That'll Be the Day is top of the pops

The popular feel-good show which has now been on the road for 30 years recently completed its 20th consecutive summer season in Bournemouth.

And now the team will bring their Christmas-themed version of the show to various local venues including King's Theatre, Portsmouth on December 9, City Hall, Salisbury on December 16, the BIC, Bournemouth on December 18 and Hawth Theatre, Crawley, on December 19.

Before that there will be a special gala performance at The London Palladium this Sunday (November 6) to mark this major milestone.

The show is renowned for its charity fund-raising, including Help for Heroes and Childline, and now it is working for Make a Wish.

The show's successful formula is its clever mix of happy pop songs from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s combined with saucy yet harmless end-of-the-pier humour, underpinned by nostalgic overhead projections.

Not only is That’ll Be The Day ( TBTD) celebrating its own 30 years landmark in 2016, but Make-A-Wish® UK, is also celebrating 30 years of granting magical wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life- threatening conditions.

So far TBTD have raised over £150,000 in donations from its generous audiences across the UK.

Since 1986, Make-A-Wish has turned more than 8,000 wishes into a magical and memorable reality. Wishes can range from being a princess for the day, meeting a hero or going on a once in a life-time holiday.

The TBTD team together with some children who have been granted wishes by the charity, have made a record at the famous Abbey Road studios, made famous by The Beatles, in order to boost funds further.

The show’s founder, producer and director Trevor Payne,who is also one of it’s key performers, told the Daily Echo:

"To celebrate our 30th anniversary we thought we must do something special in collaboration with the Make A Wish Foundation so the Abbey Road record was made. We have raised £150,000 in two years through bucket collections. With it being the charity's 30th anniversary we thought if we had a song we could record we could record with some of the kids that have had a wish granted - that would be really special."

The show's drummer Mark and Trevor have written the song Make a Wish Come True which is now due to be released after Christmas .

"The plan is to get 6,500 advance orders and then, on a given day, everyone would buy it which would make it Top Ten and from there it would be 'self-perpetuating'. We would sign the royalties over to Make A Wish," said Trevor.

"The London Palladium is going to be fantastic. People have booked it on the back of seeing the show and we will know 90 per cent of the audience. It will be a slightly abridged version of the show - with a few bells and whistles! And some big names from the business are hoping to be there to lend their support. "

Even after 30 years n the road with TBTD Trevor has no desire to stop and reflecting on its longevity he said:

"It's a lifestyle that we have. It is a huge commitment for everyone in the show. I was in it from the beginning but when people come into it they are surprised how it takes over your life. We do 220-230 shows a year. I say that means you have 130 days off! But it's not 9-5. and there are odd days off or weeks in a row. To keep it fresh and interesting for our selves as well as the audience we must keep trying new things, and our last show was our most successful ever. Everyone loves this particular show , the cast and the audience, and that means I love it! I think it is the strongest company we have had in 30 years.

"I'm lucky because I have spent my whole career on stage and in music and I'm still enjoying it. The natural process is that there will come a point where my body says enough is enough. But I don't feel any different to how I have always felt and I don't look on it as a job or any different to 20/30 years ago.

It's hard work but it's very rewarding . We've set a level and the challenge each year is to improve the production. "