Pantomime characters have brought the Christmas spirit to Aberdeen early this year.

Shoppers at the Bon Accord Centre were surprised on Tuesday when the stars turned up to promote their show.

Holby City actor Lee Mead and much-loved panto actors Alan McHugh and Jordan Young will perform Snow White at His Majesty's Theatre from December for a five-week run.

Best-known for winning the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do, Lee won the title role in the West End revival of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Since then, he has had lead roles in Wicked and Legally Blonde in the West End, released several solo albums and toured extensively.

"This is my first time playing the prince in Snow White, so that's quite exciting and I'm definitely looking forward to it," Lee said.

"Alan and Jordan are legends in Aberdeen, but it's great for me to be back in the theatre because it's just beautiful."

The cast will rehearse for the show for ten days in November, before performing in front of audiences of thousands.

"It's quite an intense period to put a show on," he added.

"You often get four to five weeks to rehearse when doing a musical, but with panto it's nine to ten days, and then we're off."

With the returning north east audience expecting great things, the cast have to up the ante each year.

Lee Mead hinted at the possibility of a "huge flying dinosaur" even making an appearance.

Alan, who writes all the scripts and plays the pantomime dame, says he starts thinking about the next show as soon as he is finished performing.

"Every year I think 'is this the year I run out of ideas?' but I've probably got lots of ideas before I even get to writing," he said.

"The pressure is on to keep coming up with something new, but the audience will let me know if they don't like it!"

In this year's performance Alan is playing Snow White's nurse, nurse Nelly Macduff that comes from the Aberdeenshire town, that he describes as a "big, loud, brash, rude, clumsy, ugly woman with a heart of gold".

"I have about seven wigs and 14 different costumes which range from the nurse outfit, to a Christmas pudding, to a barbecue, to a Love Island bikini - which is going to turn the stomachs of the north east," he added.

"This is my 15th year of doing Aberdeen panto - I'm from Glasgow and I'm delighted that the north east have taken a 'weegie' to their hearts and I'm forever grateful for it."

The actress who will play Snow White has not been announced yet - it is one of the many surprises that awaits the audience.

Snow White will run from December 1, 2018 to January 6, 2019.