HE IS NO stranger to playing a baddie so it is no surprise that former Emmerdale star Jonathan Wrather is looking forward to ‘counting up the boos’ when he takes to the stage as pantomime villain Abanazar on Wednesday.

Wrather, who played the controversial and conflicted Pierce Harris in the soap, will lead the cast in this year’s family pantomime, Aladdin, running from December 12 until Saturday, January 5 at Rhyl Pavilion.

The actor, who played Joe Carter in Coronation Street and has appeared in Waterloo Road and Casualty, will be joined by David Perkins (Aladdin), Gemma Naylor (Princess Jasmine) from Nick Jnr’s Go! Go! Go! and Denbigh’s Sean Jones who will be back at the Pavilion Theatre for his seventh annual pantomime.

The father-of-two, who played Eugene in pantomime Beauty And The Beast last year at Newark Palace Theatre, said: “I am looking forward to it [Aladdin] immensely.

"I have to confess, I haven’t seen a production of Aladdin. I remember the animated version, I think it was 1992."

In Aladdin, ‘evil’ Abanazar seeks the magic lamp that contains the all-powerful Genie.

Wrather, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1992, said: “I'm really fortunate to be asked to do it [pantomime]. I did one about 15 years ago. You don’t often get the chance to do them, so when you are asked to do it, you jump.

“There is nothing like it [the panto tradition] anywhere else. It is the purest kind of theatre because it is an amalgamation of all sorts of things. You’ve got your comedy and your drama and your pathos. It is a melting point and anything goes.

“Counting up the boos and hisses mean you are doing a good job.".

Wrather is hoping to see his family in the audience during the pantomime run.

He said: “My kids are still very young. They came along to the panto last year and I was in two minds or not whether they should come. 

"I thought they would be freaked out by seeing their dad on stage or they’d be afraid or it would be too loud, but they sat there and never left the audience. They were transfixed.”

To book tickets, telephone 01745 330000 or visit www.rhylpavilion.co.uk