TWO of Britain's favourite funny men, John Inman and Stu Francis, teamed up yesterday to put a little magic into the launch of Newcastle Theatre Royal's Christmas pantomime.

It may be six months away, but the pair rolled out the flying carpet for a quick dash to Tyneside to drum up support for Aladdin, which runs from December 9 to January 18 next year.

This is Stu's first appearance in a production of Aladdin after 22 years in panto, where he will play Wishee Washee.

John revealed that he first played Window Twankey as a schoolboy, 44 years ago, and has appeared in panto every year since then.

Former Crackerjack and Crush A Grape TV performer Stu is in summer season in Blackpool until October.

He said: "I'm getting quite a few bookings from universities now because fans from my period in Crackerjack are now in their early twenties."

John, who lives in Little Venice, London, is cutting back on his workload following a serious asthma attack last year. But he has agreed to appear in Jonathan Ross's It's Only TV But I Like It quiz show, which is filming today.

The 66-year-old, who is one of Britain's top panto dames, joked about his days as camp Mr Humphries in BBC1's Are You Being Served.

He said: "When I saw some of my lines I said 'I can't say that', but the writers replied 'of course you can, it's a self-cleaning joke'."

* Aladdin, at Newcastle Theatre Royal, opens on December 9, and runs until January 18. For more details, contact the box office on 0870 905 5061.