Bradley Walsh and Martin Kemp chat ahead of Peter Pan Panto in Birmingham

They sound like two kids at Christmas. And that’s somehow appropriate, because Bradley Walsh and Martin Kemp are planning to make the 2017 festive season one to remember. The presenter of The Chase and former star of Coronation Street is joining forces with the Spandau Ballet bassist and star of EastEnders for the World’s Biggest Christmas Show.

They will line up at the Birmingham Arena to spend Christmas in Neverland with Peter Pan, their stunning new production.

It’s looking to be placed in the Guinness World Records as the world’s biggest festive show and promises to be a funny, fantastic family treat.

Peter Pan, The Arena Adventure, will feature a mix of comedy, spectacle, thrills and adventure. Comedy legend, actor and presenter Bradley says: “I’m very excited to be in the World’s Biggest Christmas Show and I know it’s going to be bigger, better and funnier than ever. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there and playing the funny pirate ‘Mr Smee’.”

His fearsomely attractive and villainous boss will be the Spandau Ballet, EastEnder, and Let It Shine judge Martin Kemp. “I’m thrilled to be playing Captain Hook this Christmas, and what really makes this production different from any other is the scale and size of everything. You won’t have seen anything like it.”

J. M. Barrie’s original story and characters like Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily and Peter Pan and the pirates will be brought to life by a cast of more than 100 performers, including flying acrobats and stunt stars, actors and musicians.

Wherever audience members are seated, they will be close to the action of the thrilling show as it will be performed across three arena stages on a movie-style Neverland set. There will also be a giant 60 feet-wide LED screen with computer graphic imagery and live close-up TV relay of the action.

Bradley is a major player in the show. Though he’s best known for his years in the theatre on the TV – after a promising football career with Brentford was cut short by injury he gravitated towards showbusiness – he’s also a canny businessman. So in addition to featuring on such TV shows as Wheel of Fortune, Coronation Street, Law & Order: UK, The Chase, Odd One In, Keep it in the Family, Play to the Whistle and Tonight at the London Palladium he’s also become involved in the production of big shows.

When The World’s Biggest Pantomime was launched in recent years, he played a key role. And his know-how – he’s starred in 15 pantomimes since 1988 – has been key.

Bradley says: “We wanted to do something a bit special, something that’s never been done before.

“So we’ve got stunning special effects include a life size Jolly Roger galleon which will ‘sail’ around the Arena in front of a 10,000-gallon water wall.

“There’s a team of BMX stunt riders, six thrilling aerial mermaids plus a crazy collection of trapeze and trampoline stuntmen.”

They will combine with custard pie slapstick specialists to bring comedy and adventure to the arena spectacular. Fans can also watch out for the biggest, scariest animatronic crocodile they’ve ever seen as the beloved classic story takes the stage at the Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham before heading to The SSE Arena, Wembley.

Bradley adds: “I think it’s going to be brilliant because we have a tried and tested formula. We tried The World’s Biggest Panto two or three years ago and that worked. Now we want to take the show into the audience with a production that is like an event. You know, it’s like Batman or Marvel Comics. It’s the sort of thing you don’t normally have in arenas. You don’t just have action on the stage, you also have interactive stuff in and around the arena. I describe it as being like Peter Pan but done by Cirque du Soleil. This is one of the biggest shows I’ve ever come across.”

Martin Kemp couldn’t believe his ears when he heard about the plans. Though the actor, musician and TV presenter has been kicking about showbusiness throughout his adult life, it was beyond his comprehension. Martin, best known for his work with Spandau Ballet and for playing Steve Owen in EastEnders, was stunned. The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant, who most recently was a judge on the BBC show Let It Shine, says: “I didn’t believe it would be that big when they first asked me. It blew me away. The galleon and everything else is so oversized. I think what it does is bring the audience into the show. It’s a one-off. It’s very special.”

Bradley can’t get enough of the Galleon. The out-sized, flying ship will be one of the highlights of the production, a so-big-people-won’t-be-able-to-believe-it showstopper that will keep people talking for months after.

