Home and Away's Sonia Todd reveals panto plan

Home and Away's Sonia Todd reveals panto plan
Home and Away's Sonia Todd reveals panto plan (Image credit: Channel 5)

Home and Away's Sonia Todd has revealed that she is keen to follow in the footsteps of many of her fellow soap stars and appear in panto in the UK. The actress - who plays high school principal Gina Austin in the Australian show - told Inside Soap magazine that she thinks she would make a good wicked witch. "I'd love to come and do panto, except that I can't sing!" Sonia said. "Is that an impediment? I could rap, or come out with an evil cackle or two. Yeah! That'd be pretty good." However Sonia - who originally found fame as dancer Tina Sparkle in the cult film Strictly Ballroom - admitted that she does not like working away from her two children. And she said that the chance to be close to home was what attracted her to the role in Home and Away. "A big part of it was that it's filmed in Sydney, where I live, so it cut out my commute," Sonia said. "And the show's so accommodating and family friendly if you need to take the kids to the dentist or whatever. There's got to be someone somewhere with the schedule tearing their hair out!"

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.