Lily James and David Walliams will join the cast of a star-studded panto being aired this Christmas for BBC's Comic Relief.

Also in the cast of Beauty And The Beast: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas will be Oliver Chris, Guz Khan, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Sian Gibson and Susan Wokoma.

This is the second panto production put on by the BBC, following last year's performance which featured Rege-Jean Page, Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter, Anya Taylor-Joy and Daniel Craig.

Peter Kay’s Car Share actress Gibson said: “I thought my panto career was behind me, but oh no it’s not!

“Just thrilled I’ve not been asked to play the beast actually. It’s going to be lots of Christmassy fun and a great chance to raise crucial funds for such a wonderful charity.”

Also in the production will be Inbetweeners star Simon Bird, Call The Midwife actress Pam Ferris and Celia Imrie from Better Things will also take part, with singer-songwriter Tom Rosenthal cast as Mr Bell.

The BBC has said there will be cameo appearances from Miranda Hart, Lenny Henry, David Tennant, David Walliams and Michael Sheen.

The 2020 production raised nearly £900,000 for Comic Relief. 

Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis said: “I don’t know that we’ve ever done anything for Comic Relief which was more full of a sense of fame and fun – last year the show made nearly a million pounds, and I’m really hoping that Beauty And The Beast will also raise a beautiful amount of cash for all our brilliant projects at a pretty beastly time.”

Sir Quentin Blake will once again illustrate the performance.

Beauty And The Beast: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas will air on December 19 at 9pm on BBC Two.