A GROUP of amateur dramatists have been given the very best of luck after a well-known TV face wished them well.

Guy Henry, star of Holby City, sent a message to the Highcliffe Charity Players for their forthcoming show I don't mean to be rude, but.

The Christchurch local, who made his debut with the players at the age of 11 as one of the footmen in the pantomime Cinderella, has been the club's president since 2013.

Mr Henry, who has appeared with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and played Pius Thicknesse in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, currently plays the director of surgery Henrik Hanssen.

In his message to the players he said: "They may not mean to be rude but I expect they shall be. Certainly my mother hasn't been quite the same since witnessing the last revue - and, having been married to my father for a number of years, she's not easily shocked. Or amused for that matter.

"In fact the revue's menu seems to be full of diverse delights. I've yet to see The Book of Mormon but I know some of the songs and they're terrific. And the soaring melodies of Miss Saigon are great favourites of mine. They were the soundtrack of a rather romantic summer I had at Chichester Festival Theatre in 1994. But stop prying into my affairs, you naughty sausages.

"I gather there'll be a tribute to Sinatra - hurrah! I once said to a friend that the wonderful English singer Matt Monro 'couldn't hit a wrong note if he tried' to which my friend replied 'that's why he's not a genius like Frank Sinatra' (I think I know what he meant).

"I'm sure there will be a plethora of expert note-hitting and saucy japes ahead of us in this year's HCP revue - and there's a bar. Mine's a large one. Bottom's up to a great show."

I don't mean to be rude, but runs until Saturday (Sept 12), at St Mark's Hall.

Tickets can be bought from the Regent Centre in Christchurch.