If last year’s Jack and the Beanstalk outing for the Birmingham Hippodrome was a bit of a manic cluster bomb that slightly underutilised some of its cast and didn’t quite live up to the ‘drome’s usual (admittedly stratospheric) standard, then all eyes were on this year’s Peter Pan, for this reviewer at least, to see if it could recapture that pixie dust of Brummie panto perfection.

The first move Michael Harrison and co get right is scooping up the return of national treasure – and bonafide Birmingham royalty – Alison Hammond. The This Morning and Bake Off host’s infectious, Earthy likability and proud local lilt was a perfect addition to last year’s lineup, and it’s undeniably great to have her back. The rapport she shares with honorary Brummie – and undisputed audience favourite – Matt Slack (returning this time round his eleventh consecutive outing at the Hippodrome), is palpable, genuine and buckets of fun.

But as magical a mermaid as Alison proves to be, and as terrific as it is to see Slack back on indefatigable, hilarious top form, Peter Pan flies because it is a much more rounded and satisfying piece of pantomime jugglery.

As is to now be expected, this is as lavish and opulent a feast for the eyes as you’ll see outside of the M25. The Hippodrome never fails to deliver a dazzling spectacle, and the piratey, Neverland trappings of Pan give designers Mark Walters, Ben Cracknell, Teresa Dalton and Mike Coltman a true nautical playground to go to town with. From flashing, zapping electric eels, ginormous animatronic reptilians to a cannon-inspired dame frock that would have even Julian Clary blushing, this is comfortably one of the most dazzling, visually arresting productions you could sink into this Christmas and New Year.

In fact, you’ll need to split some very fine hairs indeed to find pretty much anything here that’s anything less than grand. Harry Michaels and Slack himself have fashioned a hearty, hilarious panto offering that admirably starts out with a strong focus on the story of the boy who never grew up, before gradually folding the usual panto frolics and set pieces into the mix.

“…you’ll need to split some very fine hairs indeed to find pretty much anything here that’s anything less than grand.”

It feels a trifle cynical to get into the minutiae of structure in a pantomime, but there’s a far more even-handed balancing of all of Pan’s myriad, joyful elements this time round when compared with last year’s Beanstalk. Andrew Ryan’s wonderful Dame – this time one Mrs Sylvia Smee – gets to have far more fun this time round (after being relegated to a couple of mopey ballads last year), here vamping up a storm with some post-modern riffs to outright unabashedly camp mash-ups of Gaga and La Cage. As always, the frocks are to die for.

From a lagoon-inspired repurposing of Earth, Wind and Fire’s ‘Boogie Wonderland’ to returnee Danny Mac doing a sizzling job of reminding everyone that he’s got both the moves and vocals to match with a corker of a take on ‘Jailhouse Rock’, the big musical numbers are suitably show-stopping and infused with character and fun. And, naturally, there’s an abundance of funny, too, often masterfully conducted by the maestro of mischief, Slack himself.

There’s an ingenious skit of map-themed puns, the customary free-for-all of ‘A Sailor Went To Sea’ as Hammond, Slack, Mac and Ryan engage in increasingly chaotic slapstick shenanigans and, perhaps most hilarious of all, a truly masterful impressionistic take on The Proclaimers that is up there with the funniest and most impressive of bits that Slack has delivered in his impressive, eleven-year tenure.

It’s all great, funny fare, and an impressive cast and ensemble put in the legwork to keep the energy levels high and the laughs coming thick and fast. Noah Harrison makes for a great Peter Pan, impish and boyishly charming, the kids in particular will love him as a young hero to root for. Danny Mac, meanwhile, is inspired, shrewdly playing his villainous Captain Hook completely nefarious and almost entirely straight… though not without a few cheeky jabs of self-deprecation at how seriously he is taking it all.

“…a terrific spot of panto villainy, and one that makes his aforementioned big musical moment all the more disarming.”

It’s a terrific spot of panto villainy, and one that makes his aforementioned big musical moment all the more disarming. Hammond is once again a delight, and when you have Matt Slack at his best as he is here then there are few, if any, in the industry that can match him.

Reclaiming its heritage as one of the finest pantos in all of the (Never Never) land, the Hippodrome has a treasure trove of real 24-carat booty on its hands – and hooks – with Peter Pan. With a touching nod to the venue’s recent 125th birthday, Hammond, Slack and Mac are a magical, winning combo in a dream of a panto that, in all the best ways will make you feel like you never grew up, either.

Chart a course for the second star to the right, and be prepared to be giggling straight through until morning!

“Same jokes, different costume.”

You can’t help but admire the irrepressible tenacity of Brum panto favourite, Matt Slack. Much is (deservedly) made of this year’s offering, Jack and the Beanstalk, being his tenth outing on the Birmingham Hippodrome stage. No mean feat, and a rousing riff on Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’ (‘That’s Pantomime’), recapping his various roles and co-stars over the years, is one of the evening’s highlights – moving and funny in equal measure. He even gets a cheeky slip in about his 2016/17 co-star John Barrowman being a bit of a ‘c*ck’.

Having done a masterful job over the past decade of strutting, tomfooling and improv’ing his way around the law of diminishing returns, it has to be said that this year’s Beanstalk, in which Slack plays the traditional fool in the form of Jack’s (Alexanda O’Reilly) older brother, ‘Jake’, feels like the first time the inimitable Slack magic and formula has begun to feel just that tiniest bit familiar.

