A Christmas Carol runs at Watford Palace Theatre from 29 Nov to 3 Jan, every seat £25, with all dates and relaxed and captioned shows. Updated November 2026.
Watford Palace Theatre’s pantomime this year is A Christmas Carol: The Pantomime, running from Sunday 29 November 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027. Every seat is now a flat £25: the £20 early price ended on 31 October.
Updated 5 November: the theatre has confirmed Thursday 3 December at 6pm as press night, and every performance on its list now shows £25.00 apart from the sold-out 10.30am on 9 December.
Updated 2 November: the theatre’s show page now reads “All tickets a flat rate of £25”, and the 10.30am performance on Wednesday 9 December is sold out. The writer, director and Dame answered our questions on the show, the pricing and bookings: read the interview.
Updated 21 October: the theatre’s casting announcement, published by the council on 15 October, confirms seats go up to a flat £25 from 1 November for the rest of the run, and names the full lead cast.
Before 1 November the theatre’s own listing said “All tickets a flat rate of £20 until the end of October”, and its banner read “BOOK NOW FOR £20 UNTIL 31 OCTOBER”. The casting announcement says all seats rise to £25 from 1 November until the end of the run; the flat rate replaces the old system of different prices for different seats. Group rates and membership discounts do not apply to this show at all. (Watford Borough Council)
The show
Ebenezer Scrooge is played by Michael Lambourne, billed by the theatre as “the grumpiest Watfordian in town”. Terence Frisch returns as Dame Dilber and plays all the Ghosts of Christmas himself. The theatre describes it as a panto remix of Dickens, with pop hits, sing-alongs and a character called Jakebob Marley, Scrooge’s reggae-loving former colleague. Age guidance is “the whole family”.
The rest of the lead cast, from the theatre’s announcement: Anna Tolputt as Bob Scratchit, Philippa Carson as Boz Scratchit, Nikita Johal as Kathleen Turnip, Freda Scrooge and Fezziwig, and Lakesha Cammock, returning to the Palace, as JakeBob Marley. It is Frisch’s fourteenth Watford panto. Steve Marmion, the theatre’s chief executive, wrote it, and James Williams directs.
Watford Palace Theatre is at 20 Clarendon Road, Watford WD17 1JZ. The box office is on 01923 225 671.
Every performance date
Performances run Tuesday to Sunday. There is no show on any Monday, and none on Christmas Day, 28 December or New Year’s Eve.
| Date | Times |
|---|---|
| Sun 29 Nov | 3.30pm |
| Tue 1 Dec | 10.30am |
| Wed 2 Dec | 10.30am |
| Thu 3 Dec | 10.30am, 6pm (press night) |
| Fri 4 Dec | 2.30pm |
| Sat 5 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Sun 6 Dec | 2.30pm |
| Tue 8 Dec | 10.30am |
| Wed 9 Dec | 10.30am (sold out), 2.30pm (relaxed) |
| Thu 10 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Fri 11 Dec | 7pm |
| Sat 12 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Sun 13 Dec | 2.30pm (relaxed) |
| Tue 15 Dec | 10.30am, 2.30pm |
| Wed 16 Dec | 10.30am, 7pm |
| Thu 17 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Fri 18 Dec | 7pm |
| Sat 19 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Sun 20 Dec | 2.30pm |
| Tue 22 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Wed 23 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Thu 24 Dec | 1pm, 5pm |
| Sat 26 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Sun 27 Dec | 2.30pm (captioned and audio described) |
| Tue 29 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Wed 30 Dec | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Fri 1 Jan | 2.30pm |
| Sat 2 Jan | 2.30pm, 7pm |
| Sun 3 Jan | 2.30pm |
Note the shape of the run. The 10.30am weekday slots are clustered in the first fortnight and disappear after 16 December. Christmas Eve is the odd one, at 1pm and 5pm rather than the usual 2.30pm and 7pm.
Access performances
- Relaxed: Wednesday 9 December, 2.30pm and Sunday 13 December, 2.30pm.
- Captioned: Sunday 27 December, 2.30pm.
- Audio described: Sunday 27 December, 2.30pm, the same performance.
Wheelchair spaces and companion tickets are available, and the theatre links the detail from the show page. Both relaxed performances fall before the middle of December, so if that is what you need, do not leave it until the school holidays.
The Colosseum’s Christmas dates
Watford Colosseum is not doing a pantomime. It has two Christmas events, both single days:
- The Snowman, Sunday 13 December, screenings at 12.30pm and 3.15pm, with the score performed live by a professional orchestra presented by Carrot Productions. The venue recommends it for children aged 3 and over, sells tickets for children aged 1 to 3, and gives babies under 12 months a free “babes in arms” ticket collected from the box office on arrival. Its own listing warns that “this show sells out every year”.
- Step Into Christmas, Tuesday 22 December, 6.30pm, a Christmas classics show with a live band. This one is listed on the council’s events site but had not appeared on the Colosseum’s own What’s On when we checked on 5 September 2026, so check the venue before assuming tickets are open.
Getting there and parking
The Palace Theatre is on Clarendon Road, a few minutes’ walk from Watford Junction, which makes evening performances easy by train. Car park tariffs are on our Watford parking page, and anything closed or diverted on the night is on the roadworks and travel page.
The rest of the town’s festive dates, including the fireworks and the lights switch-on, are on our Christmas lights switch-on page.
Sources
- Watford Palace Theatre, A Christmas Carol: The Panto, read 5 September 2026, for all dates, times, prices, cast and access performances
- Watford Colosseum, The Snowman, read 5 September 2026
- Watford Actually (the council’s events site), Annual Events Lineup, read 5 September 2026, for the Step Into Christmas date
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