STAGE legend Christopher Biggins is returning to the theatre where his career as a panto dame began.
Pantomime season is almost upon us (oh, yes, it is) – and there is nothing like a dame to make the show go with a bang.
Nobody does it better and nobody has perhaps done it longer than Christopher Biggins, who returns to Darlington 45 years after he reluctantly accepted his first cross-dressing Christmas role at the former Civic Theatre.
He joked: “I was here 40 years ago appearing in panto three years in a row, but it has taken them this long to ask me back.”
The star has performed in just about every pantomime, from Aladdin to Jack and the Beanstalk, only missing one season since he first donned Mother Goose’s costume in 1974.
The multi-talented actor, writer and raconteur is still a regular on television with slots on Countdown, Ant and Dec’s Saturday Takeaway and numerous quiz shows.
He recalled the first time he was asked to play a dame.
“I was pretty insulted to be asked because I was only 27 years old and it seemed to me that people who played dames were old, maybe in their 80s.
“They kept asking me and I kept turning it down even though a lot of people I knew kept asking me, including Peter Tod, who ran the Civic.
“He said did I know it was £1,000 a week. I couldn’t believe it. This was the early 70s and that was a lot of money so I agreed. And I absolutely loved it.”
Mr Biggins, now 73, won over a whole new legion of fans when he was crowned King of the Jungle after winning series seven of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here – the only year in his career he was absent from the panto stage.
He added: “I missed a year when I went into the jungle for I’m a Celebrity and I don’t do as much work these days.
“I still do a quiz shows and Countdown and I’m quite happy reading an autocue, but as you get older, you sort of calm down a bit and you don’t do as much because you need an enormous amount of energy to do pantos.
“But I love doing it [panto]. I’m happy doing anything with an audience because you get to see what they enjoy.”
And Mr Biggins will be back in Darlington at the Hippodrome starring in The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan.
The swashbuckling adventure will be a fun-filled extravaganza with laugh-out-loud comedy, stunning scenery and plenty of audience participation.
Joining Mr Biggins will be comedian Rikki Jay as Smee, panto favourite Steve Arnott as Captain Hook, Peter Peverley, as Starkey and West End performers James Hammed and Tegan Bannister, who take on the roles of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, along with newcomer Sheri Lineham as Wendy.
Mr Biggins added: “It’s a lovely job. I really enjoy it and I love the audience.
“I really have been lucky. When I won I’m a Celebrity that was wonderful because it was voted for by the public and it’s a wonderful feeling when you have the public behind you.”
The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan runs from Friday, December 9, until Saturday, December 31. Tickets are on sale now with early booking advised. For full details and to book visit www.darlington hippodrome.co.uk or call the box office on 01325 405405.
