With those cold winter nights still months away, the Orchard Theatre chose an unusual location to launch this year's pantomime in the Dubai sunshine. The desert kingdom is home to the show's star and director, Dick Whittington himself, Jim Davidson.

KIDBROOKE lad Jim Davidson first appeared in the public eye when he won TV talent show New Faces in 1976. Always a performer as a youngster, he took to the stage in the Scouts' gang show and played drums in a band.

But it wasn't until the age of 20 he first had a stab at stand-up, persuaded by his mates to fill in for a comedian who hadn't shown up.

"I was a bit boozy at the time and thought, I can do this," he recalls. "It was at a pub in Woolwich where I found my first gig and my first wife."

Jim went on to host several primetime TV shows, including Big Break and The Generation Game, which he fronted for seven years.

Throughout his career, Jim has been a panto regular, both onstage and as producer.

"My first panto was in 1976, at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham," he recalls. "Frank Ifield was topping the bill. I played Idle Jack and I loved it, I couldn't wait to go on.

"Panto is the only chance I get to be clean," he laughs. "You can go on and be a clown, like I used to do on the Generation Game.

"The adults enjoy themselves because they see their kids having a wonderful time," says the father-of-five.

Jim, 52, is looking forward to directing and performing in the Dartford pantomime.

"Telling the story is the most important thing," he explains. "If you just fill the show with stars you have to cater to them. The producers are allowing me to cast it with proper actors who can get the story over."

"It's always about a chap who's got nothing and does well, which appeals to the British.

"Aladdin, Dick Whittington, look at Cinderella she's a bloody gold digger."

"It's about slapstick and fun but the main thing is the magical story."

Chairman of the British Forces Foundation charity, Jim has entertained troops in the Falklands, Bosnia and recently in Iraq.

A visit to Basra last year with opera star Katherine Jenkins involved a terrifying helicopter journey, flying under power lines and dodging missiles.

Jim is a life-long Charlton Athletic fan and heads to the Valley whenever he gets a chance.

So why does he choose to live so far away from his beloved Addicks?

On the sunny terrace of the six-star Grosvenor Hotel, he explains why he lives in the desert paradise.

He says: "The sun shines, for one thing. You can get up and it's sunny and you think, I'll have a barbecue today. It's a better way of life.

"I don't do TV anymore in the UK because I can't cook or paint houses. So I might as well be out of work here."

Last year Jim organised the first annual Dubai Comedy Festival, with 30 stars including Bobby Davro and Richard Digence.

"Here I don't have any baggage," he says. "They don't say, he's that 'orrible Conservative Charlton supporter, they just know me as a comedian."

He also likes Dubai's strict law and order regime.

"The best thing is, no crime. You can walk anywhere safely," says the veteran Tory activist who counts Margaret Thatcher and powerful party chairman Lord Ashcroft among his friends.

"Plus I've been struggling with a bloody tax bill since my last divorce. I had a £2m bill to pay. I got so sick of it, I thought, I'm going to be a tax exile."

Jim grins ruefully: "Lord Ashcroft put me in my place. When I told him I was moving here, he asked: Don't you have to be wealthy to be a tax exile?'"

Dick Whittington is at The Orchard Theatre, Dartford, from December 1 to January 7. Tickets, £11.50 - £19.50, now on sale with concessions and group discounts available. Call the box office on 01322 220000 or visit orchardtheatre.co.uk