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]
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