Dick Whittington, Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Until January 8. 01206 573948.

IT seems entirely in keeping with the year we've had so far that the star of this year's Mercury's pantomime is actually the baddie.

I've always thought that in the panto canon, King Rat is probably the greatest villain of them all.

There's a delicious suaveness and sophistication about the character, a bit like a Bond megalomaniac who wants to take over the world, and in the Mercury's Dick Whittington, Ignatius Antony serves up just such a treacherous treat.

He's got style, has all the best tunes (Ska, of course) and electrifies the stage every time he is on. He even does a scarily accurate impression of a certain US politician.

In fact he's so good, he had a few of the more mischievous children in the audience cheering for him at the denouement.

In a show as bright, slick and hilariously funny as this, Ignatius' Ratty King provides just one of the firm foundations for a rollercoaster of fun and frolics.

While Dale Superville's Idle Jack and Antony Stuart-Hicks Sarah the Cook excel at the gags, and wow are they are on top form this year, you still require a few stabilising factors to keep the show, and the story, bobbing along.

As well as Ratty King, we have Alderman Fitzwarren, an absolutely brilliant, almost classic old school panto turn from the wonderful Richard Earl.

And let's not forget the love interest, the popular return of lead man, Glenn Adamson, and a bright new face for Colchester in Grace Eccle as Alice.

I also adored Gracie Lai's smart and sassy puss, her rendition of Memories (from Cats, of course) being one of the highlights of the show.

Don't get me wrong if Dale and Antony ever stop coming to do the panto here in Colchester, I suspect we might have a situation similar to the ravens and the Tower of London.

They are brilliant at getting the audience engaged with the show and in terms of setting the sides splitting, I don't think I've laughed so much than watching their version of the 12 Days of Christmas - super funny.

But while they execute the laughs with pin point accuracy - the cabin cooking scene is also a riot - there has to be a little bit of grounding as to why we are all there.

Pantomime is about telling a story, of good versus bad, and in times like these, we need that more than ever.

So thank you Dale and Antony - I've just about stopped smiling, and it's three days after I've seen the show - but thank you to everyone else who made this pantomime a lovely couple of hours of utter escapist joy.

NEIL D'ARCY-JONES