Les Dennis and Warwick Davis join Spamalot cast

Davis and Dennis starred together in Life's Too Short

Les Dennis and Star Wars actor Warwick Davis are to star in the hit stage show Spamalot, in London's West End.

Dennis is joining the cast as King Arthur on 3 August, while Davis will make his West End debut when he takes on the role of Patsy on 23 September.

Dennis, who appeared with Davis in the BBC comedy Life's Too Short, said he was "really looking forward to always looking on the bright side of life".

He is scheduled to appear in the musical until 2 November.

"As a kid I was always a massive fan of Monty Python so when Spamalot came to town I thought, 'I'd really love to be in that'," he said

"And now I'm excited that I'm actually not just in it, but playing the lead role."

Davis said he "jumped" at the opportunity to star in the show.

"I've been in hit TV shows and blockbuster Hollywood movies, but you are never really taken seriously as an actor until you've done a play," he said.

Role of God

Spamalot currently stars Bonnie Langford as Lady of the Lake.

The current run will also feature a video recording of different celebrities, including Barbara Windsor, Christopher Biggins and Larry Lamb, playing the role of God for one week.

Spamalot, written by Monty Python star Eric Idle and John Du Prez, and directed by Christopher Luscombe, is showing at the Playhouse Theatre.

Like Monty Python And The Holy Grail, the film upon which it is based, the stage comedy is about a group of medieval knights searching for the mythical Holy Grail but the plot broadens out to spoof Broadway, and various musicals, including those of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The stage show premiered on Broadway in 2005 and went on to win three Tony Awards.

Last month a film producer won a High Court case against the surviving members of Monty Python over royalty rights to Spamalot.

Mark Forstater, who co-produced the 1975 film, claimed he was underpaid royalties since the musical's launch in 2005.