Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders step into the Ugly Sisters' frocks for Cinderella, the eleventh London Palladium pantomime, with Julian Clary waving the wand as the Fairy Godfather. Here is everything you need to know before you book.
The Palladium pantomime has become the West End's surest Christmas fixture, and this year it returns to the story that began the revival in 2016. Cinderella runs at the London Palladium from 5 December 2026 to 10 January 2027, and its headline casting is the kind a producer waits years for: Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, back on stage together for the first time in 17 years, as the Ugly Sisters.
Who is starring in Cinderella?
French and Saunders head the bill as the stepsisters, and Julian Clary is the Fairy Godfather. Hope Dawe plays Cinderella and Dex Lee is Prince Charming; both are making their Palladium pantomime debuts. Returning by popular demand are Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers and Rob Madge, the last of whom first appeared here in Jack and the Beanstalk in 2022.
Kitty Harris and Kate Stewart play the Fairy Queens, Pierre Marchand appears as The Great Marchand, and a sixteen-strong ensemble completes the company, with Suzy Bloom, Christopher Hewitt and Christopher Howell as standbys. We reported the full company announcement at the end of October.
Spotlight on Julian Clary
No performer is more closely tied to this pantomime. Clary was in the 2016 Cinderella that brought pantomime back to the Palladium after some thirty years away, and he has not missed a season since: 2026 is his eleventh in a row, a run he shares with Zerdin and Havers. Last winter he was King Julian in the tenth-anniversary Sleeping Beauty, which drew the biggest audiences the Palladium pantomime has had across a five-week season. Before December at the Palladium became his, television viewers knew him from the Channel 4 game show Sticky Moments, from the second series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004 and from winning Celebrity Big Brother in 2012. The pantomime asks of him what he does best: the double entendre delivered with a perfectly straight face, and a wardrobe that tries to outshine the scenery. Coming back to Cinderella ten years on, now as the one who grants the wishes, has a pleasing symmetry, and dates for this year's Cinderella are on our show page.
What is Cinderella about?
The story hardly needs retelling. A kind-hearted young woman is kept at home doing the chores for her stepfamily, an invitation to the royal ball arrives, and help comes from an unexpected quarter in time for her to meet the prince before the clock strikes midnight. The pantomime keeps the pumpkin coach and the glass slipper, and hands the stepsisters a great deal of the comedy, which is exactly why French and Saunders make such sense in the roles. Expect the traditions too: shouting back at the stage, villains to boo and jokes pitched at two heights, so that the children laugh at one thing while the adults laugh at another.
Who is behind the production?
Michael Harrison directs and produces for Crossroads Pantomimes. Mark Walters designs the set, and the costumes are by Hugh Durrant, Teresa Nalton and Mike Coltman. Karen Bruce is the choreographer, Ben Cracknell designs the lighting and Matt Peploe the sound, while George Dyer is in charge of the music.
When and where can I see it?
Cinderella plays the London Palladium on Argyll Street from Saturday 5 December 2026 to Sunday 10 January 2027. Current listings show performances from Tuesday to Sunday, mostly twice a day, with no shows on Christmas Day or New Year's Day and extra ones on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. A running time has not yet been announced.
The access performances listed so far are a signed performance on 31 December at 1pm, an audio-described performance on 7 January at 7.30pm and a captioned performance on 8 January at 7.30pm. The Palladium pantomime has always carried plenty of grown-up innuendo, and the venue does not admit children under four. Dates and ticket details are on our Cinderella show page.
What else should I book if I like it?
- Jack and the Beanstalk at the Hackney Empire, for a pantomime with a fiercely loyal local following in one of London's great old variety houses.
- Cinderella at the Lyric Hammersmith, the same fairytale from another west London pantomime with a long tradition of its own.
- Christmas Carol Goes Wrong at Wyndham's Theatre, if it is the slapstick you came for.
- Potted Panto at the Apollo Theatre, which crams a whole run of pantomimes into one quick-fire family show.
