Steven Moffat has announced that his new play, The Unfriend, has been delayed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The play, directed by Moffat's frequent collaborator Mark Gatiss, was due to run at the Chichester Festival Theatre from July until August this year and was the pair's latest project since miniseries Dracula aired in January.

Moffat said via Twitter: "Sorry to those of you who booked, but that's The Unfriend delayed till next year – we'll put an extra joke in it to make it worth the wait."

The tweet followed news from Chichester Festival Theatre stating that the venue had cancelled all scheduled productions for the remainder of this year.

The Unfriend was due to star Sherlock's Amanda Abbington and Inside Number 9's Reece Shearsmith as married couple Peter and Debbie who return from holiday to find an unexpected visitor on their doorstep played by Frances Barber.

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"The Unfriend takes a hugely entertaining and satirical look at middle-class England's disastrous instinct always to appear nice. Manners can be murder," the play's description states.

Moffat and Gatiss have previously written together on Doctor Who and Sherlock, with Gatiss also acting in both.

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