“People will be sitting down, then all of a sudden the galleon will come into view. It’ll be going around the arena, motorised, in a semi-circle. People will have to turn around to watch it. Then we’ve got BMX tracks up there and more than 100 people in the cast.

“It all started four years ago when the producer, John Conway, came to me and said: ‘Do you want to do an arena panto?’

“After a while, we wanted to turn it into something else. We broke even on the panto but had bigger ideas. Producers came and saw it and knew where we were going. Even Disney got in touch.

“So now we’ve Peter Pan up and running. When I saw the initial plans, I told John we needed a bigger boat, in the words of the Jaws films. I told him we wanted a 50ft galleon that can get 30 people on it. And I wanted the dancers like Cirque du Soleil. So we’ve ended up with everything. Waterfalls, water canons . . . You name it. We want to get this show out to Europe. The show will sell itself and I’ll be the comic relief. I’ll bring what I’ve done in other pantomimes to the show and people will have a great time.”

Martin has starred in a number of big shows and wasn’t looking to move into a traditional panto. Having worked in The Krays, EastEnders and Highland, among others, he was happy to continue working in TV or film. But the size and scale of Peter Pan persuaded him to switch.

“For me, it was all about the production and the chance to work with Bradley. Above everything, no matter how funny he is, he’s a perfectionist. There’s nothing better because that makes you raise your game. Hook is something that I’ve always wanted to do. But when people have asked me before, it’s never been the right production. This opens up the whole world to me. This is the moment I can step in and play Hook.”

Bradley says he feels lucky to get Martin into the show.

“If we were running a regular theatre company and asked Martin to come and play Hook in panto for 1,500 people, I’m sure Martin wouldn’t have done it. That’s not to say panto’s not great. It is. But Martin’s never done a panto because nothing’s ever really appealed. But this is big, it’s brash and it’s bold.

“The producers of the show are John Conway, myself, an independent producer and the National Indoor Arena. And people are going so crazy for it that we’re now in discussion to take it to another two or three properties that are massive. They are household name properties. But we’ve now got to be very careful. Let’s get this up and running. We’ve had a call from Disney. We’re already starting to make headway. This is the sort of show that people will come to precisely because they can’t see it in a theatre. You’ll have to wait to see what we can do.”

Both men remain at the top of their game. Bradley has risen and risen since taking a variety of jobs, including work as a bluecoat at Pontins. His big break came when he began presenting the National Lottery on BBC One and soon after he was snapped up by ITV. He presented Wheel of Fortune and moved into acting as he featured in the Channel 4 film Lock, Stock . . , which was a spin off from the 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

He remains popular with many for his work as factory boss Danny Baldwin, in Coronation Street, a role he played for two-and-a-half years.

His work on the game show The Chase, in which contestants pitch themselves against a professional quizzer, has kept him in the public eye. The show draws an audience of between three million and five million and has been nominated four times for Best Daytime Show at the National Television Awards, winning in 2016 and 2017. Bradley is the star of the show and has drawn critical acclaim for his hosting skills. He frequently finds himself in hysterics – though there have also been controversies and a rivalry with the BBC’s Pointless.

Martin meanwhile, has been in the public eye since Steve Dagger, the manager of his brother Gary’s band, asked him to play bass. Martin learnt the instrument in three months and soon after had quit his job as a printer to play full-time in Spandau Ballet. The band enjoyed huge success with songs like True going to the top of the charts. Martin featured on the 1984 famine relief song, Do They Know It’s Christmas? Before returning with Spandau Ballet in 2009, following a 20-year hiatus.

He made the transition to acting by featuring in the British film The Krays witih his brother before moving to Los Angeles in the early 1990s. And though his career stalled when he underwent surgery for two benign brain tumours, he re-emerged in The Bill and EastEnders. In four years, he became one of the best known faces on TV, winning three TV Quick Awards for Best Soap Actor (2000, 2001, 2002), a National Television Award for Most Popular Actor (2000)and five British Soap Awards (Villain of the Year in 2000, Best Actor in 2001 and 2002, and Sexiest Male in 2001 and 2002).

