By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK? *****

WHEN? Sunday 7 December, opens 11 December and runs through 11 January 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Bovvered? Christmas is a time of tradition and this year marks the 10th since the return of the pantomime to the boards of the London Palladium.

• Read on for reasons including why there’s simply no other pantomime in any other venue across the land that can top it for spectacle and laughs

The hilarious performance we didn’t know we needed in this festive period is 2025 guest star Catherine Tate (Miss Atomic Bomb, St James Theatre) playing her foul-mouthed comic character Nan singing Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now with a troupe of dancers dressed as pensioners performing somersaults.

Arguably this year’s theatre biggest wow moment – Rachel Zegler’s balcony performance of EVITA at this very venue – is also reimagined with Nigel Havers, the butt of this pantomime’s jokes, attempting something similar.

We’ve reviewed each of these 10 annual Palladium pantomimes – Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Snow White, Goldilocks, and Pantoland at the Palladium, in both 2020 and 2021, Jack And The Beanstalk, Peter Pan and Robin Hood – and this year’s incarnation includes footage from many of its predecessors featuring stars including Paul O’Grady, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

But it’s the reel featuring ever-present Julian Clary and his cheeky innuendo-littered wordplay that sparks most, ahem, titters.

We’re here because we think you can’t beat a bit of Clary and we’re well-served by his performance with our favourite zingers including: ‘It’s time I returned to my dressing room for a chocolate finger’, ‘finally a clean joke. What’s going on you’re wondering … we’re here for the buggery!’ and ‘It’s important to have a few heterosexuals around if anyone needs directions to Milton Keynes’.

1 of the running gags is this production’s lack of plot adherence and Rob Madge My Son’s A Queer, But What Can You Do? Garrick Theatre) plays narrator The Diva Of Dreams and introduces Clary as King Julian and Tate as his villainess sister Carabosse who causes Princess Aurora to prick her finger on a spinning wheel putting her to sleep.

Act 1 ends with bubbles and tickertape falling on the audience from the roof before the fairy tale kingdom of Palladiuma is surrounded by a gigantic wall of thorns which sprout from this venue’s roof and balconies (see picture below).

The point of this venue’s pantomime is to revel in the building’s variety history and this means that you’re never far away from a song and dance number, comedy turn or unusual act but there’s enough that’s familiar about the format to keep fans like us continually coming back for more.

Comedienne Catherine Tate reminds of the genius of some of her characters including schoolgirl Lauren (‘Am I bovvered?’), bachelor Derek (Who dear? Me dear. Gay dear? No dear.) and the aforementioned sweary Nan.

In a year when you can vote for the Palladium to win our monsta for Best Venue, there’s simply no other pantomime in any other venue across the land that can top it for spectacle and laughs.

But it’s the emotional feels particularly when the much-missed O’Grady appears onscreen sparking audience appreciation and Clary and Havers perform a touching friends duet near this show’s close when you know its heart’s also in the right place.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Palladium Pantomime Tickets
• Have you seen a London Palladium pantomime before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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