Photos: Oliver Thornton and Ben Forster In THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW!

Since its first appearance at The Royal Court Theatre in June 1973, Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror has been performed worldwide for nearly 40 years in over 30 countries in every continent and has been translated into more than 20 languages.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary, Christopher Luscombe is creating a new production for a year-long UK national tour starting at Brighton's Theatre Royal on 20 December 2012.

West End star Oliver Thornton, who has appeared in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Phantom Of the Opera, Les Miserables, Chicago and Starlight Express, will follow in the footsteps of Tim Curry when he stars as Frank N Furter in this anniversary tour which runs from December 2012 to November 2013.

Rhydian, who shot to fame on X Factor before starring in We Will Rock You and Grease, will play Frank's creation Rocky, while former Emmerdale and Waterloo Road actress Roxanne Pallett plays Janet and Ben Forster, who won the ITV1 series Superstar and then went on to play the lead in the arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, will play as Brad. Philip Franks, from The Darling Buds of May and Heartbeat, will play the Narrator.

Ben Forster and Roxanne Pallett as Brad and Janet

Rhydian as Rocky Horror

Oliver Thornton as Frank N Furter