TAKE a magical journey from Devizes Wharf to Old Peking with Ben Crocker's Aladdin and you will find all the ingredients of a traditional pantomime: slapstick, polished song and dance routines, a comedy duo, an evil villain, a love story, and of course the dame sporting an array of colourful costumes.

From the moment Peter Wells steps onto the stage as baddie Abanazar, it's clear the audience is in for a treat. His foreboding presence and just the right booming tone ensures the crowd gets into full swing of their boos and hisses straight away.

Ryan Chown is an assured Aladdin whose superb singing voice shines through especially in the classic duet with Princess Jasmine (Ellie McMillan) 'Whole New World' as they soar above the clouds to Egypt on a 'magic carpet', complete with visual effects.

The song and dance routines are a mix of modern and classic including 'Dancing in the Street' and Pharrell Williams' 'Happy'.

Wishee Washee (Colin Harrison) and his panda Nobby (Joe McMillan) raise more than a few laughs, and one of the best is when poor Nobby gets accidentally shrunk in the tumble drier. His gold bikini in one of the final scenes is also a sight to behold.

Despite this being his debut in panto, Simon Chown is excellent as dame Widow Twankey and gives an assured performance. He certainly had a few fans in the audience who found his antics hysterical, and it seemed he was loving it just as much as they were.

Comedy police duo Ping and Pong (Lesley Scholes and Carolynn Jureidini) are a delight with plenty of helmet bashing and irritating sirens keeping the action moving along.

Denise Harrison's years of experience on the stage shines through as the Empress, unimpressed by her daughter's choice of soulmate, who lives in a 'laundry'! (Think Lady Bracknell's 'handbag!' for tone).

The Wharf puts on a jolly good show this season and here's to plenty more to come. Aladdin runs until Saturday, December 19.