Serious laugh

"I thought she was dead," admits Ian Tough about the night his wife Janette fell 20-feet onto the stage at Glasgow's Pavilion when something went terribly wrong with Jack And The Beanstalk in 2004. The couple, who are known to millions as The Krankies, have fought back from Janette fracturing her skull, breaking ribs and a collarbone and perforating an eardrum to star again in panto two years later.

Looking tanned and fit, after soaking up the sun in their Australian home, 58-year-old Janette is returning to her role as Wee Jimmy Krankie for a lengthy run of Cinderella at Darlington's Civic Theatre.

She says: "I'm happy with my health now. I think I was very, very lucky and it was just a matter of everything healing because there was a lot broken... ('for a small person', jokes Ian)."

But the moment when 4ft 6inch Janette lay on the stage with blood pouring from her ear still haunts the couple, who have an outstanding claim for compensation which may be heading for the Scottish High Court.

"I don't remember much about it luckily," says Janette of the fall, which also involved co-star Gary Hollywood.

Ian says: "The theatre say that there was a mechanical fault on the equipment but that's all we know and we're claiming for loss of wages from the time of the accident. We are seeking a substantial amount."

The couple say they had a profit-sharing agreement with the Pavilion, where they'd appeared for seven years, which is also part of the insurance claim being negotiated.

"We didn't work for six months and had to turn down quite a bit of TV work," says Ian, with Janette adding that the 2005 French And Saunders Christmas Special was the first time she felt confident again, although the couple did a careful run of summer shows at Blackpool last year.

"I was very worried before Blackpool before I went on stage again but once you're back on then Doctor Footlights is a wonderful thing," jokes Janette, although she's still having treatment for her balance which was affected by the head injuries.

The duo wondered whether Janette would still have the energy to clown around as Wee Jimmy after so many months off stage but are now confident about taking up panto offers, as long as it doesn't involved a beanstalk.

Ian admits "A lot of folk asked if we were going to pack in completely but I said 'we wouldn't like an accident to finish us'. We want to stop when we decide, not when some outside force like an accident happens. I'm terrified of throwing her about now in our knockabout stuff and when we first started back all I could think about was her busted ribs and fractured skull... and it was me who was putting his back out doing these things."

Strangely, Ian believed that Jack And the Beanstalk was "spooked" even before his wife's fall. "Funnily enough the last time they did Jack And The Beanstalk at the Pavilion the actress playing Jack fell off the beanstalk. It's a 'black' pantomime involving a giant which eats children so we're going for the fun ones in future," he says.

Cinderella is a welcome return for the pair because the same-named panto was the first time they worked together as a double act in 1978 at Darlington Civic Theatre. They played the broker's men alongside comic Stan Boardman. The pair also starred in Aladdin in the 1993 and The Adventures of Robin Hood in 1997.

After that the Torquay-based couple decided to support Scottish pantomime.

Ian, who will be playing Baron Hardup to Janette's Buttons, says: "We're hoping that people will still remember us but what we are finding is that those who recall us from the Seventies and Eighties are bringing their own children along to see us."

At the moment the pair are discussing the script with executive producer Michael Harrison to make the best of their comedy routines. Ian says: "I think one of the reasons we moved our pantomime act back to Scotland is that we are more sketch-patter rather than the musical play style that England was using. As a result we could put in impressions of Ozzie Osbourne and Austin Powers which suited us."

One surprise ahead for the Toughs is a recent invitation to close this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

"After all these years together we've been asked to close the fringe I thought it was a mickey-take and told them 'we're an old-fashioned musical hall act, we're burlesque'. But they told me that we're exactly what they want," says Ian.

Janette jokes: "A reporter said to me 'will this bring a new lease of life to your career?' and I said 'don't you threaten me'."

* Cinderella with The Krankies and Denise Welch runs December 8 to January 21 at Darlington's Civic Theatre. Box Office: (01325) 486555.