Mirfield-born actor Patrick Stewart (pictured) returns to Yorkshire in the spring to play a virtual wizard in a hi-tech look at a children's favourite.

Patrick, a former Royal Shakespeare Company actor who became a Hollywood box-office draw thanks to the Star Trek movies, will play the title role in a new production of The Wizard Of Oz at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in March.

Patrick will head a company of eight actors in a production featuring puppets and a virtual cast of hundreds created by new technology.