Traditional panto - Jack and Beanstalk - full of family fun, silly jokes, song and dance at Scarborough Spa

Jack and The Beanstalk cast are Kyle White, Lucy Summers, Sara Nelson, Mark Newell, Amy Thompson, Daniel Dean and Frank Simms

As traditional as turkey and as crackers as the party favours you pull over the dinner table, the Tony Peers production has all the elements audiences demand from a seasonal show.

Sara Nelson plays the Good Fairy – with a great line in rhyming couplets and Dame Dolly Trott, a flamboyant, Lily Savage-style Mark Newell – wears outrageous outfits and weird wigs.

Lucy Summers is the brave and resourceful Jack and Channel 5’s Milkshake! presenter Amy Thompson clocks up her second Spa pantomime as the object of Jack’s affection, Jill.

Together they are as sweet as a Selection Box and more tuneful than a run-down of the top 10 festive hits.

Kyle White makes his presence felt as the hapless King and the villain of the piece – and town’s peace – is a magnificent malevolent Frank Simms as the man in black, Fleshcreep.

Holding the nonsense – what else can you call a plot that includes magic beans, a sprawling beanstalk, gold coins and a giant – together is the gloriously daft Daniel Dean as Silly Billy.

With Simms as the baddie, Dean is the stand-out star of the show – making sure the children are kept busy shouting “Hi ya, Billy” and “Keep away from the bag” at the top of their voices.

Dean was also in last year’s Spa panto Dick Whittington. Again, he keeps the pace fast, the action furious and funny and the sing-along loud and clear.

Young dancers from the TLC of Dance are also regulars and are allowed bags of time to show off their considerable charm, agility, grace … and comic timing.

The production is tune-filled – including George Ezra’s Green Green Grass, Defying Gravity from Wicked, Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams, Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend and Kylie’s Balaam.

It wouldn’t be a traditional pantomime without the cultural, current references – so enter TikTok, I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here, Nigel Farage is always good for a laugh, and, of course, Strictly Come Dancing.

The pantomime does not rely on gadgets and gizmos – it does have a gi-normous giant – and instead brings seasonal sparkle and shimmer with colourful costumes and beautiful backdrops.

Jack and the Beanstalk is full of slapstick, silliness, terrible jokes, hit tunes and a smattering of risque remarks to ensure the adults are listening.

It is fun, family-friendly and packed with opportunities to hiss, boo, clap and cheer.

Jack and the Beanstalk runs at Scarborough Spa until Monday January 1.

Tickets are available on 01723 376774 ·and online at https://www.scarboroughspa.co.uk/