Leigh Francis delighted West End theatregoers as he made a special appearance in Back to the Future: The Musical as Principal Strickland.
The 51-year-old comedian, famed for TV characters including Keith Lemon and Avid Merrion, took to the stage at the Adelphi Theatre in celebration of Back to the Future Day on October 21.
This date is significant for fans of the franchise as it marks the day Marty McFly travels to the future in Back to the Future Part II.
Sporting a bald wig cap and grey suit, the Leeds-born personality looked like he was in his element portraying protagonist Marty’s strict high school principal and could be seen grinning from ear-to-ear during the encore.
Francis and the cast received a standing ovation from the delighted audience, which also included former Spice Girl Emma Bunton, who is a long-time friend of Francis.
American screenwriter Bob Gale - who co-wrote Back to the Future - appeared on stage afterwards to say a few words and thanked Francis for his involvement.
Hailing Francis as “one of the biggest Back to the Future fans in the world,” he also revealed that the star had been invited to an early workshop of the musical when it was first being developed and spoke of his “enthusiasm” towards the production.
For his own part, Francis thanked Gale “for shaping my childhood” and also thanked the cast with whom he had shared the stage for the evening’s performance.
Francis has spoken openly about his love of the 1985 movie starring Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd on which the musical is based.
In his recently released autobiography Leigh, Myself and I, Francis recalled how he ended up watching the film for the first time completely by chance when the original flick he had gone to see - Santa Claus: The Movie - had been sold out.
“I thought it was amazing,” he penned. “I thought Michael J Fox was the best, he was funny, but cool. He played the guitar and he rode a skateboard.”
He described himself from that moment on as “totally obsessed” with Back to the Future and “anything Michael J Fox-related”.
Back to the Future spawned a further two sequels and even an animated cartoon series.
The musical iteration opened in London in September 2021 with a Broadway production following in 2023.
