Derek’s theatre credits include: World Cup Final 1966 (BAC) The Gruffalo, (Tall Stories) The Big Adventure (Chipping Norton), Blues Brothers (German tour), the critically-acclaimed 666 (Riverside Studios), Huckleberry Finn (Theatre Royal, Northampton) and Foe (Theatre de Complicite). Film credits include: Breakfast on Pluto, Bridget Jones’ Diary, The Nutcracker and Revolver. Television credits include: If…, Casualty, Buried Treasure, Hope & Glory (BBC) and The Bill (Thames). Derek has recently been touring Europe with ‘The Magnets’ performing the Vox Pop à cappella show.

My First Panto
Aged 8, I sat with a multitude of other children and their parents waiting for the first appearance of Cinderella. Just before the curtain went up I looked at my father to see him smiling at my excitement, then the gestured for me to pay attention to the stage, which I promptly did. The next time I saw him as my father was as we left the theatre.

The lights went up on stage. Cinderella was beautiful, Buttons was funny, the Ugly Sisters were very ugly and The Wicked Step Mother was extremely evil until she started throwing bags of sweets to the children in the audience. At 8 years of age my catching skills were not as good as the are today but that evening as the wicked step mother threw those sweets I became the greatest catcher ever, I stood among a crowd of kids screaming for a bag of sweets when she threw a bag my way. I extended my arms above my head, my attention firmly on the dame, then I felt the impact of a bag of jelly tots hit the palm of my hand. I’d caught them… After that the wicked stepmother didn’t seem all that wicked to me, just misunderstood!