Last Christmas it was Dawn French who brought celebrity star power to the Palladium panto Jack and The Beanstalk. This year it is French's comedy partner Jennifer Saunders playing villainous Captain Hook in Peter Pan. Apart from that this is business as usual for the ensemble – in other words a riotous mix of camp, slapstick, smut and occasional acting. And, as always, glorious fun.
I'm not sure JM Barrie envisaged Julian Clary dressed as a giant prawn, or Peter Pan's crotch catching fire after some limbo dancing. This is a version that just about pays lip service to the origin story. No wonder a song in the second half, sung by scene-stealing imp Rob Madge as fairy Tink, asks "whatever happened to the plot?"
