Pantos

At Perth Theatre, Aladdin is on course to achieve record sales – even beating last year’s Jack And The Beanstalk which outsold all the theatre’s previous pantos.

In most pantos there is a scene with ghosts and ghouls and Sleeping Beauty was no exception, but this was what really blew me and my niece away.

It’s not one of your classic pantos – it was created by a Scottish writer called Bruce Morton, who also starred in the show – but the atmosphere was lively, with a full audience every night.

Or one of 49,000 to shout ‘he’s behind you’ at one of the town’s pantos?

Stan went into showbiz at the young age of 13, touring the UK with The Francis Langford Boys Choir and honing his craft in pantos at the Old Lyceum Theatre, Newport and migrated to Australia in 1963.

And the time before EastEnders and Catastrophe and the Royal Shakespeare Company and the West End and the Tron pantos and Scottish musicals, when Forbes Masson was Victor MacIlvaney.

Panto staples Al Dunn and Nick Bunt double up as the Ugly Stepsisters Bonjela and Sue de Creme and comedy sidekicks Buttons and Poppers - which means we get even more exposure to the true genius of Exeter’s pantos.

Certainly, it won't be going back to 'normal' this year and it will be an interesting Christmas without all the pantos and so on.

The most London-y of pantos comes to the Big Smoke in one form or another every year.