Steve Coogan in Dr Strangelove: What you need to know about this explosive new stage adaptation and how to find tickets

Learn all about the theatre version of Stanley Kubrick’s satire and plan your Dr Strangelove London trip

Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 film Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a blistering Cold War satire. Starring Peter Sellers, it encapsulates that era’s paranoia and the absurdity of what felt at times like an existential crisis.
Now, Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley have adapted the movie into a stage play, with Foley directing and Steve Coogan starring. It follows a US Air Force general, Jack D Ripper, who orders a nuclear attack on the USSR – even though the Pentagon didn’t actually order the assault. A furious President Merkin Muffley orders the army to arrest General Ripper and stop it, but one of his advisors suggests warning the Soviet Premier instead.
There’s just one problem: the Russians have built a doomsday device, and if the nuclear attack takes place, buried cobalt bombs will detonate, making all of Earth uninhabitable. Can it be stopped? Join Steve Coogan for the end of the world – and, oddly, plenty of laughs along the way.
You can find seats for the London production of Dr Strangelove on Telegraph Tickets. Check the site for the latest prices. 
Dr Strangelove originally featured the great Peter Sellers playing multiple parts: a British RAF officer, the US President, and the title character, a wheelchair-using former Nazi who is a nuclear war expert. The film also featured George C Scott and James Earl Jones.
Now we’ll see Steve Coogan succeeding Sellers and also taking on several roles in this new stage show. Coogan is best known for his enduring comic creation Alan Partridge, but his work also includes TV series The Trip, Oscar-nominated movie Philomena, and his Bafta-nominated portrayals of Stan Laurel and Jimmy Savile.
The fresh adaptation is by Armando Iannucci and Sean Foley. Iannucci worked on The Day Today and I’m Alan Partridge, before going on to create the peerless political sitcoms The Thick of It and Veep, winning numerous Emmy Awards. Sean Foley had early success with his Oliver-winning The Play What I Wrote, and recently directed The Upstart Crow.
Dr Strangelove runs at the Noël Coward Theatre, which is on St Martin’s Lane, right in the heart of the West End, and close to Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square.
The running time of Dr Strangelove is 2hr 15, including an interval.
Dr Strangelove is currently booking to December 21, 2024. 
Children under the age of three will not be admitted to Dr Strangelove.
Yes, the show offers audio-described, signed and captioned performances. Find more information on the theatre website about Dr Strangelove accessible performances.
Dr Strangelove is a darkly comic satire of the Cold War era with its mix of real nuclear danger and absurd paranoia. In particular, Stanley Kubrick was struck by the peculiar comedy he could see in the mutually assured destruction plan – and how easily it could go wrong.
It’s certainly appropriate for an adult audience. The Cold War setting will appeal to history enthusiasts, while the wry sense of humour echoes previous political satire by Armando Iannucci.