An actor and writer who plays Lord Archer in a self-penned show came face-to-face with the man himself when he performed A Prison Diary.
Mike Darnell was giving the one-man show, based on Lord Archer's book on his prison experiences, its second outing at the Old Market, Hove, on Friday.
The peer was in the audience and went backstage afterwards to say how much he enjoyed the play.
Mr Darnell said: "He came to my dressing room and said he enjoyed it. It was a pleasure meeting him but it is very disconcerting for an actor to play somebody sitting in the audience."
Mr Darnell wrote to Lord Archer asking him for permission to turn the book, which covers his first three weeks in jail at Belmarsh prison, London, into a one-man show.
Mr Darnell said: "The play is really not about Archer but about prison reform and I believe what he has written is the best book about prison conditions since Charles Dickens."
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