ANOTHER rip-roaring panto has kicked off at the Pavilion under the practiced stewardship of Cbeebies favourite Chris Shaw, whose megawatt energy never seems to diminish, even in his eighth season in Bournemouth.

Joining him was the villain of the piece, The Bill and EastEnders actor Scott Maslen, who didn’t miss a beat either, with huge evil laughs and cracking timing.

Bobby Crush made a very funny dame, with saucy asides for the grown-ups and some good physical comedy for the children.

Amazingly, this is Maslen’s first panto, and, especially considering he’s a seasoned TV actor, he made a great job of hamming up his Abanazer and eliciting some excitable booing from his packed audience. He’s a panto natural.

Aside from this, the set, staging and costumes were as glorious as ever, and the story tightly told, with very little downtime.

MIRANDA ROBERTSON