With Christmas just around the corner, pantomime season and kids who have eaten too much sugar screeching “He’s behind you” and “Oh no we don’t” into our delicate little ears are approaching fast.
For everyone who loves panto, and even those who would normally avoid it like the green death but still enjoy watching a great slice of live (almost) family entertainment on TV, Dick Whittington is a real Christmas treat.
Recorded during its sell-out run at the Bristol Hippodrome, Dick Whittington stars Britain’s Got Talent favourites Ashleigh Jade Butler and her lovable dog Pudsey, CBBC’s Ben ‘Mr Bloom’ Faulks and a brilliant supporting cast, including a barnstorming turn by Lara Denning as Queen Rat, who looks and sounds like a villainous swashbuckling version of Carry on Screaming‘s Fenella Fielding.
Cheer for Dick and his kung-fu fighting cat as they seek their fortune in olde London towne, groan as Queen Rat frames Dick for a crime that may lose him the heart of the woman he loves, be thrilled by a pretty cool animated interlude which apparently stars half the cast of a well-known fishy Disney movie, although that’s probably just a coincidence because all cartoon clownfish and turtles probably look the same, right? So there’s really no need for Disney to pick up the phone and call their lawyers, and gasp as Dick challenges Queen Rat to a really rather good (for a panto) sword fight.
Dick Whittington is a solid two hours of seasonal family fun which is pretty much guaranteed to put a smile on the most Bah Humbug of faces, and this DVD also includes two interviews, one with Ashleigh and Pudsey and the other with writer/director and panto Dame Eric Potts (along with his alter ego Sarah the Cook), both of which give us an interesting peek into all the hard work it takes to put a show like Dick Whittington together.
An absolutely excellent (“Oh no it isn’t!” “Oh yes it is!”) stocking-filler for Christmas. We bet even the Grinch could get on board with this one.
Special Features: Two interviews
DICK WHITTINGTON / CERT: U / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ERIC POTTS / STARRING: BEN FAULKS, LARA DENNING, ANDY FORD, ASHLEIGH JADE BUTLER, PUDSEY, ERIC POTTS, BRENDA EDWARDS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
