Adam Woodyatt tells MARION SAUVEBOIS why he’s really back in town

ADAM Woodyatt has unfinished business in Swindon. Vis-à-vis?

“Curry,” he booms, utterly serious.

When the Wyvern plotted to lure the EastEnders royalty back to Swindon, 26 years to the day since he first trod the boards in Mother Goose as a bright eyed panto novice, they never imagined it would be as simple as dishing out a steaming bowl of tandoori.

“I went to this curry house 26 years ago and I want to try and find it again,” clarifies Adam, the BBC series’ longest-serving cast member, whose turn as murdered Lucy Beale’s father Ian earned him the Best Actor gong at the British Soap Awards 2015.

But there is a slight hitch: try as he might, he cannot recall the name of this gem from mother India.

The month-long run of this year’s anticipated panto, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, should give him ample time to trawl the town’s vaguely familiar streets and be reunited with the takeaway – with any luck.

“I’m going to have to Goole Map it – other map providers are available,” he giggles.

“I’ll have to see if I can remember the layout of the town. It’s going to keep me amused between rehearsals.”

An embattled panto veteran with a penchant for twists and turns (you do not survive three decades on EastEnders without a predilection towards melodrama and histrionics), he will return to the Wyvern as the Wicked Queen’s hapless henchman Chambers.

“I seem to specialise in being the lovely rogue villain, oh yes I do,” he adds playfully.

“The challenge with panto, or any role where you’re playing the bad guy, is that you still need to engage with the audience on some level, but with panto the bad guy always redeems themselves by the end, which I think helps.

"Traditionally the character is meant to have a nasty streak, but it’s been written to be more comedic, which is a side I don’t get to show very often in my TV work.

“Chambers isn’t a villain as such, I like to think he’s fallen in with the wrong crowd, or The Wicked Queen in his case, but his heart is in the right place.”

While eager for a lull from his hectic TV schedule, and Ian Beale’s tumultuous existence (“Ian’s been shot, he’s been married five times (to four women), had a nervous breakdown, had three children – he’s had a varied life,” he muses), he is not the sort of thespian to treat panto season as a well-deserved holiday.

“You need to enjoy being in panto and respect the tradition,” he declares.

“A lot of actors look down on it and claim it has no credibility, which I think is a huge shame. Panto is hard work and it can be quite physical.

"You’re on stage for the best part of two hours. You have to learn how to pace yourself. I may not run around as much as I did as Billy Goose 26 years ago, now I saunter.”

Outrageous farce, innuendos and cases of mistaken identity aside, pantomime is not to be taken lightly, oh no it’s not, he insists.

“Although they are full of comedy and slapstick, the golden rule of panto acting is to take it extremely seriously,” says Adam who trained at Sylvia Young’s Theatre School in London, before making his TV break on The Baker Street Boys at the age of 15.

“It’s a very difficult art form to get right, which is why everyone on stage needs to be at the top of their game, knowing where to be and when, not only for the audience’s enjoyment, but to make sure it runs smoothly.

"It’s the first time some children will be going to the theatre so it’s our responsibility to make sure they enjoy it.”

He adds: “The audience is integral to the show. There’ll be audiences that are more vocal than others, some will be more subdued, some will come out with some absolute howlers, but that’s another great challenge that will keep us on our toes throughout the run.”

Courtesy of the BBC’s rigid diary, Adam will not have the luxury of a two-week run-through with co-stars Sophie Camble (Snow White), Jenny-Ann Topham (the wicked Griselda) and Swindon’s most coquettish Dame, David Ashley. Instead he will have to make do with a seven-day crash rehearsal to get to grips with the blundering Chambers and master a raft of tightly-choreographed gaffes.

“I haven’t actually finished the script yet,” he confesses. “Why I decided to this in my two weeks off at Christmas I don’t know,” he quips.

“For about 20 years I didn’t do any panto because I couldn’t contractually. But they changed it recently so now I’m catching up.”

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will run at the Wyvern Theatre from December 5 to January 3. To book visit swindontheatres.co.uk or call 01793 524481.