Things couldn't look worse for Dick Whittington when Alderman's Fitzwarren's shop takings go missing and are then found stashed in our hero's red and white spotted handkerchief.

Of course, we all know that the cash has been removed from the safe by dastardly King Atticus Ratticus (William Kenning) and planted on young Dick (Raj Ghatak), to incriminate and disgrace him. But will the Alderman (David Cardy) believe us?

The Press night audience at the Oxford Playhouse can't be accused of not doing its best to plead his innocence. "He didn't do it. He DIDN'T DO IT!" bellow youngsters all around me in the stalls. I am thinking what a well-developed sense of justice tonight's crowd appears to have.

And then I remember why this might be. A large contingent have shown themselves to be members of the Scout movement, their presence perhaps accounted for by the fact that the show's director is the Chief Scout, Peter Duncan.

He is best known, of course, for his long stint in the 1980s as a presenter of television's Blue Peter. For those who haven't already snapped one up on eBay, he is offering a Blue Peter badge to anyone who comes to the show 101 times.

This is an offer that cannot be meant seriously, since there aren't quite that many performances. But the show is delightfully entertaining enough to invite repeat custom - I would quite cheerfully have sat through the whole two-hour romp again.

Producer Tish Francis - "Fairy TishtheWish," as she styles herself in the programme - has assembled a hugely talented team who provide, once again, a perfect night of festive fun.

Scripted by Phil Willmott, the shows offers loads of laughter, dancing, music old and new, hugely colourful sets and costumes, and a gripping plot in which - after much trouble on the way - virtue is rewarded and the baddies get their comeuppance.

Garlanded with praise for his work on Bombay Dreams and a number of recent films, including Starter for Ten, Raj Ghatak makes a smashing romantic lead as the strutting Dick. His feline companion, Tommy, is the grooviest cat in town as depicted by Joe Allen. "What's going down, kids?" is his first greeting to the audience, and his every reappearance is heralded by the cry "Yo, dudes!"

While I might have preferred him to look a tad more catlike, there is certainly no deficiency on the costume front for Simon Green, in his role as Sarah the Cook, left. His assortment of outfits proves to be almost as outrageous as some of the remarks he makes during the action.

I must stress, though, that there is nothing crude. Oxford Playhouse pantos are always in the best possible taste.

Besides which, I am sure that Fairy Port Meadow (Donnna Hazelton) and Charlotte Warren's goodie-goodie Alice Fitzwarren - Dick's 'love interest' - would never permit anything too risqu.