Joining us for Christmas Crackers we have…
Caroline & Rose Quentin – Actor, broadcaster and television presenter Caroline Quentin will be joining us with fellow actress and daughter Rose Quentin for a joint performance. Caroline became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in Jonathan Creek (1997–2000), Kate Salinger in Kiss Me Kate and DCI Janine Lewis in Blue Murder (2003–2009). Rose is best known for her work on York Witches’ Society (2022), Doc Martin (2004) and Tiny Cow (2021).
Ronnie Ancona – Actor, comedian, impressionist and writer Ronnie Ancona is best known for BAFTA-winning The Big Impression, which she co-wrote and starred in and which was, for four years, one of BBC One’s top-rated comedy programmes. Ancona also starred in the first series of the BAFTA-winning ITV series The Sketch Show, and has also appeared in the BAFTA-winning Last Tango in Halifax since its creation in 2012.
Miles Jupp – Seasoned actor, singer, and comedian Miles Jupp began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children’s television series Balamory. He also played John Duggan in The Thick of It, Nigel in the sitcom Rev and has appeared on many comedy panel shows including Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. In September 2015, Jupp replaced Sandi Toksvig as the host of The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4, and you might have seen him more recently in cinema epic Napoleon, playing the role of Emperor Francis I.
Barrie Rutter – Actor and the founder and former artistic director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company, Barrie Rutter will be compèring proceedings throughout the evening!
Sylvestra Le Touzel – Born and raised here in Kensington, Sylvestra Le Touzel is a radio, television, film and stage actor. She has been seen on television in shows as diverse as Dixon of Dock Green, The Brontes of Haworth, The Uninvited, Catherine Cookson’s The Gambling Man as Charlotte Keane (1995) and Midsomer Murders. In 1994, she played Sarah Teale in the TV series Between the Lines, and in 2000 was cast as a veterinary surgeon in the sitcom Beast, written by Simon Nye, which also starred Alexander Armstrong. In 2007, she played the role of Mrs Allen in the ITV adaptation of Northanger Abbey and in 2017 she portrayed Lady Dorothy Macmillan in the Netflix series The Crown.
Alan Cox – Born close to the borough in Westminster, Alan Cox followed in his father’s footsteps (Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor Brian Cox) with a career in acting. He portrayed the young John Mortimer in the 1982 TV adaptation of his play A Voyage Round My Father, starring opposite Laurence Olivier, and is probably most widely known for his role in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), where he played a teenage version of Dr. Watson. Other films include An Awfully Big Adventure (1995), Mrs. Dalloway (1997), and The Auteur Theory (1999). In 2011, Cox also co-starred as a nudist named Cory Beck in the independent comedy Act Naturally.
Humphrey Ker – Actor, writer and comedian Humphrey Ker is known for being a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Penny Dreadfuls, who have performed their Victorian sketch shows across Britain, including at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As well as this, Ker is also a football executive for Welsh team Wrexham A.F.C., alongside co-chairmen and fellow actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Johnnie Fiori – Performing as an actor, singer and voice over artist since the age of three, Johnnie Fiori has led a varied career including tours in the UK and Europe, and can be heard in song and spoken form in films, commercials and video games including Coca-Cola, the Power Rangers’ theme, Disney’s Hercules Soundtrack and in a number of children’s cartoon series including Teletubbies and Chuggington. Fiori made her West End debut in 125th Street followed by other West End musical appearances in Thoroughly Modern Millie and originated the London role of Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray. She has appeared in a number of plays in the West End, Off West End and Regional Theatres and made her operatic debut in Loren Maazel’s 1984 at the Royal Opera House. Her cinematic debut came in Powder Room produced by Damian Jones.
Ben Goffe – Actor Ben Goffe’s television appearances include The Friday Night Project, Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Short Work. Goffe has also worked for the NSPCC, has appeared on Chris Moyles’ Christmas video Never Gonna Snow and was one of the moving portraits in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He played Clarence in the film AM*DAM and regularly appears in pantomime around the country, including appearing at the London Palladium in 2018, and has toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company, most recently playing Cupid in Dido Queen of Carthage in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Archie Redford – Actor and writer Archie Redford is best known for his work in film Uncle David 2, TV series Britannia and short film Tick Where It Hurts. He has also appeared on the stage and returns for another year at ClementJames after performing in Shakespeare’s Sonnets in Action last year.
Curtis Kemlo – Actor Curtis Kemlo is known for his work on Holby City and more recently, in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Much Ado About Nothing. Also having previously performed at ClementJames’ Shakespeare’s Sonnets in Action, Kemlo is experienced in the world of theatre, and has had roles in productions including Uncle Vanya, Twelfth Night and Othello.
Toyin Ayedun-Alase – Actor, singer and writer Toyin Ayedun-Alase has appeared on the stage in productions including National Theatre Live’s The Threepenny Opera and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Much Ado About Nothing and Comedy Of Errors. Ayedun-Alase’s on-screen performances include critically acclaimed Top Boy, Man Down and Motherland.
Alban Nolan – Actor Alban Nolan will be joining the Christmas Crackers cast, having co-wrote and starred in 33 to 04 at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Eliza Le Touzel Teale – Actor Eliza Le Touzel Teale will also be joining the cast, having recently starred in award-winning short film Natural Service as Heather, and BBC Writers Room Comedy sketch Brexit Removal.
Patricia Hodge – Hodge is best known for her on-screen performances playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in Jemima Shore Investigates (1983), Penny in Miranda (2009–2015) and Mrs Pumphrey in All Creatures Great and Small (2021–present). Hodge made her West End debut in 1972, and the next year, starred in the West End production of Pippin directed by Bob Fosse. Hodge has received two nominations for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and in 2000, she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the play Money.
Unfortunately, Patricia Hodge is now indisposed and unable to attend.