A care home in Wrexham was invaded by a Dalek – but there was no risk to the residents.
In fact, they loved the energetic performance of entertainer Jo Papworth who came to the Gwern Alyn home dressed as the extra-terrestrial mutant from flagship BBC show, Dr Who.
Jo, 25, an actress with Frantic Theatre, is from Reigate in Surrey, and trained at the prestigious East 15 Acting School in Essex.
Other famous names who studied at the prestigious acting school include Peter Armitage, who played Bill Webster in Corrie, director and producer Stephen Daldry, who won a BAFTA for the hit film Billy Elliot, and Janine Duvitski who played Pippa Trench in classic comedy show One Foot in the Grave.
Jo’s action-packed 45 minute show, called ‘Tiddly Om Pom Pom’ after the famous music hall song, also included colourful characters like Oliver Twist, a Cub Scout, Jamie Oliver, a Great British Bake Off contestant, a Colonel, and the muscular Mr Apollo.
She sang a host of classics, such as Every Time We Say Goodbye, My Old Man’s Dustman, Food Glorious Food, and Royal Britannica.
Jo, who spent a year acting the La Tourné Teatro theatre in Valencia, Spain, said: “The show is a rollercoaster from the beginning to the end, and takes you through a range of emotions that’ll make people laugh and cry.
“So there are the comedy bits, but there’s also a poem by Sir William Butler Yates called The Host Of The Air, which is quite melancholy.
“The show has a lot of different elements to it, and lots of different costumes.
“It’s very light-hearted and appeals to a range of audiences, and it appeals to people on different levels. So some people appreciate it for the music, others like the costumes and the colours, and others appreciate the comedy.
“We do in house theatre and they call it that because we can do it anywhere.
“I perform all over the place, from care homes, to rehabilitation centres.”
Jo loved it at Gwern Alyn which is part of the award-winning Pendine Park care organisation.
She added: “It’s beautiful here. It’s a lovely building. There residents are lovely and so are the staff. It’s one of my favourite places that I’ve performed.”
Gwern Alyn resident Dolly Steen, 89, certainly enjoyed the show.
She said: “I thought the performance was very good because it was a lot of fun. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
“I think it’s great at Pendine Park – I love being here.”
Fellow resident Lena Roberts, 89, added: “The performance was very entertaining.
“Pendine Part is a great home and the food it good. It’s very pleasant.
“They have a lot of different activities here. There are a lot of things going on.”
Gwern Alyn’s activities coordinator, Yvonne Moran, said: “She came in as a dalek and everyone was shocked.
“I thought I was an extrovert but she puts me in the shade.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. The show is very different. It’s not something you see every day.
“Jo is a lovely person, she’s very good, and I’d definitely have her here again. She certainly got everyone’s attention. She got into lots of different costumes. It was definitely a variety show!
“We have all sorts of different things here to support the residents. We try to have a variety.”