ACTOR Simon Ward's not about to reveal the final twist in the tail of the glossy romantic thriller Double Double which will be keeping audiences guessing at York's Grand Opera House from Tuesday to Saturday next week.

The play, scripted appropriately enough by double act Eric Elice and Roger Rees, "twists and turns like a snake, and just when you think you know the answers, changes course again" - at least if you believe the publicity.

But veteran stage and screen star Ward, 59, insists this is one play that really does keep audiences on their toes.

"Nobody I know has been able to forecast what will happen or work out what's really going on until the end," he says.

Double Double casts Anita Harris as Phillippa James, a woman whose husband Richard has just died only a few weeks before his 45th birthday, when he was due to inherit a £1 million trust fund.

She picks up London down-and-out Duncan McFee (Ward) - and on noticing he bears an uncanny resemblance to her husband, asks Duncan to impersonate him so she can convince the family solicitor Richard is alive and well, and collect the money.

"She tells him if he will impersonate her husband, they will be able to share £1 million," Ward says. "But all is not quite as it seems - just like real life."

There's no deep philosophical moralising in the play, and no soap-box proselytising, Ward says - just a good night out at the theatre. It's funny, romantic and exciting - and no, Duncan doesn't turn out to be Richard in disguise, in case you think you've guessed the ending already. "He's exactly what he says he is - just a guy on the street," Ward says.

Ward, whose TV credits include An Inspector Calls, A Taste For Death and The World Of Wooster and whose face is familiar from cameo roles in a number of films, admits he relishes the challenge of the stage.

On film and TV, the actor has to reduce his performance because the screen brings greater intimacy. On the stage, everything - movements, facial expressions - is on a large scale, but has to be no less convincing for that. But performing live in a theatre filled with crowds of people is something special, he says.

Performances of Double Double are at 7.30pm Tuesday to Friday April 24-27, 5pm and 8pm Saturday April 28. Tickets are on sale at £8 to £18 on 01904 671818.