Award-winning Rdaio Cleveland presenter Matthew Davieshas decided to make his debut as panto dame.

He tells Steve Pratt that he's tired of people slagging off the Christmas tradition which is a brilliant introduction to the stage for children.

No one can deny that Matthew Davies knows how to make an entrance. He arrives for the interview on stage at Middlesbrough Theatre wearing more mascara and bigger false eyelashes than Bet Lynch, and sporting a pair of bosoms so large they rest on the table while we talk.

This isn't the look the North-East born actor and presenter usually sports when he's behind a microphone conducting his weekday 9-to-noon show on BBC Radio Cleveland.

The man named Radio Presenter of the Year in the local radio awards has temporarily deserted his radio post to tread the boards in pantomime at the local theatre.

More importantly, as far as he's concerned, is that he's playing the Dame - Nurse Glucose in Snow White And the Seven Dwarfs - for the first time. Hence the rather bizarre gender-mixing outfit he was wearing during a break from technical rehearsals.

After years of playing Buttons and assorted Silly Billy-style comic sidekicks, he's decided that, at the age of 35, he's old enough to be playing the Dame. He's approached his new role seriously, having taken the trouble to study this particular, not to say peculiar, form of theatrical tradition. He worked in pantomime in Eastbourne a few years ago specifically so he could study its star and long-time Dame, Jack Tripp.

"He showed me the ropes in the panto and I was able to watch his Dame very carefully," recalls Davies, who's been asked to play the part before but decided to wait until his mid-30s before tackling it.

He appears to be loving every minute. "It's amazing being part of the history of pantomime. When you put on the Dame's dresses, you do feel, 'wow, it's something special'," he says.

Davies is also pleased to be making his Dame debut at the Middlesbrough venue, where he's appeared in panto before. "It's a special place. I'm familiar with the theatre and have a good relationship with the audience," he says.

His look as Nurse Glucose entails ten costume changes and many, many sequins. Apparently a photographer recoiled at the photo call when Davies, in full Dame mode, walked on stage and approached him "like a huge tank with tits". He talks affectionately of his newly-acquired bosom as a "double catapult".

He describes his nurse as "a sophisticated slapper" whose late husband "was the only man I knew who could make onions cry". Be warned - there are plenty more of those where they came from, although he says: "I like it to be a family show. I don't mind a bit of innuendo, but don't like filth."

His own first experiences of seeing pantomime were at Newcastle Theatre Royal, while growing up in Birtley. "I remember the feeling I got and still do now when the overture goes up, a shiver up the spine" he says. "I do see pantomime as an art form. I'm sick and tired of people slagging it off. It's a brilliant introduction to theatre for children and adults too."

Before he became a presenter on radio and TV, Davies was a child actor who began at the People's Theatre in Jesmond. At 13, he won a talent competition and was handed his prize by North-East actor Tim Healy (who, coincidentally, is playing Captain Hook in pantomime at Newcastle Theatre Royal this year).

That early success was as one half of a comedy duo called Bangers and Beans - although he can't now recall whether he was Bangers or Beans.

The day after the run of Snow White ends, Davies will be back doing his regular show at Radio Cleveland - minus the make-up, frock and those big bosoms.

* Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs runs at Middlesbrough Theatre from today until January 4. Box Office: (01642) 815161

Published: 04/12/2003