Fans of Silksoundbooks star audio book reader Sian Phillips have a real treat in store at the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End.

Although never really a huge hit with the critics, Calendar Girls has opened in the West End with an incredible £1.7 million box office advance.

Tim Firth’s stage adaptation of the hit film stars Lynda Bellingham, Patricia Hodge, Sian Phillips, Gaynor Faye, Brigit Forsyth, Julia Hills and Elaine C Smith.

The story revolves around a group of Women’s Institute friends from the Yorkshire village of Rylstone producing a tongue-in-cheek variant on the Pirelli Calendar to help raise local funds for the battle against leukaemia. At first glance it would look like your classic WI Calendar, with jams, cakes, sewing and all that. Except for one tiny thing…the ladies are nude, modesty spared only by artfully placed cakes, knitting and flower arrangements.

It is a very British story with a very British heart, Calendar Girls is quirky, poignant and hilarious.

Sian Phillips reads Silas Marner by George Elliot, available exclusively from silksoundbooks.com