LAUGHTER will ensure there won’t be a dry eye in the house when Jimmy Cricket returns to the panto stage at the Charter Theatre in Preston next month - 33 years on from his debut at the same venue.

The Northern Irish entertainer, now 69, is treading the boards again and reckons he’s missed only a handful of Christmas seasons in the past three decades. At the time he made his bow in Robinson Crusoe In Outer Space, Jimmy was described as “Britain’s fastest rising TV comedian”.

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Now a veteran, the funnyman is taking on the role of Muddles in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which runs from December 2 to January 3 with a strength-sapping two performances each day.

“Panto has been good for me down the years and it’s a massive part of my life as a comedian,” he said.

“It’s a family-friendly thing, just knock-about humour, and being known for being clean has helped me get these parts down the years.

“You’re really in the bunker for the time you’re doing it but it’s nice and warm in the theatre and in your dressing room and it’s better than being out in the cold!

“It’s special to be back at the Charter and it’s a homecoming of sorts.

Would you believe that one of the staff in 1981, Barney, still works there! “ Several stand-outs spring to mind when Jimmy looks back on his Christmases past.

He said: “The one I did after Robinson Crusoe was at Birmingham Hippodrome with Cilla Black, who became a good friend, and Harry Worth, who arrived in a Rolls-Royce. I was playing Silly Jimmy and he was Harry, King of Ambrosia.

“I then went on to do Jack and the Beanstalk with Cilla and Gareth Hunt, who used to be in The New Avengers and is sadly no longer with us.

“At one point in the story, Cilla pinned Gareth down and asked the audience ‘what shall I do with him?’ “Someone in the audience shouted out ‘sing to him’ and Cilla kept that in the show from then on.”

Among Jimmy’s most memorable times is when he took to the stage at The Alhambra in Bradford.

He explained: “It was Christmas 1987 and the stars were the late, great Paul Shane and Su Pollard.

“Their final season of Hi-di-Hi was being shown on TV at the time and the profile of those two was massive.

“We played packed-out, record-breaking audiences all the way through to February as a result.”

Also registering in the memory banks is Jimmy’s return to Northern Ireland in the early 1990s.

“The panto was at the Grand Opera House, a beautiful building designed by architect Frank Matcham,” he said.

“It was targeted by terrorists in June as it was next door to the Unionists’ HQ and massive damaged resulted.

“It looked like it was going to be off but in the best showbusiness tradition, the show went on and for six weeks it was standing-room only.

“It was great to be a part of that, when the spirit of the people transcended what was going on.”

Jimmy, who now lives with his family in Rochdale, added: “The appeal of panto is timeless.

“It’s for all age groups and then sets it apart from other forms of entertainment.

“There’s live music, a traditional story and one size really does fit all.

“The main thing is all the audience has fun together and good triumphs over evil so everyone’s happy.” .