BERWICK Kaler's latest Christmas extravaganza isn't so much a pantomime as a magical mystery tour moving, via the Tardis, from Queen Victoria's court to swinging Sixties London and ending up on the Yorkshire Moors.

You'll gather this is no ordinary show on learning that those appearing include the Queen Vic (the monarch, not the pub), Prince Albert, Evil Edna, Kate Bush, Sonny and Cher, BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration and a groin-thrusting madman called Hips Libido.

You always worry whether Kaler - writer, co-director (with Damian Cruden) and Dame in his 26th York pantomime - can top what he's done before. Despite having to switch from Cinderella after a clash of titles with the other York theatre, which he cheekily mentions, Kaler has come up with a classic combination of fun and frolics. Much of it is sheer genius, with a riot of inventive verbal, visual and physical comedy, reflected in Nigel Hook's brilliant designs.

Kaler takes pantomime traditions and puts his own spin on them. To that he adds a distinct York flavour and an air of lunacy that makes this a treat for adults as well as children. Kaler is undoubtedly in charge, but he couldn't do it without his regular co-stars. David Leonard, Martin Barrass and Suzy Cooper are supplemented by talented newcomers Lucy Hunter-James and Rory Dan Wilder, while Kaler's "nephew" Vincent Gray is upgraded into a variety of humiliating roles.

The downside is that Kaler will have a hard job doing better next time.

* Until January 29. Tickets (01904) 623568.

Published: 15/12/2004