STAR of Outnumbered, Tyger Drew-Honey, has spilt the beans on The Anvil's upcoming Christmas pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, while also sharing what it was like when he found out the hit BBC show is returning.
The actor, best known for playing Jake Brockman in Outnumbered, will take to the stage in The Anvil between Thursday, December 12 and Sunday, January 5, starring as The Prince in Sleeping Beauty.
Speaking to the Gazette, Tyger explained what he hopes to bring to his performance.
He said: "I'm hoping to bring a bit of comedy to this year's show. I know that it's going to be written comically and fantastically, and hopefully give me a lot of opportunity to play with and bring Christmas joy to all who come and see us.
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"I have a little bit of experience as a Prince Charming, obviously they are not the same character, but I think there is a sense of regality that comes across in the voice.
"It's quite nice having proper riding boots to help me walk around regally."
Tyger talked about how he has never visited the town before, and was impressed by The Anvil.
He said: "I'm really excited to be here at The Anvil performing this year. It's a tremendous theatre.
"I can tell the space is going to be electrified when we're performing.
"It's going to be great fun and I'm really looking forward to being here.
"Strangely, I only live about 45 minutes away, but I've never come to Basingstoke before, I've never had the need to.
"Thankfully, it's actually close enough that I can commute back and forth to work, so haven't got to stay here, not that I'd mind staying here, because it looks beautiful. I drove in today. The sun was shining. There's no litter on the streets and the place was easy to find."
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Tyger revealed that although he hasn't seen the script yet, the cast are passionate about performing.
He said: "I haven't seen the script, but judging by the people I've met and the passion, I think there's going to be lots of special things about this show.
"The cast that I've met so far are all super professional, talented people. I'm sure that goes for everyone in the production, everyone in the company, and hopefully, by the end of the run, others will consider me having been in that category."
With Outnumbered returning to our screens during the festive period, the Gazette took the opportunity to ask Tyger about how he feels about returning to the Brockman household.
He explained that his initial reaction was emotional: "It's an amazing phone call to get, it's actually a phone call that brought me tears when I found out we were going to do another Outnumbered Christmas special.
"We went for a big meal with all the bigwigs recently at a very fancy restaurant, all the cast and all the producers and writers and directors.
"One of the great things about that show is, over the years, the crew was always the same, the cast was always the same, the writers, everyone was always the same.
"So it's people that we've known for many, many years that we haven't seen for many, many years.
"It was just great to get back together, and I'm really looking forward to getting back on the Outnumbered set, and bringing a bit more Christmas cheer in Outnumbered as well as the panto."
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Directing and also starring in the pantomime as Lester the Jester is Christopher Pizzey, who is best known for playing Mr Stephen in The Basil Brush Show on CBBC.
He explained how he has plans to bring "lots of fun" to this year's Christmas production in Basingstoke, he said: "Sleeping Beauty is a fantastic, very old, beautiful tale.
"We have got some great ideas of how we are going to bring it to Basingstoke at The Anvil this year, we have got lots of fun, some cracking voices, some huge numbers, a little bit of magic in there and a lot of comedy. This is going to be a spectacular show, I am very excited about it.
"I'm lucky, I keep returning here, they haven't worked out how to get rid of me yet and I love that because it means that I can't just rest on my laurels, I have got to come up with new jokes every year - lots of new fun - and keep it fresh for everyone.
"I like to wind the kids up, get them going because, for me, that is what panto is all about - the children. It's about having a great, funny, family show, so that's what we are going to give them. We are going to hopefully tire your kids out."
He said: "They were fantastic days. Funnily enough, when I got that gig as Mr Stephen, I was told it was just going to be a small show.
"We ended up having a million people watching every Friday and we went to 60 countries, it was a fantastic time, I really enjoyed my time with Basil and it's always got a special place in my heart."
Sleeping Beauty herself, actress Elly Jay, from Fraserburgh, Scotland, said she is "very excited" to come to The Anvil.
Elly explained how she loves to see children's faces light up while performing in panto.
She said: "It's a beautiful art to make young kids admire what you are doing and try and be an advocate for them and be like 'you can do this' and just to see their faces when they are like 'wow'.
"I thrive on stage, I use all my emotions throughout the day to put them into my performance, in a healthy way.
"I like to be cheesy but I also like to include the heartfelt emotion, you need to find he lump in your throat moments as well as the 'he's behind you' ones.
"I've never actually done a Sleeping Beauty panto before, so I'm excited to sleep."
She explained how she is "excited" to work alongside her fellow cast members, and will "fully submerge" herself into the Christmas spirit.
She said: "I met Chris and Tyger and they are lovely, I'm super excited to work with both of them.
"Panto is such a lovely contract because it is very short, everybody fully submerges themselves in it because it is over the Christmas period and you want to all be in this happy place because you are all away from family and want to support each other."
Elly talked about her hopes for the panto, saying: "Hopefully I'll take people on a bit of a journey, I'm hoping that the whole of Basingstoke has got a ticket and to sprinkle some joy around the area, and for everyone to have a good Christmas, a panto is always the cherry on top around Christmas."
Readers can find out more about The Anvil's Sleeping Beauty by visiting: anvilarts.org.uk/events/sleeping-beauty.
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