Hi-de-Hi! star Su Pollard in Sleeping Beauty at Darlington Hippodrome

Eccentric, madcap, frenetic - these are all words that have been used to describe Su Pollard's personality in recent interviews she has given.

I could also add exuberant, enthusiastic, and extravagant. And how about flamboyant? That would be the perfect description of the colourful Tokyo-inspired jacket, black corset dress/skirt, and associated accessories she is wearing for our interview ahead of her forthcoming appearance in this year's Darlington pantomime.

Su Pollard at the press lauch of Sleeping Beauty at Darlington Hippodrome (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Su will play Carabosse, the wicked fairy, in Sleeping Beauty, which runs at the town's Hippodrome theatre from Friday, December 6, to Thursday, December 31.

Su is a true panto legend, most famous for her role as Peggy Ollerenshaw, the chalet maid who aspires to be a Yellocoat in the much-loved sitcom Hi-de-Hi!

When I tell her she has been inducted into the official Pantomime Hall of Fame, she seems genuinely surprised and delighted.

“Oh, that’s good," she says. "I love that, I think it’s fabulous."

In fact, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2023 Pantomime Awards, when she was described as "a force of nature" for her decades of commitment.

She has hardly missed a panto season since debuting in Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, in 1976.

"This is my 49th this year," she says proudly. "And the only two I didn’t do was because I was Miss Hannigan (in the musical Annie) during the Christmas seasons in Leicester and Cambridge.

"To me, it’s de rigeur, it’s seasonal. I hope it never goes because we’ve lost one - we’ve lost the summer season, and that’s a tragedy in my view.

"You’d know where you were for three, four or five months. You had a nice flat or a house or whatever, you’d get full houses if you were doing a farce. It was just magical.

"But, flipping heck, it’s just nice to be still working, babe.”

So what is it about pantomimes that keep her coming back?

“I know it sounds weird but I quite like the routine of it, you know exactly what you’re doing at any given moment of the day," she says.

"I like the fact that you can probably have a nice hotel or a flat. I just like the idea that you’ve got the same people for several weeks. They become your family if you like.

"And the fun you can have as well. Of course, you know what’s in store for you and you know it’s not going to be a walk in the park. You’ve got to give the same performance, if you possibly can, every show.

"I don’t mind that though, it keeps you fit. It’s tremendous, I don’t have to do any yoga or anything - I’ve got the best glutes in the world at Christmas because you’re going up and down the stairs all the time."

And she adds: "I just think it’s so lovely when that audience boo and they scream and they yell out. I just go ‘I can’t hear you'. I like them to scream until they’re hoarse.

Su Pollard says she enjoys the audience interaction of pantomime and she encourages the audience to boo and hiss (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

"And there's that lovely thing at the end when people have said to me ‘I did enjoy that show, I brought my children’. And when you’ve given somebody a magical time, that's lovely."

The demise of the summer season is a theme she keeps coming back to and is one of the reasons why she feels a successful panto season is so important to regional theatres.

She recalls a producer who brought a summer repertory season to what was then called the Darlington Civic Theatre.

“Do you remember, years ago, there was a producer, Ian Dickens, and he used to have what he called a summer season. God, it was good.

"And, within the cost of the ticket, you used to get a programme and a drink. How innovative was that.”

But she is impressed by the new-look Hippodrome and the way the history of the theatre has been respected in the refurbishment.

When asked what she thinks of the theatre today, she says: “I think it’s ecstatic. It’s looking particularly fabulous today and the sun is streaming in as we speak."

Pointing to the new glass frontage, she adds: "Look at that, it’s fabulous – the glass and the modernisation, but it’s still got its history. I think that’s the way to go, blending the old and the newer."

Su and the rest of the Sleeping Beauty case met for the first time at the press call we were at. Lee Mead, still best known for winning the BBC series Any Dream Will Do, takes the lead role as Prince Lee of Longnewton.

Josh Benson is back as Muddles, the 'silly-billy' character, panto dame Jamie Jones is Nellie Nightnurse and Stephanie Costi plays Princess Aurora.

The cast of Sleeping Beauty at Darlington Hippodrome (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

Su says she's had an early sneak peek at the script and has high hopes that the pantomime will be a winner with audiences.

Animated and passionate, she is in full-on 'Su Pollard National Treasure' mode when describing what audiences can expect.

“They can absolutely expect lots of images like flying for a start, that’s going to be in it," she says.

"And then suddenly there's this majestic wood and forestry everywhere because the land gets covered in foliage.

"And it’s a great love story of course with the Prince and a lovely little part for Aurora, the Princess. Sometimes with the Princess, you think ‘who wants to be the Princess, God they’re boring,’ but she’s got a lovely part has Stephanie. It’s really nice.

"Of course I know Josh, he’ll be the silly billy character and he’s such a great acrobat. Lee, of course, is fabulous as the Prince. Because you see he’s not ugly to look at, I do find that. Because you’ve got to be on stage with people all day - and sometimes you act with people who’ve got no bloody teeth."

With the interview winding up, she has just one more thing to add.

"I don’t think I’ll ever stop wanting to do panto,” she says. And I believe her.

Eccentric, madcap, frenetic, exuberant, enthusiastic and extravagant? Yes, she was all of those things. I'll also add that she was funny, cheerful and a pleasure to talk to.

Su Pollard will be starring in Sleeping Beauty at the Hippodrome, Darlington, from Friday, December 6 to Tuesday, December 31. Visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk or call 01325-405405 for more details.