Jack and the Beanstalk, The Anvil, Basingstoke

FROM Erinsborough to Basingstoke, life has certainly moved on for Neighbours star Anne Charleston - better known as Harold's better half, Madge.

Anne, who has lived in Ireland for the past ten years, is used to the British panto tradition, and the gravelly-voiced actress turns in a sparkling performance as the Fairy Godmother in this wonderful Christmas treat at The Anvil.

The recipe for any decent panto is an entertaining script filled with rapid-fire jokes and laced with occasional corn.

Add a strong musical score and crisp dance routines, blend it with a healthy dose of booing the villain, cheering the heroine and stirring shouts of "Behind you!" and "Oh, yes it is!", and top it off with a sprinkling of magic dust - and if you can keep that on the boil for a couple of hours, you're cooking.

Anne and the cast conjure up a succulent cordon bleu festive feast which had the Anvil audience in the palms of their hands. Anne and Bill star Tony Scannell as the delightfully evil Fleshcreep take top billing for the panto.

But it is a lesser known star, Alistair Divall, who steals the show as the devilish and very funny Silly Billy. Alistair, who hosted five series of the ITV gameshow Keynotes, was brilliant. He has a superb stage presence, great comic timing, superb ad-libbing and he effectively paced the show.

The story? Well, everyone knows the story of Jack and his magic beans, al-though there are a couple of neat variations to this script.

Everyone loves a dame, and Stephen David, as Dame Trott, runs the gamut of costume changes, high voices and innuendo, forming a dynamic comic double act with Silly Billy.

Praise too for the bubbly Princess Chardonnay (Sarah Louise Day), the stylish Jack Trott (Anna Williamson) who both provide strong singing voices, and the magisterial king (Graham Seed) - although it would have been interesting to have seen Harold Bishop cast in this role in a Ramsey Street reprise with Madge.

We had a tap-dancing cow, a spellbinding and very funny fluorescent light show from Les Puppetiques en Noir, a stunning dance routine to Robert Miles' haunting instrumental Children and an immortal line from the feared giant of "Fee, fie, foe, fum, I'm coming down to kick your bum"!

Christmas just wouldn't be the same without a panto, so if you're looking for one to tantalise the tastebuds this season then you won't go too far wrong at the Anvil.