As an ex-Blue Peter presenter and third time director of the playhouse pantomime, Peter Duncan should by now have a pretty good idea of what gets children chortling. He opts for a classic pantomime recipe (in both senses of the word) as the fairy godmother (Stephen Aintree) and the hapless Miffins (Robin Armstrong) attempt to bake a birthday cake using (you guessed it) the wrong kind of “flour”. Other boxes ticked include a ghostly “it’s behind you” routine, numerous audience shout-outs with houselights raised repeatedly and an unexpectedly complicated three part sing-along.

The director was also determined to give the panto its modern moments. Some for the grown ups, as the wicked Carmella Crabstick (Carrie Ellis) announces “I’m off to have dinner with the prince of darkness - Peter Mandelson!” and some for the younger generation, as Princess Beauty swoons over (High School Musical star) Zac Efron. The musical numbers are similarly geared towards popular recognition, perhaps with the aim of upping audience participation, although this wasn’t universally successful - the word for word rendition of a Girls Aloud number was watched in virtual silence, as was the second half’s ten minute 80’s mega-mix.

The set and costumes appear to have been the main beneficiaries of the production budget - both were impressively crafted and equally impressively short-lived - practically every scene had a bespoke backdrop, and the dame magicked up innumerable dress changes. If only the fairy’s powers had extended to controlling the cast’s seemingly enchanted microphones, which would suddenly change volume, leaving some of the big numbers barely audible over the orchestra.

The pantomime had some frustrating moments where you got the feeling more work was needed, such as not-quite-there slapstick when Miffins attempts to profess his love to the princess, or trying to lay the table for a royal banquet. However, the Playhouse pantomime will be with us a month and a half yet, and with a bit of fine tuning this “almost there” production looks set to be a money spinning winter warmer. Predicting how an audience will react to a scene is an almost impossible task in rehearsals, for example the actors’ genuine bafflement as the balls they threw into the audience were lobbed straight back at them by the rowdy stalls. The cast are in need of some time to adjust to the audience’s “live” feedback. They should perhaps start thinking slightly more about the quality of their delivery and slightly less about the virtual box ticking that appears to have dominated the production process. (Oxford jokes, check. Puns for the parents, check…)

Despite my niggling frustrations with some aspects of the show, my younger sister (in her official capacity as child-reaction-barometer) was satisfied; swept along by the fast paced vitality of the script which hurtles forward at breakneck speed towards the inevitable wedding finale. In the interval I even overheard an American “pantomime virgin” gushing her new found admiration of this “winterval” delicacy. Any pantomime vibrant enough to convert Americans to this bizarre form of British cabaret must be on that basis alone deserving of my (almost) unreserved approval. Yet it remains hard for the cynic in me to not to feel that Peter Duncan has picked up a few tricks from a youth spent showing tots how to bake the perfect cake on Blue Peter. “Here’s one I made earlier” looks to be in poll position to overtake “He’s behind you” and “Oh no you didn’t” as pantomime’s most appropriate catch phrase.