Wagatha Christie play faces plot twist after Rebekah Vardy trademark move

Producers of West End show Vardy v Rooney say surprise legal move to trademark a pun will be referred to in script

A big publicity boost for a West End show can come from the most unexpected thing, but a copyright challenge to the title of the play must be among the most alarming. The producers of Vardy v Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial were trying to establish this weekend whether they needed to make changes to the title of their play after Rebekah Vardy announced last week that she was the legal owner of the phrase “Wagatha Christie”.

“We didn’t see it coming,” said Eleanor Lloyd, the show’s originator and co-producer. “But so far, after looking into it all in the last couple of days, I can see no reason why I can’t go on without changing the name of the show.”