IF you ever need bringing back down to earth, a trip to the pantomime with two young girls aged eight and six years old could be just the thing.

In Gloucestershire we are lucky to have a range of fabulous pantomimes to enjoy and none more so than the Everyman’s excellent Dick Whittington and His Cat Tweedy which is currently playing at the Cheltenham theatre.

Written by Nick Winston and Sam Holmes the pantomime does not disappoint and brings together the elements of bawdiness, silliness and joy in all the right proportions for a wonderful family panto.

It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale.

Sam Holmes provides a strong thread to the tale as Fairy Bow Bells and an excellent performance from Marc Zayat as Alderman Fitzwarren and the Sultan.

Firm family favourite Tweedy brings his inimitable physical slapstick humour to the role of Tweedy the cat in this bonkers story which follows the story of Jack as he travels to London and Morocco and battles the Rat Queen brilliantly played by Lara Denning .

The panto is scattered with Gloucestershire references which went down a storm with the audience who clearly relished the rich entertainment they were watching.

Excellent dancing and some funky contemporary songs all went down well – certainly with my granddaughters.

Tweedy really is a master of physical comedy in the greatest tradition of clownery he delivered a masterclass in comedy which the audience clearly loved. He is a real asset to Gloucestershire and we are lucky to have such a comic genius in our midst.

If you want an injection of Christmas joy then Dick Whittington and his Cat Tweedy is the ideal tonic and one not to be missed.

It is the perfect blend of naughty humour the adults will get and silly pantomime fun the children will love, the Everyman present a wonderful panto this year.

For more visit everymantheatre.org.uk