£40,000 costumes and 19 Christmases sacrificed: What it really takes to keep Britain's glitziest tradition alive

Speaking to Chariots of Fire actor Nigel Havers over a crackling phone, as he hurriedly drives to pantomime rehearsal in the West End, is not how I imagined our interview going.

Over a fuzzy speaker, he cheerily tells me in one breathe that he's flown over the London Palladium more than anyone else in the theatre's history, in the other, that he's not had a proper Christmas for 19 years, all before dashing out the car in under 15 minutes.

It was after this hasty chat however, that I learned that this is, in fact, the perfect encapsulation of what life in pantomime is.

Great, grand, British tradition... on speed; a multi-million pound industry dating back to the 16th century with a one-week rehearsal period; hundreds of jobs, props and actors, stuffed into a backstage designed for small variety theatre; and thousands of young families piling in only for the highlight to be Julian Clary's excellent innuendo.

This year, the venue is set to host a three-week run of Sleeping Beauty, with Havers and Clary returning alongside Doctor Who's own Catherine Tate.

The performance is also doubly special as it marks 10 years since panto returned to the Palladium, or as producer Michael Harrison puts it: "10 years of King Julian on the throne."

Michael Harrison has produced literally hundreds of pantomimes over the past two decades, neatly starting off with Sleeping Beauty at the Kings Theatre Glasgow.

At the time, the producer was completely new to professional panto and "blagged" (his words) his way in by telling theatre organisers that if his show didn't get at least four stars in The Scotsman, they could pay him just £1.

From there, he has put together dozens of pantos in Newcastle, Birmingham, and now London, becoming known for the way his shows push the boundaries with extra stunts and special effects. Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, I asked what it takes to pull these enormous productions together.

"It's a year round business, we start the prep a year in advance for, you know, the designs of the costumes, the scenery. It's a Victorian tradition that there has to be some kind of big magical moment at the end of Act One, like Cinderella going to the ball, Aladdin in the cave, and you've got to find ways to reinvigorate and reinvent that early."

He continued: "I mean, for London the design and making process of Julian Clary's costume has a bigger budget than some West End shows, you can spend £30-£40,000 on a costume for him.

"Then, sometimes they're so big when he steps out of them they have to be flown up to the grid to get them out of the way because nobody would get past them on the floor."

However, he added that despite the huge amount of prep needed, the rehearsal time for a panto can be as short as a week, and the technical run as little as four days before the first performance, compared to the three to four weeks most West End musicals get.

It's lucky then, as Harrison says, that the magic of Julian Clary and Nigel Havers pulled it together from the very first run: "The notion of Julian Clary being angry with Nigel Havers for just being there happened on that first performance and the audience loved it."

It's a thought Havers wholeheartedly echoed: "The tradition is that Julian treats me really badly. He's incredibly rude to me. Last year he called me 'the poster boy for assisted dying.'

"But being on stage with him is the highlight every single year, he is an extraordinary and a sort of comedy genius."

Behind-the-scenes, both Harrison and Havers confirmed it's extremely regimented, with pin point lighting and sound queues to keep things on track.

"You want them to be tight and fast-paced," said Harrison – but, does that mean it never goes wrong?

"Well, once a bit of scenery dropped on Julian's head," he laughed, "We were doing Aladdin and it was the very first performance. He was supposed to walk to the front of the stage, but he didn't quite do it quick enough and the curtain came down behind him, hit him on the back of the head and took him out – it really hurt him but the audience thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen."

While, thankfully, that never happened again, there's always a danger of things getting interesting on stage. "There was a funny moment between Julian and Donny Osmond when they were singing and it all got a little bit rude, and let's just say the audience were a few steps ahead of what was happening – but it's all innuendo and it's all good fun."

It will please fans to know too, that the fun carries on backstage, with Nigel Havers describing it as a "family environment".

"You get a great rush from the audience because they're so psyched up for it. It's Christmas and you get big laughs and a round of applause, so you come off the stage and it's a real family feeling."

Plus, pantomime has a real unsung magic in the amount of jobs it generates, not just in London, but in theatres across the UK.

As Harrison said: "It's a big cast: 16 dancers, 10 principles, 12 in the orchestra and all of the backstage team. Then pantomime gets people through the doors of a theatre when they're unlikely to for the rest of the year.

"You might have a piece of drama or dance commissioned in a local theatre that's only financially viable because of the money made in panto season, so it's hugely important."

And why, really do we as Brits love pantomimes so much? "It really is a unique British tradition and it's a rare occasion where the entire family can collectively come together where you're not there to be challenged, you're there for joy and entertainment."

Meanwhile, Havers said: "They have a little bit of something for everyone. That's the key to it, there's a lot of colour and movement and a lot of jokes and a little bit of pathos – and a very small amount of plot, we don't really bother with a plot."

Of course, neither of them could tell me much about this year's 10th anniversary performance at the Palladium, other than the fact it's "bigger and better than ever," plus Nigel Havers guaranteed me he would be flying again this year.

Buy Sleeping Beauty tickets from £37.50 at LW Theatres

Shop pantomime tickets at ATG Tickets

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