The Criterion Theatre is situated in Earlsdon, Coventry, England. It puts on about seven shows a year. The company has won the Godiva Award for best theatre in the region several times. The current patrons are Pete Waterman, music producer and railway preservationist, born in Coventry and Ron Cook, stage and screen actor of Thunderbirds and Doctor Who fame, who first acted as an amateur at the Criterion. The Coventry born actor, Sir Nigel Hawthorne (1929–2001), was a former patron.