Last year, he moved into musical theatre and featured as The Childcatcher in the UK and Ireland tour of the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, alongside Jason Manford, Phil Jupitus and Michelle Collins. And now, he’s ready to take his bow in panto.

He’s delighted that it’s in Birmingham: “This is different. This is like performance in 3D. The audience aren’t just involved with ‘he’s behind you’, or ‘oh no she won’t’ . . . It’s a bit more sophisticated. The whole thing is everything happens around people. We take it into the audience.

“And it’s great to be in Birmingham. I remember playing with Spandau and touring Britain and it was always about how the audience enjoyed themselves. Londoners are different. They’re cool. They can’t let their hair down. But in Birmingham, it’s boom. People come out for a good time.”

Bradley agrees: “This is where we were born and for me it’s all about seeing the enjoyment on people’s faces.

“I won’t be looking like an ant on stage. We will be going beyond the first 50 rows and being in among the audience. We wanted to do it in Birmingham because this is the home of pantomime. When we were here before, we welcomed 37,500 people to nine shows. So when it was a toss-up between Birmingham and London, we wanted to put Birmingham first. We’re not trying to compete with the Hippodrome, which does an amazing panto. This is something totally different. I just want to get it absolutely right and nail it.”

I owe biggest success in life to George Michael – Martin Kemp

Though Martin Kemp is busy in Peter Pan, he’s looking forward to returning to Spandau Ballet soon – even though singer Tony Hadley has quit.

“The band will carry on and we will find the right new singer.

“What Tony decided to do doesn’t just steal special moments and memories from the band. It also steals them from the fans. We all like to see ‘80s bands because those performers and those songs trigger memories, so the fact Tony chose to take that away from so many people is sad.

“Tony sent me a text a year ago saying he didn’t want to be in the band, so I took it as official that he was leaving back then. So it wasn’t new. If that’s what he wants to do, then good luck to him.”

Martin has spoken in the past about creating a jukebox musical – but Spandau Ballet has never been able to stop fighting for long enough to get it made.

“It’s something we’ve spoken about a few times, but actually getting the ball rolling is a different thing, because my band, we all get on for periods of time when we’re away, and then we land at Heathrow, we grab our bags off the conveyor belt and we fall out.”

Martin owes the biggest success of his life to George Michael – his enduring 30-year marriage to his wife, Shirlie Holliman.

He fell in love after seeing her on Top of the Pops. “Two weeks later we arrange to meet at the Camden Palace for a date. And as I was walking towards her, I can see Shirlie and next to her, I realised the worst thing had happened – she’d bought a wingman.

“No-one wants a girl to bring a mate – but her mate was George Michael.

“George was one of the world’s nicest people you could ever want to meet. He was so generous – not just financially with his friends but emotionally.

“He would sit and listen and you could talk to him for hours about anything or anyone. He was the most caring person, it’s such a shame and we miss him so much in our house.”

Bradley Walsh

Bradley Walsh is Mr Showbusiness. And quite apart from gracing the stages of the UK’s biggest TV shows and pantos, he’s also a huge music fan.

At the NME Awards, earlier this year, he decided to hang out with Stormzy. “My mate Stormzy, that,” he told NME. “We hang together. Do a bit of grime. What else do we do, grunge? No, just grime. Definitely grime. Bruno Mars, he’s here, he’s my mate. We have something in common. He’s from Hawaii. I like Hawaiian pizza. That’s quite cool. Other than that, I don’t know why I’m here.

“Me and Stormzy. We’re gonna do an album. We’re gonna do an album of Nelson Riddle arrangements in grime form. It’s gonna be called ‘Griddle’. We’re looking forward to it, we’re gonna collaborate.”

Bradley had the UK’s best-selling debut album last year with covers of songbook classics – beating Zayn Malik.

“I just laughed when I found out. I thought it was hysterical. I am probably the oldest new artist Sony has ever signed. Niall Horan (Zayn’s former bandmate) was sending me messages, laughing his head off. And I got big congratulations from Simon Cowell. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

“I like something you can hum along to. I think new artists sometimes miss the point … I can’t listen to rap music, it’s not my thing. They say that they’re the modern poets: of course they are, but it’s not for me.”