TIS the season to be jolly, and there is certainly plenty of merriment to be had in Cheltenham this Christmas.

The Everyman theatre’s annual offering of comic capers, silly songs and dazzling dances takes the form of Dick Whittington this year with a pantomime to be proud of.

The theatre’s only in-house show of the year had a lot to live up to following the fantastic success of 2011’s Jack and the Beanstalk. But with stars William Elliott as panto dame Sarah the Cook, Kelli Maybank as our hero Dick and Perry Lambert as the damsel Alice Fitzwarren, the cast were well placed to bring us an action-packed, fun-filled three-hour show.

When Dick arrives in gold-paved London to find his fortune, he quickly comes a cropper when the dastardly Queen Rat (Zara Ramm) sets up our hapless hero and leaves him wrongly accused of stealing all Alderman Fitzwarren, and father to the love of his life Alice, (Mark Hyde) as a thief.

With tomfoolery aplenty, Dick sets out to clear his name with help from his trusty talking cat Tommy (Daniel Whitley) played brilliantly as a cap-wearing rapper and Fairy Bow Bells (Natasha Lewis) who flies in on regular occasions to wave her magic wand with a sprinkling of fairy dust.

But it is, without doubt, professional clown Tweedy who completely steals the show. With a hilarious bike trick routine involving two unassuming members of the audience, improvised ad-libbing any comedian would be proud of and the best one-liners in the panto, Tweedy proved a hit as a favourite for both children and adults alike. His cooking capers with Sarah, in a very cleverly built rocking galley on board their ship, will go down as one of the funniest slapstick scenes I have ever seen. So funny in fact, neither actor could keep a straight face throughout the entire scene.

On top of all this quite simply brilliantly British humour, there is a good helping of rewritten pop songs, dazzling costumes and impressive dancing from the local Janet Marshall Dance Studios.

With all this sparkle and silliness, Dick Whittington is guaranteed to get you in the Christmas spirit and will certainly make you smile.

The Everyman has done it again - 2012 will go down in history as yet another cracking pantomime and as one of the best in the South West.

Dick Whittington is on until January 13, 2013. Call 01242 572573 for tickets.