Today is the first night of the panto. Coriander comments to Joe on what a great job Lynda does every year. Joe retorts that she can be a hard taskmistress. Having been a mainstay of the panto for years, Joe says he is now concentrating on his Christmas business. He wonders whether Coriander would be interested in some holly or mistletoe. Oscar’s perturbed when the cat goes off stage, but delighted when it reappears. Coriander thinks Dick and Alice are awfully good and wonders if they’re boyfriend and girlfriend, but Joe assures her they’re just the best of friends.
Jazzer tells a nervous Fallon that he’s the reason it’s nearly a full house. Harry’s not keen on wearing make-up, but Nigel likes his and says the make-up ladies have excelled themselves. Lynda’s hyperactive and Robert explains it’s because Tristram Hawkshaw, the new FLOS director, is in the audience. Lynda’s anxious when she spots Tristram apparently making production notes. Worried she’s met her nemesis, Harry assures Lynda she’s got nothing to worry about. However, she’s even more concerned when she hears that Tristram’s writing a review for the Echo. Stressed, Lynda says she must have been mad to do the panto. But when Nigel reminds her she did it for Oscar, who has had a wonderful time, she agrees that what really matters.
WRITER: Joanna Toye
DIRECTOR: Julie Beckett
