DI King made a welcome return as writer of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the fourth Grittleton pantomime in the current series, which ran to four packed houses last week. For the second time in succession Gilly Madders bravely took on the task of directing the varied talents involved.

A someone old, someone new, someone borrowed, someone blue approach was adopted for the casting. Experienced performer Jan Jeffcoate excelled as the glamorous Wicked Queen, bringing plenty of sinister slink to the role; Julian Brunt gave a heartrending performance as her maid, reflecting the plight of downtrodden servants everywhere; impressive newcomer Trudy Harwood brought tuneful charm to the part of Snow White and pantomime regular Andy Barber, playing the mirror, kept the Wicked Queen nicely on the boil by telling the truth.

Snow White is tough and survives increasingly ingenious attempts by the jealous Wicked Queen to kill her, greatly assisted by help from the dwarfs, who form a sort of workers collective given to taking democratic decisions in bottom-waggling huddles.

They live deep in the forest, which is populated by animals and birds, played by Grittleton’s younger performers.

The production was full of music, greatly benefitting from the professional level input of musical director Eric Gough and Sue Plant’s guidance on the singing. Alice Bennett emphasised the animals’ versatility by playing the flute.

Music goes with dance and this panto did not disappoint. Dr Sanjeev Popli, trading as Madame La Zonga, was his usual reassuring self. Sporting a headdress festooned with fruit, a figure hugging off-the-shoulder dress and sheer black tights he led cast members through some slick moves.

Interventions were made by the political correctness police, constables L.O. and L.O. Emergency service was also provided by Andrea Porter’s therapeutic looking nurse. No doubt budget constraints prevented her from having a larger dress.

The plot moved towards a satisfying conclusion. Skilfully ushered along by narrator Stewart Dobson and the prompt, Tess Wilding, the cast arrived at a rousing finale which demonstrated that a great many can fit on to the recently acquired stage. It was a triumphant end to a highly entertaining evening.

An enormous amount of work clearly went on behind the scenes.

It is not possible to give those involved proper credit here, but the performers will, no doubt, recall that they were behind them.