Jim Davidson OBE can't wait to play the Birmingham Hippodrome with his all new version of Sinderella later this month.
 And that's despite the show's original writer having to drop out for cancer treatment, forcing Jim and the cast to develop it all together in one mad week. With the adult panto needing to take £100,000 per week to break even, the pressure was really on. But, with his charismatic resilience, Jim is set to come up smiling once again as Buttons, with fellow cast members including Jess Conrad (Prince Charming), Dianne Lee (Cinderella), Dave Kristian (Dandini), Mia Carla (Fairy Godmother), Roger Kitter and Dave Lee (The Ugly Sisters) and the voice of Charlie Drake, now 78, as Baron You Know Who! "The more people who come to see us the better," says Jim who first launched the show 18 years ago in Bristol. "The panto has a great storyline which everyone knows so it's easy to send up. "I've never been in a show where the laughter from the audience can be so deafening so the Hippodrome will be the perfect venue." Has he seen the new Hipp? "I have, because I came to see Bobby Davro in panto. "The foyer is now five times bigger than the theatre - what's that all about? And the dressing rooms are a cab ride away," he laughs. Jim, who is also planning a stand-up comedy night at the Hippodrome in May, wrote his latest Sinderella script himself by jotting notes down and having a PA type up what was coming out of rehearsals. Similarly, he's writing a book about bad hotels by talking into a recorder. "I wish I could type myself because how you write and how you talk are completely different," he laments. "I've realised how bad my diction is, whereas with writing you can be so descriptive. I keep getting transcripts back and it's taking me ages to edit it all." I was once walking up Broad Street when I spotted a dishevelled Jim in his dressing gown standing outside the Hyatt Hotel following an early morning fire alarm. "I remember that because I got a TV series out of it," he says. "Someone from Pebble Mill came up to me and packed me off to Australia to record a Treasure Island-style game show. "But it was never screened because it was awful. "I was very good." Jim says it was more It's a Knockout than I'm A Celebrity - which he's refused to go on after hosting seven series of The Generation Game. "That's not a jungle, it's a television studio at the back of the hotel. John Lydon told me they were moving all the plants about in pots! "And eating insects is cringe TV like the Japanese shows. I couldn't do that. My mate Razor was on and he was so hungry he couldn't do anything!" Jim admits he likes directing and is good at delegating. But, although the movies sound tempting, he admits he wouldn't have a clue how to do it. Then there's the financial risk. "What I would like to do is to direct a serious play." The recent Channel 5 documentary about Jim showed a clip of him winning New Faces at the old ATV studios on Broad Street in 1976, with judges Jesse Yates and Danny La Rue giving him 98 and 100 marks respectively. On reflection these supporters seem to be unlikely bedfellows, even after the truth about Jesse's affair came out. "I never saw Jesse much after that, but I do like Danny," says Jim. "He was the Lily Savage of his day. When I meet him, I always let him talk. I treat him like a star. I've got great respect for the elderly." Although Jim has been a keen supporter of the Tories in the past, he hopes to see them win the next election, he admits that politics now bores him. "I've just got fed up with it all. All they do is moan at one another all the time and whoever wins probably won't make much difference. I'll still be paying too much tax." * Sinderella tickets are priced from £10 - £25. The show runs from March 23-27. Telephone 0870 730 1234. | 
