In 2011, he appeared in Backbeat which told the story of the formation and early years of The Beatles. It ran in the Duke of York's Theatre from 10 October 2011 to 18 February 2012, and Blood played the lead role of the "fifth Beatle" Stuart Sutcliffe. Due to the musical nature of the role he has learned to play bass guitar, and also subsequently joined a band, Shaaark. The show was an overwhelming critical success during its West End run. This success took the show to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 24 August 2012 to 31 August 2012, for a run of seven days.