THE League Of Gentlemen play York Barbican tonight on their first British tour in 12 years.

BAFTA Award-winning comedy legends Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson are bringing their dark and unhinged fictional village of Royston Vasey to theatres and arenas across the country in their new show The League of Gentlemen Live Again!.

The proponents of the blackest of black comedy first appeared on BBC Two from 1999 to 2002 and returned to the nation's television screens last Christmas for three special episodes to mark the comedy troupe's 20th anniversary.

Looking forward to their August and September tour, Shearsmith, Pemberton, Gatiss and Dyson said: "The League Of Gentlemen started as a live show over 20 years ago and in many ways performing in front of an audience gives us the biggest thrill of all.

"We’re overjoyed to be taking the citizens of Royston Vasey on a roadtrip and can’t wait to see all the wonderful local places in our increasingly local country. Plus we’d already gone to the trouble of getting the costumes and learning the voices again for the TV show so we thought 'why not?'. Something to do isn’t it?"

What can tonight's 7.30pm audience expect? "We’re doing some old favourites and some new stuff and some sort of sequels from the three specials," said Gatiss. "There are some storylines that do continue from where we left them last Christmas."

And when might The League Of Gentlemen make another TV series, Mr Gatiss? "I don’t know, we’ll see. This took 15 years so we might leave it another 15 years for the next!" he suggested.

To check for ticket availability, ring 0844 854 2757 or visit the Barbican box office.