Fan-dabi-dozi act is still going strong

:: This article originally appeared in the Express & Star on 11th December 2009 ::

Husband and wife act The Krankies are making a welcome return to the stage at the Grand Theatre.

With it being their third year in Wolverhampton, there's not much you can tell The Krankies about the city that they don't already know. In fact, they have become such a regular feature of the city's festive celebrations, they are now given personal invitations to join in the annual Christmas bash held by former Beatties workers and chat with them as though they are old friends.

It may be the fact that Janette - who will be taking on the role of Buttons in this year's production of Cinderella at the Grand Theatre - often tells them it is the store in which she spends most of her time when she's not on stage.

Far from being nervous about their latest outing in Wolverhampton, the Glasweigan couple have no doubts that they will receive anything less than a warm welcome from the pantomime audience in their adopted home city.

"We do the work we want to do so we get to pick and choose," said Janette, who stands at 4ft 5ins and has appeared on stages across the world with her husband for 40 years. "Wolverhampton seems to like us, so we enjoy coming to work here. The reception is always very good. It's an old town so you get a lot of character in the audience. I think the Black Country is good for atmosphere."

It all started for The Krankies when the husband and wife double act won 1978 Club Act of the Year. They were spotted by the late Lord Delfont who immediately signed them to appear at the London Palladium in the 1979 Royal Variety Show. By Royal Command, The Krankies were the stars of the first Children's Royal Variety Show and seven further Royal performances followed, in front of the Queen Mother, Prince Phillip, Princess Royal, Princess Margaret and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The Krankies semi-retired in 1991 after years of TV appearances but are still active on the pantomime circuit and insist that they will continue performing "until people stop laughing."

In 2004, Janette was seriously injured when she fell 20ft from a giant beanstalk during the Christmas panto Jack and the Beanstalk in Glasgow. But, even when faced with such a trauma, she joked that "hospital staff didn't know whether to take me to the children's or geriatrics ward." And she has now battled back to full health to retain her crown as the country's pantomime queen.

Janette and her husband Ian, both aged 62, live in Torquay, Devon, and will be staying in a rented barn conversion in Chesterton in between their performances in Wolverhampton.

"We've had a terrible summer in Torquay. We call it the Wet Country instead of the West Country because it rained all summer," says Jeanette. "Chesterton is about eight miles away. We stay there because we don't like to be in hotels for eight weeks. They're noisy around this time of year."

Ian, who is playing Cinderella's father The Baron, said: "We've always liked the Black Country, since the late 60s and 70s. It's got character because people have lived here for centuries. Our accents are different, but the humour here is very similar to Glasweigans' humour. We laugh at the same things. We're always made welcome. The Grand is a great theatre. I'm looking forward to the show."