Terence Frisch puts on the frocks for a fourteenth pantomime at Watford Palace Theatre, playing the dame opposite Michael Lambourne's Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol: The Pantomime, whose full lead cast has now been named.
Terence Frisch, whose screen credits include Call the Midwife and Last Night in Soho, returns to Watford as Dame Dilber, following his turn in last year's Jack and the Beanstalk. This Christmas makes it fourteen pantomimes for him at the Palace.
Michael Lambourne takes the title miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, with credits that include The Railway Children at York Theatre Royal and Jack and the Beanstalk at Harrogate Theatre.
Anna Tolputt, seen in Disney+'s A Small Light and in Orlando at Longborough Festival Opera, plays Bob Scratchit. Philippa Carson, known on screen for ITV's The Reckoning and Apple TV+'s Trying, is Boz Scratchit.
Nikita Johal covers three parts, Kathleen Turnip, Freda Scrooge and Fezziwig, with stage credits including The Wife of Willesden at the Kiln Theatre and Broken Wings at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Lakesha Cammock, whose work includes The Tempest at the Orange Tree Theatre and The Hundred and One Dalmatians at Birmingham Rep, comes back to Watford Palace Theatre as JakeBob Marley.
The twist in this version of Dickens is that the dame doubles as every one of the Ghosts of Christmas, leading Watford's most miserable resident through his past, present and future. JakeBob Marley arrives with the customary warning, the townsfolk rally round, and the score leans on pop songs and big vocals for a family audience.
The script is by Steve Marmion, the theatre's CEO and Director of Programming and a former Artistic Director of Soho Theatre, who has spent more than two decades making theatre and has a long record in pantomime. Associate Director James Williams directs. His credits include SpongeBob the Musical: Youth Edition, Everybody's Talking About Jamie: Teen Edition, James and the Giant Peach and Abi's House Party, and he has made more than 30 productions with young people.
Ticket prices are flat this year rather than tiered by seat: every seat costs £20 when booked by 31 October, and £25 from 1 November to the end of the run.
A Christmas Carol: The Pantomime runs at Watford Palace Theatre on Clarendon Road from Sunday 29 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, with its press performance on Thursday 3 December 2026 at 6pm.
