RUSS Spencer is looking remarkably relaxed in his dressing room considering he is about to be transformed into one of theatre's most evil characters.

The Scooch singer is about to lose his boyish good looks with a spectacular make-up job that will render him a monster to play the part of the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, currently at Southampton's Mayflower theatre.

He is to be prodded and poked for an hour and fitted with latex prosthetics and make-up which cost £100 a time to apply.

Make-up assistant Helen Williamson arrives bearing a gift of two ears and a long, pointy nose.

She explains: "The make-up was developed from the original Child Catcher, Richard O'Brien and had taken on a very scary and clownish look over the years, with eyebrows that are drawn on over the forehead.

"We have now brought it back to having a more natural look which really is quite sinister.

"Along with the Phantom of the Opera, this is one of the big iconic make-ups in theatre today."

The original make-up design followed the film when the Child Catcher's long nose was used for "smelling out children" and adapted for the stage.

It is very prominent in order to be easily seen by all 2,000 audience members in need of a scare.

The Child Catcher was not in the original Fleming novel, but was added to the film by screenwriter Roald Dahl!

Russ has his hair gelled down and the skull cap fitted and glued to his face. Now with a bald head, he jokes that he feels a little like hard man Phil Mitchell from TV's EastEnders.

Russ's spiky hair is his pride and joy, but he has promised to forget it for a month while he appears in Chitty.

The nose, which has been specially selected from a range of sizes, is carefully glued onto his face followed by the ears and the Child Catcher starts to take shape.

The cap, ears and nose are then blended in and Helen makes minor adjustments to the prosthetics.

Intricate shading is now added around the eyes, mouth and bone structure, and Russ starts getting into character glaring at the mirror with a sinister sneer.

Finally the hairpiece is added. The style of the wig has changed from the short and curly wig Alvin Stardust had when he appeared in Southampton to a comb-over style more in keeping with the original Richard O'Brien wig.

Feeling thoroughly evil, Russ dons the rest of the costume and prepares for his appearance on stage at the end of Act 1.

"The make-up is fine going on, but it can be uncomfortable getting it off after the show," Russ laughs.

"It was really strange at first having this transformation, and not knowing exactly who would be looking back at me in the mirror, but now it puts me in the right frame of mind to go out there and scare the audience!"