by the Michael Grandage Company, with 25 per cent of the tickets available for just £10.

Tickets are available from 10am today for the show, which will open on July 4 at the Noël Coward Theatre, following previews that start on June 23. It will run until the 8th of September.

Also running from the Michael Grandage Company will be a revival of John Logan's Red at the Wyndham Theatre, starring Alfred Molina as the painter Mark Rothko. Alfred Enoch, best known for his role on the US series How to Get Away with Murder, will costar. Red will run May 4 until July 28.

Turner previously suggested that he was looking to return to theatre, after taking time away to work in film and television.

"I miss the stage," he told Women's Wear Daily earlier this year. "I was trained in theatre; I went to drama school and then exclusively did theatre for about six years. It's my background; it's where I come from. I've been away from it a long time, so it's about time."

Tickets for both The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Red can be bought via DelfontMackintosh.co.uk from 10am.