YORK Theatre Royal’s curtain will fall for the final time tonight (Saturday) on this year's pantomime

And while a panto will return to the theatre - bosses are planning for a new future without legendary Dame Berwick Kaler.

Tom Bird, the theatre's executive director, has told The Press that it was time for a change and a new creative team would be appointed and the current stars of the show would not automatically be offered a role in future productions.

The current show - Sleeping Beauty - is the first since Berwick retired after 40 years as Dame, but it is written and co-directed by him.

However, this year’s production has repeatedly hit the headlines amid claims surrounding falling ticket sales.

Mr Bird said that this year 31,000 tickets were sold - while pantomimes in similar cities smaller than York were attracting nearly 90,000 ticket sales.

He added: “At some point 40 years ago, we called time on a previous pantomime and said to Berwick Kaler, ‘please do something new’.

"And Berwick created something extraordinary that lasted 41 years.

“We have now reached the moment when a reboot is necessary.”

The final show in this year's pantomime begins at 7.30pm tonight.