VETERAN panto dame Berwick Kaler has vowed that his new show will go on.

The York theatre legend had to bow out of the star role after the opening night when he was taken to hospital with intense stomach pains.

It was the first time in the 58-year-old's acting career that illness forced him to step back from the limelight - but he is determined to rejoin Hobson's Choice at York Theatre Royal as soon as possible.

The York theatre star has been resting at home over the weekend after being discharged from York Hospital on Friday.

He said the heartbreak of losing his treasured nine-year-old pet Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and the stress of playing a big role, such as Hobson, might have played a part in his ill-health.

"I had this little dog Jessie - she went everywhere with me and I knew she was failing fast. I got through the opening night of Hobson's Choice, but I knew she didn't have long.

"The next morning I knew she was really going to go. I started to get these pains in my stomach. "About an hour later she died. Then 20 minutes later these ferocious, agonising pains occurred."

Mr Kaler said he was undergoing tests for a suspected bowel syndrome.

"All I was concerned about was the show. But they cancelled the Wednesday night. The director took over for me on Thursday."

But he vowed Hobson's Choice must go on.

"It really is a fantastic show. But with a wonderful part like Hobson, which is on a par with the great Shakespeare roles, there's an inevitable amount of stress. And with the dog dying as well it probably got to me."

But he said: "I am an old pro and the show goes on. This is the first time in my life this has happened. In nearly 40 years in this business, I have done everything from seaside shows, films to TV - and I have always turned up. Some of those times I have been ill but this time the pain was so severe.

"We have a super cast. I am so disappointed this has happened. I am hoping I can go back as soon as humanly possible. The cast deserve to have the success that it so justly deserves. It is a show York should be proud of."

He admitted feeling "shocked" at the number of people who phoned the hospital.

"I felt like a film star. I was a bit embarrassed for the staff," he said, before paying tribute to York Hospital's nurses.

"I had 70 hours in there. What I saw was them saving lives. It really awakened me to the work they do. They were fantastic and it wasn't because they were all supporters of the panto.

"Everyone got the same wonderful care. I was really proud of them."

Updated: 10:13 Monday, April 04, 2005