THOUSANDS of years after the Ruthless Romans, Savage Saxons and Vicious Vikings stormed ashore Britain's coastline and the Gruesome Greeks competed in the first ever Olympic Games, those horribly exciting times can be re-lived at the Grand Opera House, York.

From tomorrow until Saturday, Birmingham Stage Company will present their new Horrible Histories stage shows, Incredible Invaders and Groovy Greeks, with their trademark combination of multiple role-playing actors, 3D Bogglevision special effects and history with the nasty bits left in.

In a thousand-year journey through Incredible Invaders, the Celts are crunched when the Ruthless Romans invade Britain, but will  crazy Caratacus  save the nation?

Next, the best advice is to  hide behind Hadrian’s Wall to witness the Savage Saxons smash their way in, but can you prevent King Alfred burning his buns? Lastly, will you survive the Vicious Vikings as they sail into the audience.

Groovy Greeks invites you to travel from Sparta to angry Athens to discover the truth about growing up in Greece. Take on the Trojans and pummel the Persians. Compete in the first ever Olympic Games and appear in the very first play. Meet your match with the Minotaur and be zapped by Zeus.

Elliot Fitzpatrick is making his Horrible Histories debut in this brace of shows, which will tour Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai later this year. "It's my first time doing the Horrible Histories, but we've been touring since January so I feel settled in," he says.

York Press:

Elliot Fitzpatrick in Horrible Histories: Groovy Greeks

"There are only four of us in the shows so we keep busy, and if we're not on stage at any point, we're probably changing costume, so we each get through 15 to 20 costumes each performance.

"In fact we've just come off stage as I speak to you, so we're sweltering. We get a pretty good workout; each show is about one hour 45 minutes, but it doesn't seem that long as we don't get a moment to sit down."

Elliot is living the Horrible Histories dream by appearing in the stage show. "I was born at the beginning of the 1990s, so I was a huge fan of Terry Deary's books and the TV series," he says.

He is yet to meet Terry Deary, but that will soon change. "Although Terry has been in the theatre three or four times when we've been performing, we've never met because he's always doing book signings where queues stretch for miles and we can't get near him," says Elliot.

"But when we're at the Sunderland Empire from July 12 to 16, he'll be on stage with us in Groovy Greeks, playing Zeus, the role which he's already providing the [pre-recorded] voice for as the show's narrator."

Elliot's range of characters in the two shows finds him going to opposite extremes. "My most important is Alfred the Great; he's the most stoic as far as history is concerned," he says.

"My silliest is Mona, from North Wales, from the time when the Romans invaded and the natives didn't put up much of a fight. He's a bit of a wimp, so what a contrast to the greatest king of all time."

Birmingham Stage Company present Horrible Histories: Incredible Invaders and Groovy Greeks, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow until Saturday. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york