With the panto season in full swing, stand-up comedian John Bishop draws on his own experiences of ugly sisters, dames and beanstalks for the festive comedy drama, Panto!. The Liverpudlian, who made his TV acting debut in The Accused earlier this year, has teamed up with Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey to pen the ITV1 special, set behind the scenes of a production of a regional pantomime. The 46-year-old plays Lewis Loud, a north-west DJ who is making his panto debut in Dick Whittington among a cast of clapped-out luvvies and C-List celebrities, including Chesney Hawkes. But as the show’s long-suffering director Francis (Mark Benton) and interfering producer Di (Samantha Spiro) try to make the panto a success, the production descends into chaos, thanks to the antics of soap star Tamsin (Sheridan Smith), with whom Lewis has been having a backstage romance. We asked Bishop to spill the magic beans and tell us more... What was the inspiration for Panto!? "In 2006, I left my job to go full-time as a comedian, and I started off by doing Dick Whittington at the Lowry in Salford. It was great on stage, but there were so many stories going on backstage and I thought it would make a brilliant TV comedy drama.” Tell us about your character "He's a breakfast show DJ – 'Lewis Loud, standing proud!' He's a typical local celebrity who wants to move on, and he's desperate to become a stand-up. The reason the panto producers recruited me in 2006 was because I was a DJ at Radio City in Liverpool. They wanted someone off the radio to give them loads of free advertising. Panto! is basically my life. It's like a documentary. I was going to write an autobiography, but I thought I'd write this instead." Why is a panto such a good setting for a comedy drama? "It's a world where very different people come together who wouldn't otherwise be in the same room. You end up having big heart-to-hearts with relative strangers that you wouldn't even have with your best friends. You also have a definite beginning, middle and end with a panto. You go from the rehearsals to the first night to the mid-run tiredness to the end where everyone regrets that it's over. It has a natural structure." Did you film Panto! in a real theatre? "Yes, we filmed it at the Grand in Lancaster which, by coincidence, is genuinely hosting Dick Whittington this Christmas. That caused a bit of confusion. When the locals heard that Chesney Hawkes, Sheridan Smith and I were in a production of Dick Whittington, the theatre website went into meltdown. We'd also put a poster of our panto outside the theatre for one of the opening shots, then had to cover it up with a banner saying: 'This is NOT a real panto!'" What advice would you give to an aspiring performer? "Try not to be scared. I left my job and tried to cover the bills by doing the stand-up circuit. Everything else was a bonus. But at least I didn't have to see myself stagnating, which was what was happening to me in my old job." What made you take the plunge? "I was in an unusual position. I had a really good job, but I gave it up because I didn't want to wind up saying to my family: 'I could have made it as a comedian, but I didn't because of you lot'. It's better to try and fail than to end up bitter and blaming other people. My career has gone ballistic now, but I would have been happy just covering the bills." What's your idea of a perfect Christmas? "I'll be at home with the family and eating enough to make me snooze in the afternoon, but not so much to make me physically unable to walk for the next two days." What will you be doing on New Year's Eve? "Not much. I don't like going out because of all the expectation. You're surrounded by people saying: 'It's going to be a great night', and that's a real pressure. I like to be at home with my wife and kids to hear the chimes and watch Jools' Annual Hootenanny." What does 2013 have in store for you? "I'm presenting a show called John Bishop's Only Joking on Sky1 in January which is pre-watershed family viewing. It's just people telling jokes. We use a few members of the public and a few comics like Jason Manford, Jason Byrne, Tom O'Connor, Jimmy Cricket and Andrew Maxwell. I think it's brilliant. It's like The Comedians in the 1970s – it keeps cutting to a new joke. The philosophy is, 'If you don't like that joke, here's another one'." Panto! is on Thursday December 27 at 9pm on ITV1
