The cat’s whiskers. A bundle of fun. A ringing success. Let’s get out of the way right from the start each obvious play on words associated with Dick Whittington and his feline friend — all of them entirely applicable to Oxford Playhouse’s magical festive production Even by the impressive standards achieved at this venue over the years, this is a stand-out Christmas show. In his seventh stint as writer and director, Peter Duncan has supplied his best pantomime yet.

Very sensibly, I’d say, he has abandoned the tradition of giving us a Dick who is actually a dame. It has been observable in recent years that the youngsters at whom pantomime in chiefly targeted don’t quite ‘get’ the idea of a thigh-slapping principal boy – especially when she starts to chase the girls.

In Ashley Emerson, the Playhouse has a Dick of boy band good looks, who is guaranteed to appeal to every young lady in the audience, even as he rules them out in favour of his true love Alice (Laurie Scarth). That Ashley’s a hot singer, too, in a production notable for its excellent musical content (musical director Darren Reeves), guarantees his appeal across the board.

Comedy is served up in good measure through the antics of a top-class dame. The colourfully caparisoned Dame Doris Donut (Leon Craig) makes a huge contribution to the show’s success. Her saucy antics show an element of gleeful vulgarity but stop short of smut (though activities “up against the wall” as opposed to “in bed” were perhaps a tad too risqué). Leon, too, has an excellent voice, as we hear in the belting version (well choreographed by Grace Harrington) of the Martha and the Vandellas hit Nowhere to Run, which gets the second half of the show off to a rousing start.

The battle between good and evil, as ever in this pantomime, focuses on the clashes between Fairy Bow Bells and King Rat. Each is portrayed memorably, Deborah Crowe’s fairy having more than a touch of North Oxford primness in her speech, while Reuben Kaye’s hissable villain has the tones of an ocker Australian, while giving us occasional displays of campery reminiscent of The Rocky Horror show’s Frank-N-Furter. Happily, his rat pack meets its match in Dick’s sidekick moggie, Tigerbilly, who is played with impressive displays high above the stage by the aerialist Tori Moon.

As ever, the fortune-hunting voyage of Alderman Fitzwarren (Richard Kidd) ends in watery disaster, cleverly depicted here. But naturally all comes right in the end in a show that is never less than a super Christmas treat.

FIVE STARS Until January 13. Box office: 01865 305305 (www.oxfordplayhouse.com)