00:00Music
00:06I'm playing the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in High Wycombe at the Swan Theatre this
00:11Christmas,
00:12also starring Anne Whittacombe.
00:13It's, I suppose, a role that I'm slightly familiar with as I play a similar Wicked Queen on Strictly Come
00:21Dancing.
00:22We're going to be working with Great Ormond Street to put on what we believe to be the world's first
00:27Skype pantomime
00:28of Peter Penn from Lendudno in Wales directly into the Children's Hospital this Christmas.
00:34Having the pantomime, a virtual pantomime in the hospital at Christmas is something that's really special.
00:40Christmas is obviously a very difficult time of year for a lot of families.
00:43The hospital does everything they can to make sure as many families and children go home for Christmas,
00:48but obviously there are children who can't do that and need to be here for treatment throughout the Christmas period.
00:53Xavier's got end of stage renal failure, which means his kidneys no longer function, so he needs dialysis three times
01:02a week.
01:02And we were hoping to get home this Christmas, but Xavier caught an infection, which meant that he lost his
01:09transplant kidney,
01:11so we're back to having dialysis three times a week.
01:14A lot of the families we see are long-term, and unfortunately some of them do end up here for
01:19Christmas.
01:20But what we try to do is make it as fun as possible, because obviously they want to be at
01:24home with their family,
01:24they want to be with their siblings.
01:26To have something like today with some pantomime characters coming in, having a bit of fun,
01:29cheering them up a bit is actually a real treat and something really special.
01:34Kids love it. I mean, they love the pantomime, they love all the characters that come and visit them,
01:40they love all the celebrities that come and visit them.
01:43Yeah, it's amazing what he's done today, what everyone's done today.
01:48I think it's lovely what they've done for the children.
01:54Strictly this year, I have to say, has been absolutely phenomenal.
01:58We've had the most amazing cast, I think, ever.
02:02You know, really A-list celebs, people that really want to be there, people that actually can dance, and some
02:11surprises.
02:12Lisa Riley, for instance, you know, who would have thought that she'd be able to get up there and give
02:16a, you know,
02:17chan-chan disco and all of that.
02:19I think it's going to be the people's choice, and I think they'll probably go for an underdog this year.
02:26And maybe it could be Lisa Riley, who knows.
02:31The Wicked Queen in panto that I play, I think, is far more enchanting.
02:36And it's an opportunity for people to come and boo me and mark my dancing,
02:43because I do a dance with Anne Whittacombe, which I wouldn't even give myself a wonderful dance.
02:48So, it is good fun.
02:51And the beauty is the fact that they can bring a panto, which is Peter Pan, to the kids here
02:58at Christmas time.
02:59If we can just cheer the kids up, I think it would be so fantastic.
03:05but I'll see you in the next video.
03:11You
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