In the grotto

If you are planning to take your charges to see Father Christmas this year, spare a thought for the man behind the beard (and put the new movie 'Bad Santa' out of your mind!). Life in Santa's grotto can be tougher than you think.

Dennis Rookard, who spent six weeks playing Father Christmas in a large shopping mall in Kent, can reveal that it gets very hot and sweaty in that big red jacket and trousers, and the beard sometimes makes it difficult to breathe. Santa may have to sit there for hours at a time, longing to go to the loo or gasping for a cigarette, but not daring to desert the long queue of expectant children outside. However, despite the discomfort, Dennis - who in his other life works as a journalist and film extra - reckons that playing Santa is a 'good and worthwhile gig', and apparently one much coveted by out-of-work actors, because it is better paid than many other jobs available to them and guarantees several weeks of constant work. It is not, Dennis insists, a role that should be undertaken lightly. 'I felt I had to put on a real show and I probably spent more time with each child than I should have done. I got myself a large, dusty-looking book and after I had asked the child's name I would check in this to see how they had been behaving. It was pretty safe to say something like, "Oh dear, you have been cheeky to Mummy, haven't you?"'