Panto legend Christopher Biggins is promising something truly spectacular when he returns to Southampton’s Mayflower for panto this year.
The show is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs running from December 9-31, with Christopher slipping into the role of Man in the Mirror.
The show is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs running from December 9-31, with Christopher slipping into the role of Man in the Mirror.
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00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspaper. Now, the
00:06 Mayflower Panto in Southampton is always one of the very, very best in the area, in the
00:10 region, on the South Coast. But we've got the real icing on the cake this year. We have
00:15 none other than Christopher Biggins. And you are, what, 49 years into your panto career?
00:21 Oh, don't, don't. I know I'm old. I'm 75 this Christmas, but I should be 75 in the theatre,
00:29 the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. That's my...
00:32 Oh, during the run.
00:33 Yeah. And I, it's so funny because always the cast take me out or we do something on
00:39 my birthday. But you know, it's the last thing you want to do is I get older and older and
00:43 older, is celebrate yet another year. But 75 this year, I cannot believe. I mean, when
00:48 I was young...
00:49 Well, that's a good sign. It's flashback, clearly.
00:51 Well, I suppose so. How old's your mother, by the way?
00:54 My mother, she's 84. 84 in the year.
00:57 Oh, because we share...
00:58 You are spring chicken.
01:00 Yeah. Well, tell her, because I have an expression, which is a Betty Davis said this, "Getting
01:07 old is not for sissies."
01:09 Absolutely. Well, panto keeps you young, doesn't it?
01:13 It certainly does.
01:14 That must be one of your secrets. Because what is it that keeps you coming back to panto
01:18 year after year?
01:19 I just love the audiences. I love the whole thing about, you know, it's for families.
01:28 It's laughter. It's gaiety. It's everything you could possibly want. It's a wonderful
01:33 two hours in the theatre to take people out of themselves and let them forget the woes
01:39 of the world, which of course now are huge. I mean, you know, this is not a pleasant time
01:45 to be alive. I mean, there's so many things against us. I can't believe that we're at
01:50 war in several parts of the world. I can't believe that we've got food banks. I can't
01:55 believe that, you know, going out to eat at a restaurant is now you have to take out a
01:59 mortgage. It's just everywhere, you know.
02:02 And we were saying just now, part of the attraction of panto is that the pleasures are in the
02:08 nicest way. So simplistic, aren't they? They're not completely impenetrable TV thrillers,
02:13 are they?
02:14 No, it's happening.
02:15 No, but it is just wonderful. People can go and really enjoy themselves. And luckily I
02:23 work for a company called Crossroads who have the best and the biggest pantomimes in the
02:31 world. And, you know, they do the Palladian pantomime with Julian Clary, which is out.
02:36 Have you ever seen one of Julian's pantomimes?
02:38 Yes. And the effects are stunning. Well, the performances are brilliant, but the effects
02:42 all around are fantastic.
02:43 Oh, well, the effects. And that's what people want now because television has taken over.
02:49 You can't do a pantomime with just six scenes. You know, you have to give them... I mean,
02:55 last year, the Palladian pantomime... Well, for instance, let's take Snow White and the
02:59 Seven Dwarfs. I'd be flown in and flown out on every entrance.
03:03 Absolutely. And you're going to be dressed as a glitter ball, in effect.
03:07 A glitter ball. I mean, where can you go and see that every day?
03:10 No, that's a promise.
03:13 The Palladian pantomime last year, they had... It was Jack and the Beanstalk. And the bravery
03:19 of the producer saying, I want to take 20 or 25 seats in the middle of the dress of
03:27 the stalls, which is the top price tickets. So 25 tickets had to go to produce the Beanstalk.
03:35 Well, the Beanstalk suddenly raised. I was sitting in the front. And it was there, in
03:41 front of me. And up Jack went, right up to the top of the theatre. Where else can you
03:45 get that? I mean, Beanstalk, yes, but this was some Beanstalk.
03:48 Now, the funny thing is thinking of you playing these lovely roles in Panto, but the first
03:52 time I remember seeing you on TV, you were evil. You were foul. You were nearer. Oh,
03:58 what a role. And it looked like you were enjoying it far too much.
04:02 I loved it. And you know, I honestly believe that in a previous life, I was Nero, because
04:09 it was so easy for me, that part. I just reveled in it.
04:13 That's slightly worrying that you say so.
04:16 I know, it is really. I know how worrying. But you know, it's been on television again.
04:23 It's been repeated.
04:24 Absolutely. And it's just as good, isn't it?
04:27 Do you know what is so extraordinary? Herbie Wise, who directed it, directed it like a
04:32 film. And there are some intimate scenes. And they had no money. You know, the designer
04:36 used to go around the BBC, looking for bits of scenery to use. And those wonderful drapes
04:43 that he had, which moved as people walked past them. It still is one of the great TV
04:48 series.
04:49 With some of the greatest one-liners. Caligula saying, I wouldn't go in there.
04:53 No, the last time, sorry.
04:59 No, no, but it is one of, and the day it was transmitted, the producer of Poldark rang
05:06 the producer of iClaudia and said, what's this big in's like? And he gave me a good
05:10 review. And they offered me the Six Craze Vicar in Poldark. So I went on to play that.
05:16 So my career has been really fascinating from the different roles I've played.
05:21 Absolutely. And with one great divergence, your jungle. Now, are they, in honour of your
05:26 triumph, the Mayflower in the interval, are they going to serve kangaroo penis, do you
05:30 think?
05:31 I hope so. Flavoured ice cream.
05:34 What a thing you did. What a thing. And you really didn't expect to do that well in the
05:43 jungle, did you?
05:44 No. And the other wonderful thing was, on the same tasting, I had to eat a kangaroo's
05:50 paw, testicle, and I bit into it and there was this explosion of liquid in my mouth and
05:56 I had to chew the sack. And then I said, it was just disgusting, I said, nine months later
06:02 I gave birth to a toey.
06:04 So, yeah, I think that might fall into the too much information category. But lovely
06:11 to speak to you, Christopher, and thank you so much for your time and very much look forward
06:16 to seeing you in Southampton.
06:18 And you, Phil. Take care.
06:19 Thank you. Bye bye.
06:21 Bye.
06:22 [BLANK_AUDIO]