TRIBUTES are being paid to The Krankies who have said they are quitting panto after more than 50 years.
The festive troubadours husband-and-wife due Ian and Janette Tough who have become as much a part of Christmas as turkey have said they had "sadly run out of energy".
Iain Gordon, general manager of The Pavilion in Glasgow which has previously played host to the panto legends said it was "the end of an era", although and said they had been threatening to call it a day for some 20 years.
He added: "I am not surprised. It is a hard slog to keep doing it over the years. They have entertained very well over the years."
They were last in panto as the stars of Cinderella at Glasgow's SEC Armadillo last year.
And the Scottish Event Campus posted their tribute, saying: "Panto’s most-loved double act are retiring after 50+ years - it’s been an absolute pleasure to have the Krankies grace our stage. Entertaining crowds with countless laughs every festive season!
"Glasgow will miss you!"
The duo, who met in 1967 at Glasgow's Pavilion Theatre, aged 18 and went on to find fame in the 1970s, went on to carve a successful career in music, TV and panto.
But the couple have revealed have said they are calling it quits on the live shows amid concerns for Janette’s health fearing their high-energy performances were worsening the osteoporosis in Janette's back. She was diagnosed in 2017.
Mr Tough said: “Janette’s consultant had seen her do yoga on Marigold and told her to be very, very careful doing those moves due to osteoporosis in her back.
“The yoga was very mild so I didn’t have the heart to tell him we had still been doing the ventriloquist dummy act in panto.
“It got us thinking that perhaps we were taking too big a risk with Janette’s health.”
She said:“I know it was one part of our act that people really seemed to like but I’ll never play the dummy again. I can say it’s on doctor’s orders.
“We’re both 72 now and feel the time is right to call it a day. But we’re not giving up the business — just pantos.”
The pair started out as a cabaret act working the northern club circuit when they came up with the idea of putting Janette, who is 4ft 6in, into a cap and blazer.
It was not till Wee Jimmy Krankie was created that people really started to take notice.
When they appeared in the 1978 Royal Variety Performance, in front of an audience of 24m, their fate was sealed. Janette was destined to wear those shorts and boots for over 40 years.
Their panto performances have not been without incident.
In 2004, performing in Jack and the Beanstalk at Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre, Janette fell off the beanstalk. She smashed her skull, broke several ribs and her collarbone, damaged her chest wall and perforated an eardrum.
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