'IT'S always better to play the baddie," says former Coronation Street star Vicky Entwistle about taking on the role of evil Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty at Sunderland.

"It can be hard work at times when the kids get carried away with booing you. You're like, 'Can anyone hear me?' But it does give you a buzz because you get a kick out of the kids getting engaged with the show and the story," she adds.

The actress, who spent 14 years in Corrie as the gobby factory worker Janice Battersby, will have a couple of large horns to help her engender evil during the panto run on Wearside. "I have a fantastic pair of black, lace-up boots because my character is extremely vain and thinks that she's a movie star. I think that's why everything kicks off because she's not been invited to this christening," says Entwistle, who is featuring in her sixth panto.

It may not sound like many, but soap stars are rarely encouraged to spend their festive seasons on the stage and the Accrington-born performer speaks warmly about Martin Dodd of UK productions who has used Entwistle in the company's last four pantomimes.

"I didn't always play the baddie. I've been a good genie and the Wicked Queen in Snow White, which was really good but I used to get stressed every time I spoke to the mirror. I used to think, 'If I jump onto the wrong scene with the mirror, then half of the story would be lost'. So I had to keep reminding myself, 'Is this the first time with the mirror or the second time?' It was really stressful deciding if I was going to be called the most beautiful of all or not," she jokes.

Entwistle feels that fairies have a better time in panto "because they can be naughty, while when you're playing the queen you have to be reserved and regal. But my bad fairy can do whatever she wants. I've got a whole kingdom to fall under my spell this time, so I don't think people should mess with me."

There is still the famous spinning wheel scene where the Princess (Amy-Leigh Hickman) pricks her finger and falls into her spell-induced sleep. "Spinning wheels could be seen as anachronisms now, but youngsters just scream the place down when Sleeping Beauty walks towards the needle. It's brilliant because it means they are listening to the story and following it."

One thing is for sure, Entwistle will be taking few prisoners on stage. She bursts into laughter when I mention that Corrie producer Phil Collinson referred to her as "a strong and uncompromising battleaxe, with a heart of gold lurking underneath", when she left in 2010.

"That was Janice. I took it as a compliment and he didn't say that Vicky was a battleaxe. That was what they wanted me to do with the role and I did it," she says.

Six years on from that big decision to halt a role which saw her become the screen wife of Bruce Jones and mum to Jane Danson and Georgia Taylor, Entwistle says: "It was a tough decision after 14 years and you really suffer the fear of the unknown. Theatre-wise I've now done loads of stuff and I really love it because you can't beat a live audience. The buzz you get is fabulous. TV has its own benefits and I like it as a medium as well, but I prefer the instant feedback you get on stage."

She toured in Funny Peculiar, an award-winning play by Mike Stott, and then, in January 2013, landed the role of Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables on the West End stage. "I loved that, it was brilliant. I love flying my the seat of my pants because I wasn't a singer and I'd never been in a musical before. I thought to myself, 'What's the worst that can happen? I can fall on my face or I'll learn something'... and I did. The producers had rung my agent and enquired if I'd be interested in doing it and Cameron Mackintosh paid for me to have singing lessons for six months. So that was real support and I don't think it happens very often and I was really chuffed. I think the film was out at the same time and they wanted someone with a higher profile. I felt they were bound to change their minds when I started singing, but they didn't. I think I was more shocked than the producers and my husband (Andrew Chapman) was in tears because he thought the role was so amazing. Since then, I've done some great jobs.

"It's nice to play something with a beginning, a middle and a end. You know when the job is finished and you start looking for the next job."

Entwistle is less certain about taking on another soap role. "I'd have to think about that one if I was asked," she says with a laugh.

Soap fame for the 5ft tall actress hasn't always been easy and the police got involved in two cases where over-enthusiastic fans ended up with injuries. "You know you get used to it and live with it as time goes on, but, at first, it's a shock to the system because you're not used to the attention. When I went on Corrie there was 22.5 million people watching the Battersbys arrive. The ratings were very high then and you got instant recognition for as little as one or two episodes. It used to scare me and it could be quite full on at times. I don't regret any of it, because I had a great time on there and I miss my pals. It was also quite intense when you were involved in a big storyline."

Entwistle will also be seen next year in an episode of the BBC's popular daytime drama Father Brown (played by Mark Williams).

"I really enjoyed it apart from having a wear a corset. That was a bit of a shocker. I can tell you I don't get bumped off and I'm not a baddie. I think the series is due to run in January."

n Sleeping Beauty, Sunderland Empire. December 9 to 31. Box Office: 0844-871-3022 or ATGtickets.com/Sunderland