NEW York, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Dubai – the past 12 months have been something of a whirlwind for actor and business training advisor Stuart Nurse. But one thing he has been looking forward to all year is donning an outrageous wig and killer heels for the fourth consecutive festive period in The Radlett Centre’s pantomime. However, rather than having a deep-rooted passion for cross-dressing, one of the main reasons behind Stuart’s loyalty to the family show is his postcode.

Based in St Albans, Stuart, who plays an ugly sister in Upstage Productions’ Cinderella, tells me: “Being a family man, I try to pick jobs that don’t keep me away from home for too long, so being able to do the panto locally is fantastic.

“I have two small sons who are the perfect age to enjoy it, they are eight and five, in fact, my eldest son has his birthday during the run. They are both extremely exicted about me doing it every year and at the moment they think it’s cool and funny, but I’m waiting for the point when they don’t want anything to do with me when I’m in character.”

Stuart, who rose to cult fame in the early ‘90s as the lead in the Olivier-award-winning musical Return to the Forbidden Planet, where he met his wife, is something of a pro at playing panto dames. Thoug this is the first time he has played one of the ugly sisters, and he tells me there are “profound differences”.

“Playing one of the ugly sisters is a different gig. The dame is a nice lady with whom the audience can empathise and who drives a lot of the comedy and warmth of the show. The ugly sisters are the villians of the piece, the empathy is gone.”

As well as panto dames, Stuart’s acting CV, which spans more than two decades, includes big West End shows including Beautiful and Damned and Spend, Spend, Spend, and he recently filmed a scene with Matthew Macfadyen and Ron Cook in the popular BBC drama Little Dorrit.

“My sons were very excited about their dad working with Parker from the Thunderbirds and Ron was kind enough to send them an autographed photo.”

But getting back to his panto role, does he ever long to play the romantic lead?

“Agh bless you,” Stuart laughs, “I’m a bit old for that. I’m in my mid-40s now, so my days of playing romantic leads have trailed into the distance. I’m happy not trying to be young and attractive and enjoying being old and funny.”

Cinderella is at The Radlett Centre from Saturday, December 13 to Saturday, January 3. Details: 01923 859291, www.radlettcentre.co.uk (£11.50-£15.50/ family tickets available)