Growing up, every December my family and I would go to a pantomime. It became a tradition, one that is still going to this day even now that I’ve grown up. To be honest, there’s nothing quite like a panto to get you in the Christmas spirit so Adam and I were over the moon to be invited along to Darlington Hippodrome for their press night of this years show, The Pantomime Adventures of Peter Pan! 

This years show sees the return of legend Christopher Biggins who began his panto career in Darlington 45 years ago. I’m a huge Biggins fan so was chuffed to see that he was part of the cast playing Mrs Smee. 

The rest of the cast includes comedian Rikki Jay as Smee, North East favourite’s Steve Arnott as Hook and the brilliant Peter Peverly as Starkey, as well as Sheri Lineham as Wendy and West End performers James Hameed and Tegan Bannister as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell!

The story is a little different to your classic Peter Pan and sees Wendy Darling return to Neverland to help Peter learn to fly again and defeat Hook along the way. We were absolutely HOOKed (I’m sorry) from the start and it’s safe to say the rest of the theatre were too with lots of audience participation including singing, clapping and shouting along. Nothing beats a bit of ‘oh no you didn’t’ back and forth, am I right?

Rikki Jay’s Smee offered brilliant comedy moments for both children and adults to enjoy, and teamed with Peter Peverley they had us in absolute stitches. Biggins of course also offered some wonderfully funny moments and it was great to see him on the stage – he was great with the children on stage as the cast got ready for the finale.

Act One had some great moments in – the Kraken was definitely a big highlight as well as the exceptional gymnastics scene by The Acromanics! Costume design, set design and lighting were all fantastic in the production as well. Act Two was definitely my favourite as it included the ‘If I Were Not in Pantomime…’ song which I LOVE from past pantos and was hysterical.

All the actors, including ensemble cast, were a joy to watch on stage and the story was a refreshing take on an old classic.

The Pantomime adventures of Peter Pan is on at Darlington Hippodrome until the 31st December 2022 and you can book your tickets online here.

Huge thank you to the team for inviting us along and for a brilliant night!

**Full disclosure: We were gifted tickets in exchange for this honest review.