Orville flies in for Wolverhampton panto launch

TV stars Sherrie Hewson, Keith Harris and his sidekick Orville arrived in Wolverhampton today to officially launch the city's 2012 panto season.

Delighted bosses revealed they had already sold more than 14,000 tickets for the festive spectacular as its stars donned full costume to pose next to a huge beanstalk.

Benidorm and former Coronation Street star Hewson will play the wicked fairy and Harris will appear as a guest star in the show, which opens on December 8.

Harris today said he was excited to be coming to the city. "The Grand is a proper theatre. The city is so lucky to have a place where nearly every week there is a big show on," he said.

"It's a great community thing and it's always been one of the places that people from my era, such as the Krankies, enjoy playing." He added: "It's one of the best panto dates."

Advance ticket sales for the six-week run of shows have out-performed pre-sales for last year's showing of Snow White, which starred Linda Lusardi.