He’s still, pound-for-pound, gag-for-gag, one of the most dependable funny men you could wish for on a panto stage (and mercifully already signed up for round eleven, in next year’s Peter Pan), but outside of a rather ingenious A-Z of impersonations and the aforementioned ‘That’s Pantomime’, there’s a recurring niggling sense that, by Slack’s own admission, we’ve seen and heard much of it before (hilarious though it may be).

The other big sell this year is the debut of local gal-done-good, Alison Hammond, in what is contrarily her first ever panto. Similar to Slack, not only does the This Morning and Bake Off presenter make for a natural fit for self-deprecating, giddy pantomime silliness as the ‘Spirit of the Beans’, lighting up the stage during everything from a goofy Strictly/Dirty Dancing mashup to the perhaps-inevitable TikTok interlude, but so too does she offer up some poignancy and even a tug on the old heart-strings. Most notably when paying homage to her late mom, drawing attention to the seat dedicated to her memory in the Hippodrome auditorium, and her own personal history with the theatre.

Together, Slack and hammond are spirited, vibrant and consummately entertaining, and there’s no denying the opulent, Olivier-nominated staging by Mark Walters somehow becomes even more dazzling whenever they take to it. It has become tradition for the Hippodrome to inherit the previous year’s London Palladium panto, so there’s little surprise that here is a show positively packed with at-times jaw-dropping production value and glitz. A towering trio of puppet giants early on are merely an appetiser for some of the spectacle and scale to come. By the time Hammond struts out in an enormous neon peacock plume (unsurprisingly a Julian Clary hand-me-down) and the titular McMuffin bursts out from the stalls to reach up to the Hippodrome ceiling, there’s no denying this Beanstalk is comfortably one of the biggest, richest and most visually stunning pantos in all the land.

“..there’s no denying this Beanstalk is comfortably one of the biggest, richest and most visually stunning pantos in all the land.”

It’s just a slight shame that, in what feels like a whippet-fast (some may even say hurried…) variety extravaganza, so many of the fantastic cast feel rather underused. The ever excellent Andrew Ryan gives great dame, and benefits from the best of Hugh Durrant’s hilarious, high-concept costumes, but he’s mostly handed a couple of poe-faced ballads and, outside of some customary cheekiness with the front row, and repurposed Act II favourite ‘If I Were Not Upon The Stage’, Ryan doesn’t get all that much time or space to truly camp it up. Similar can be said of the fantastic Gill Jordan as Doreen Tipton who, despite finally getting a true panto realisation of her ‘lazy cow’ persona, is mostly used for song and dance numbers and (admittedly funny) dairy puns, yet is afforded precious little opportunity to showcase her comedic chops (sorry, we shouldn’t mention chops!). She does at least get the chance to put in another roof-raiser, after last year’s very welcome Cats surprise. We shan’t spoil which classic musical gets the ‘my goodness, she can really sing’ treatment this time round, but someone get this lady on a West End stage post-haste.

Samantha Womack proves a terrific panto villainess as giant’s wife, ‘Mrs Blunderbore’, who could probably do with a few more outwardly boo-hiss-worthy moments. Still, Womack sings and dances up a storm, and crucially doesn’t seem to be taking any of it all too seriously. The decision to upgrade the show’s ‘Princess Jill’ from pure damsel-in-distress to co-giant slayer is a nice, empowering and modern twist, even if the talented Billie-Kay is, again, sadly underutilised.

Local talent Alexanda O’Reilly, in the lead role of ‘Jack’ himself, fares slightly better, and is a whirlwind of flips, kicks and knockout vocals. He elevates the traditionally rather flat and beige panto prince persona into something boyishly energised and electric, and by the time he’s wowing in a barnstorming (quite literally) variety show number midway through, or traversing the towering beanstalk come the Act I curtain closer, there’s a palpable sense that a musical theatre star is born (or rather, affirmed – this not being O’Reilly’s first outing by any stretch of the imagination).

It’s rare to wish for a pantomime to be longer – and at just over two hours including the interval, Jack and the Beanstalk is by no means short. And yet, perhaps as overspill from its Palladium roots, it regularly tiptoes to feeling more akin to a fabulous, decadent variety fest than a conventional pantomime. Ryan, Jordan and Womack in particular all feel like their fabulousness needs an extra set piece or two to bed in and vamp up, and if Slack’s trademark back-and-forth with a selection of tykes from the audience would need to be where the hammer stroke fell, I think audiences could probably live with that (although the performance reviewed featured probably the single funniest and feistiest young guest to date).

Quibbles such as these aside, though, this is still glittering, big-budget panto gold. Hammond is an infectious, lovable delight and an inspired addition to the Hippodrome’s storied line-up of panto greats, and although it perhaps isn’t Slack’s absolute best year, it’s nonetheless a moving anniversary outing that reminds audiences of his inherent brilliance in the panto field. You will also flat out not find a regional production in the country that can compete with the sheer size and wonderment of what Michael Harrison and Crossroads conjure up again here.

So toss your magic beans onto the compost heap, leave your worries on the farm, and climb a joyous, dazzling variety beanstalk to the very heart of Brum with two of its most beloved stars.