THE only way is Essex is as true for the York Theatre Royal pantomime this Christmas as it is for the Grand Opera House show.

Vincent Gray, dame Berwick Kaler's "Essex nephew", is returning to the Theatre Royal cast for the first time since 2012's Robin Hood And His Merry Mam!, while fellow Essex lad Lewis Bloor, from TOWIE, will be making his panto debut across the city in Jack And The Beanstalk.

From this week, Vincent is playing the title role in Dick Whittington (And His Meerkat) – Whittington, not the meerkat, you understand – in the Theatre Royal's one-off transfer to the 1,000-seat Signal Box Theatre at the National Railway Museum.

"It's lovely to be back; it feels like we're reunited," says Vincent, whose tattoo on his left arm indicates where he has spent much of the past few years – and it is not Essex. "Niemals Aufgeben," the writing reads; German for "Never give up."

Good advice to himself that has paid off with roles in musicals in Germany and beyond, just as it did when he first joined the Theatre Royal pantomime cast. "I was 17 and in my first year at theatre school when I did Babbies In The Wood as part of the dance team, but I also had to do a little acting role as King Richard ...from Essex," Vincent recalls.

Berwick Kaler chips in: "It was wonderfully charming but it was very Essex and after a couple of performances I said, 'I don't think Richard the Lionheart actually came from Essex', and the audience loved it.

"You were a 17-year-old kid expecting just to dance, but like all the kids that join us, they may start as dancers but now they're expected to be able to do more than that: to dance, sing and act. On top of that, for pantomime, you have to have something you can't be taught in dance classes; you need a personality that goes beyond the footlights and the audience has to like you – and they really like Vincent!"

York Press:

Vincent Gray in rehearsals for his role as Dick Whittington. Picture: Anthony Robling

From 2012, Vincent spent just over a year in Starlight Express in Bochum, in the west of Germany, and he then joined the European tour of The Rocky Horror Show, playing Rocky Horror. "I did that show in 1973," chips in Berwick again. "I went to Japan with it, playing Riff Raff with the whole of the original cast, except for Richard O'Brien [the show's writer], who couldn't do it, so I took over his role."

Back in your box, Berwick! Vincent finished his Rocky run in August and Berwick has wasted no time in bringing him back to York to reunite with David Leonard, Suzy Cooper, Martin Barrass and A J Powell.

"I wouldn't say it's like getting back on a bike," says Vincent. "Rejoining the Theatre Royal panto is more like walking back into a hug. Everyone is joyous and there's a lovely family feeling. Last Christmas, I was in Vienna, and it just wasn't the same as being in York, beautiful as Vienna was. Everyone here is so warm and friendly, and my friends say to me, 'you really love it up there in York, don't you' and I say, 'yes, you just have to come here to see why."

Although Vincent has returned to the familiar streets and winter scenes of York, he will be performing in anything but familiar surroundings: the traverse stage, with ten rows of seating either side of a track, in the NRM's purpose-built Signal Box Theatre. "It's a wonderful challenge because we'll have to be really inventive and the audience will be closer than they've ever been. No-one will be safe from Berwick talking to them!" says Vincent.

"It's good to keep an open mind about the challenges because every show will be different, every audience will be different, and we'll all have special memories afterwards."

York Theatre Royal's pantomime, Dick Whittington (And His Meerkat) runs at the Signal Box Theatre, National Railway Museum, York, until January 24. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk