Eastenders Wins the Christmas Panto Battle of the Soaps

There's no better time to catch TV stars on the stage than Pantomime season and this year sees a particularly good turn-out of celebrities appearing in shows including Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

But stars from one ‘Soap’ in particular will be dominating the nation’s panto stages this Christmas. Research by theatre ticket comparison website SeatChoice.com has found no less than fifteen past and present Eastenders’ cast members appearing in pantomimes up and down the country. Everyone from ‘Dirty’ Den Watts to Phil Mitchell and Alfie Moon can be seen in regional theatres slapping thighs and generally hamming it up for the kid’s favourite festive theatre treat.

Here are the Eastenders stars you can see on stage this Christmas:

Shane Ritchie, who plays Alfie Moon, is starring in Aladdin at the Cliffs Pavillion, Westcliffe-on-Sea from the 17th of December to the 31st of December 2011.

Leslie Grantham, who played the legendary ‘Dirty’ Den Watts, is appearing in Mother Goose at The Stag Theatre Sevenoaks until the 1st of January 2012.

Letitia Dean, who played ‘Dirty’ Den’s daughter Sharon Watts, is starring as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Corn Exchange, Kings Lynn until the 3rd of January 2012.

Steve McFadden, Eastenders hard man Phil Mitchell, is Captain Hook in Peter Pan at the Peacocks Theatre, Woking until the 15th of January 2012. Playing alongside Steve is Harry Derbidge from TV reality show The only way is Essex.

Joe Swash, who played Mickey Miller, stars in Aladdin at the Regents Theatre, Stoke on Trent until the 15th January 2012. Joe was also the winner of the 2008 series of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!

Sid Owen, otherwise known as long suffering Ricky Butcher, stars in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the White Rock Theatre, Hastings until the 31st December 2011.

Dean Gaffney, who played Robbie Jackson, plays Wishee Washee in the Thameside Theatre, Grays production of Aladdin which runs until the 8th January 2012.

Larry Lamb, who played the murdered Archie Mitchell, is the wicked Abanazar in Aladdin at the Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon until the 2nd January 2012.

John Partridge, who plays Christian Clarke, is appearing in Cinderella at the New Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury with TV presenter and magician Stephen Mulherne until the 22nd January 2012.

Stefan Booth, who until recently played Gregg Jessop, is appearing as Prince Stefan in the Palace Theatre, Redditch production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The show runs until the 31st of December 2011.

Glynnis Barber played Glenda Mitchell, the manipulative mother of Roxy and Ronnie. She’s now appearing as the Wicked Witch in Sleeping Beauty at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells until the 2nd January 2012.

David Spinx, who played Keith Miller, is in the Churchill Theatre, Bromley production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Patsy Kensit until the 8th January 2012.

Devon Anderson, who played Carol’s son Billie Jackson, is Jack Trott in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Shaw Theatre, London until the 31st December 2011.

Louisa Lytton, who played Ruby Allen, takes the lead role in Cinderella at the Camberley Theatre until the 2nd January 2012.

Lucy Benjamin, who played Phil Mitchell’s one time lover Lisa Fowler, is appearing in Peter Pan at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton until the 14th January 2012.

SeatChoice.com founder Robert Iles said: “It’s a good job they film Eastenders a few weeks in advance otherwise there'd be very few characters left in Albert Square for the Christmas episodes! Pantomimes are a great British tradition and it’s marvellous to see that plenty of TV celebrities are still up for having a bit of fun at Christmas without taking themselves too seriously. Soap villains transfer brilliantly into panto baddies such as  Abanazar in Aladdin and Captain Hook in Peter Pan, but it must be quite a change for the actors to hear the boos and hisses of the audience for a change.

“If you're looking for pantomime tickets, SeatChoice.com can make it easy to find available seats at the best prices. And because we only deal with legitimate ticket agents, when you find tickets through us you can be confident you'll not be falling prey to theatre ticket scam sites hoping to take advantage of families booking their Christmas trip out.”

SeatChoice.com helps customers to find, compare and buy theatre, gig and event tickets across the UK.

Visitors to the site can search for specific productions and gigs if they know exactly what tickets they want or browse types of shows and events before checking ticket availability and pricing. Useful charts showing hot tickets, new tickets, show openings and closings and a minimum/maximum price table all help theatre and gig goers to get tickets for the show they want to see at the very best deal. Using SeatChoice.com to buy theatre, concert and event tickets will save you time and money.