ED THORPE will be joining Julian Eardley as the second Dame in this year’s Theatre Royal Winchester Christmas Show.

This will be Ed’s fourth Christmas in the city having previously played the title role in last year’s Dick Whittington.

He also played Wally in Beauty and the Beast and Smee in Peter Pan – for which he was nominated in the Great British Pantomime Awards for Best Songsheet Award.

The casting of the other two Dames will be announced soon.

Four Dames in Search of a Panto will be written and directed by James Barry with original music by Simon Slater.

Last year James was nominated for Best Script in the Great British Pantomine Awards for Dick Whittington, and the previous year, together with composer Simon Slater, was nominated for Musical Achievement for Beauty and The Beast.

The show will feature panto set pieces, gags and original songs.

It is scheduled for December 5 and will run until Sunday January 3, with a running time of 75 minutes.

In addition to watching the show physically in the theatre, Play to the Crowd will be live screening a number of performances.

There are also relaxed, British sign language and audio described performances scheduled.

For more information and to book tickets, visit theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk or email boxoffice@playtothecrowd.co.uk.