Paul Merton show halted by theatre roof leak

Paul Merton has pledged his support for a Victorian theatre after a leak in its roof forced his show to be abandoned.

The comedian was on stage at the Theatre Royal Portsmouth with his wife and on-stage comedy partner Suki Webster on Wednesday evening when water started coming through the roof above the audience following heavy rain.

The theatre said the condition of the roof was a known issue and work had already begun on a long-term repair. It said shows at the venue would continue as scheduled.

Merton said it was important to "really cherish" such Victorian theatres, designed by renowned architect Frank Matcham.

The Have I Got News for You star recounted how he had pulled down his trousers "for comedic value" towards the end of the improvised show, when he was aware of something happening in the auditorium.

"My mic pack was in the pocket so we heard some white noise, we weren't sure what it was. I pulled my trousers up and that didn't make a difference and then we thought it sounded like rain. And someone in the audience said, 'It's wet in here'.

"At that point, we had water, we had electricity, we thought we'd better not carry on.

"The staff were absolutely brilliant, and the audience too, nobody panicked. It was all quite calm but it could have been very serious."

Fellow cast members Charlotte Gittins and Mike McShane also looked towards the audience in confusion.

Webster recalled hearing "little squeals" as people were getting wet.

The 170-year-old Theatre Royal's architect Frank Matcham was also responsible for the London Palladium and Hackney Empire.

Merton said: "He was one of the great theatre architects and any performer that plays the Frank Matcham theatres will always tell you there are amongst their favourites.

"The ones we have, we should really cherish."

Webster added: "When you walk into them, they just have a special feel and he was so brilliant at designing them that they hold the sound in a way that modern theatres don't always."

The couple said they had discussed a benefit for the theatre and returning to complete the last 15 minutes of the show.

In a statement, the theatre thanked the audience members for their "good humour".

"Staff acted quickly and calmly to ask the audience to leave the building. This was a precautionary decision, taken purely for safety reasons," it said.

Over the last 12 months more than £1m of funding has been secured, including £450k from Arts Council England, for a complete replacement of the roof.

A survey in 2025 identified a total of £4.5m of works over the next 20 years was needed.

Richard Pearce, chief executive of Portsmouth Theatres, said: "This incident does highlight the criticality of the works and justifies the pace at which we are striving to recover from years of neglect, that could otherwise had resulted in the loss of our beautiful 170-year-old theatre."

The theatre said measures were in place to allow performances to continue safely and without disruption while the roof works were in progress.

Webster said: "It's such a beautiful space and the Portsmouth crowd are lovely too, so we really hope it gets repaired quickly and it's wonderful to hear it is business as usual."

The couple said it was the first time that a show during both their careers had been stopped in such a way, with Merton musing that his trousers were "cursed".

"Until I lowered them to my ankles, there was no problem at all," he said.

The theatre was bought by Portsmouth City Council in 2021 after suffering financial difficulties during the Covid pandemic.

The Grade II listed building originally opened in 1856, but was damaged by a fire in 1972.

It was closed for three years before reopening in 2015 following a £4.5m revamp.