The shrieks, whoops and eardrum-piercing screams started from the moment the lights in the Watford Palace Theatre went down and didn’t let up until the curtain had fallen on Sleeping Beauty and the hordes of children were piling out of the auditorium.

Put simply, this was a cracker of a Christmas panto but, then, they always are at the Palace – they’ve become something of a seasonal institution in Watford, and rightly so.

After penning Jack and the Beanstalk in 2011, Mother Goose in 2012 and Robin Hood in 2013, playwright Andrew Pollard returned to the Palace for this, the story of Princess Rose, cursed at birth by the wicked Fairy Arachnia. We meet Rose on the eve of her 18th birthday, alongside her overprotective father, King Calico, palace cook Donna Kebab, the good Fairy Fashionista, and Darnit the Dog, and they are soon joined by Prince Alexander, who crash lands in the palace grounds and promptly falls in love with the young princess. But, of course, the preparations for the party soon go awry, thanks to the dastardly meddling of the evil fairy and her disco ball spider, Incy Wincy.

The story has everything you could want from a panto – goodies, baddies, right winning out over wrong, downright silliness – but with just the right number of individual touches to make it stand out: the time-travelling inventor prince, the princess rescuing the prince, the whole cast travelling one hundred years into the future to the age of disco.

Special mention must be made of the superb sets and costumes, created by designer Cleo Pettitt who was clearly in her element with the steampunk and disco aspects of the story.

Also of particular note were the performances of Erica Guyatt as Arachnia, who brought a delightful touch of Tim Curry à la Frank-N-Furter to the role, and Obioma Ugoala as Prince Alexander, who obviously relished his character, which was far better rounded than most panto princes, and who had a terrific singing voice. And, of course, the kids went absolutely dotty for Terence Frisch, in his fourth outing as the Palace panto dame, Oliver Longstaff as the loveable Darnit, and Sheena Patel as the air-kissing Fairy Fashionista.

My ears are still buzzing and my heart is still all warm and fuzzy. An absolute must, once again.

  • Until December 27. Details: 01923 225671