Tom Chambers to play Ben opposite Giovanna Fletcher in the Before I Go To Sleep tour

Tom Chambers joins the world premiere of Before I Go To Sleep as Ben, the husband of Giovanna Fletcher's Christine, completing the central couple of Rachel Wagstaff's adaptation of the S J Watson novel. The production starts its run at Richmond Theatre on 15 January 2027 and is on the road across the UK and Ireland until 26 June 2027.

Chambers, who won the sixth series of BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in 2008, is familiar to television viewers as Inspector Sullivan in Father Brown, Sam Strachan in Holby City and Max Tyler in Waterloo Road. On stage he has led Top Hat, Crazy for You, Dial M for Murder and Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts. He is with the company up to and including the week at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield (30 March - 3 April 2027), after which he returns to filming.

Fletcher, whose casting was announced earlier, plays every date of the tour and is also an executive producer on the show. She led the UK tour of The Girl on the Train as Rachel Watson, and her other stage credits include Everybody's Talking About Jamie and 2:22 A Ghost Story. Further casting will follow.

The thriller turns on a woman whose memory empties every time she falls asleep. Each morning Christine wakes with no recollection of the past two decades, the man lying next to her included, and as she tries to rebuild her own history she uncovers secrets that make her doubt everyone around her. The production sums it up in its own line: "Memories lie. People do too."

Wagstaff and director Loveday Ingram are the team who brought The Girl on the Train to the stage in 2025, with Fletcher in the lead. They are joined by Justin Nardella on set, costume and video design, Jason Taylor on lighting and Gareth Fry on sound, and the producer is Josh Andrews.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining Giovanna in Before I Go To Sleep," said Chambers. "It's such a brilliantly unsettling story, and what I love about it is that you're never quite sure who or what to believe. Ben is a fascinating character to play, particularly in a story where memory and trust are so closely intertwined."

Fletcher said: "I'm so excited to have Tom joining the cast of Before I Go To Sleep as Christine's husband, Ben. It's such a gripping story and the relationship between Christine and Ben is right at the heart of it." She added that the show reunites her with Wagstaff and Ingram: "The dream team are back together and now we get to welcome Tom into the fold."

Watson's debut, published in 2011, has sold more than six million copies and been translated into over 40 languages. It won the Crime Writers' Association Award for Best Debut Novel and the Galaxy National Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year, and became the 2014 film with Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong. A sequel, Before I Sleep Forever, brings Christine Lucas back on 6 May 2027 from Orenda Books, while the play is still on tour. "Theatre offers such an exciting way to explore the uncertainty and suspense at the heart of the novel," said Watson.