SUSAN Hampshire, Eileen Atkins and George Cole are among the big names from the stage coming to Malvern Theatres early next year.

A jam-packed programme also features a host of other big personalities from the world of music, musicals and ballet.

Susan Hampshire's glittering career began when she was spotted on a train as a 10 year-old by a talent scout wanting to cast a child to play Jean Simmons's daughter in a film.

She got the part, went back to school and made her theatrical debut 11 years later. She will appear in Malvern in the first week of February in Alan Bennett's comedy The Lady in the Van, playing the cantankerous, rude and self-centered central role.

Eileen Atkins has an equally distinguished CV. In April she teams up with Henry Goodman in Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, a great play full of menace and ambiguity.

Nicholas Lyndhurst and Julian Glover bring Ronald Harwood's The Dresser at the end of January. Judging from the reviews, this is a must-see, even if you remember Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney in the film version.

George Cole started as a teenage actor. His Arthur Daley in Minder was one of TV's classic performances. He appears in mid-February in Richard Harris's comedy Party Piece. Anyone wishing to spot a star of the future should watch out in the cast list for Finty Williams, Dame Judi Dench's daughter.

Barbara Dickson, Van Morrison, Petula Clark and guitarist John Williams provide some of the musical highlights while English Touring Opera makes a welcome return with Mozart and Donizetti. The big musical at the end of February is Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The Russian State Ballet of Siberia (pictured above) appears in March with all-time favourites Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.

Film director and gourmet Michael Winner will talk about his rich and varied life in February and storyteller Rabbi Lionel Blue will appear in April. That's not all. Russ Abbott and Sara Crowe are in Oscar Wilde and there is Shakespeare in the form of The Winter's Tale. For details of these and other must-see attractions, contact the box office on 01684 892277.