Peter Pan at the London Palladium – review round-up

Peter Pan – silliness and smut

Over the past eight years, the Palladium panto has earned a reputation for forgetting about plot in favour of a tsunami of smutty jokes and stunning spectacle. Do Harrison and company repeat the formula with their take on the tale of Peter and Wendy’s magical trip to Neverland?

Yes, they definitely do. “There are JM Barrie narrative elements to the show – pirates, mermaids, the death and resurrection of Tink all remain, Tiger Lily and any Native American racial stereotypes are gone – but of course, it’s panto, so the diegesis often falls by the wayside,” says Tom Millward (WhatsOnStage, ★★★★★). Agreed, writes Paul Vale (The Stage, ★★★★). “Harrison’s tale of Neverland may not satisfy purists; but as a mash-up of story, spectacle, comedy and dance, it is a hit.”

The show is “a riotous mix of camp, slapstick, smut and occasional acting” for Bruce Dessau (Evening Standard, ★★★★) and “endless razzle-dazzle, fun and games” for Anya Ryan (iNews, ★★★★). For Marianka Swain (Telegraph, ★★★★), Peter Pan is “Ziegfeld Follies meets the Royal Variety Performance”, while for Dominic Maxwell (Times, ★★★★), it is simply “a huge, throbbing pleasure”.

There is one more serious note, though: Julian Clary sings a number from Sunset Boulevard in memory of the late Paul O’Grady, a close friend who co-starred with Clary in two Palladium pantos. It is a moment of “touching sincerity”, writes Swain.

Peter Pan – stunning spectacle

Since 2016, the Palladium panto has built a reputation for stunning special effects and ridiculous costumes. Double-decker buses, speeding motorcycles and flying cars have all featured over the last eight years. Has Crossroads spared no expense in pursuit of panto spectacle again?

It has. The show is “in a league of its own”, writes Swain. “Nothing else comes close to this mega-blockbuster, splash-the-cash spectacle. The hot pants budget alone could probably bankroll a small country.” Ryan agrees. “Harrison must have a field day with an apparently never-ending budget,” she writes. “High kicks! Confetti! Acrobats! Fire! Limbo dancing! Puppets!”

Harrison “lavishes the story with glittering set pieces, breathtaking dance routines and an array of glorious costumes”, writes Vale. “Mark Walters’ set design – a vast, ornate compass – spills out on to the proscenium in ribbons of gold. Hugh Durrant, Mike Coltman and Teresa Nalton’s costumes are trimmed with clipped and curled ostrich feathers, and Karen Bruce’s choreography is almost as acrobatic as it is rhythmic.” There is one drawback, though. “The flying is a bit of a let-down.”

There is special praise for Clary’s costumes. For Dessau, they are “dazzling”, with “a feathered, sequinned naval uniform” proving a “particular delight”. For Millward, “watching Clary deliver innuendo-laden quips while wearing increasingly outrageous costumes never grows old”.

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Peter Pan – familiar faces

Julian Clary has been making people laugh as a stage and screen entertainer since the 1980s. He has been at the heart of the revamped Palladium panto since 2017, earning acclaim for his outrageous innuendo and waspish wit. Here, he is on top form as Seaman Smee, according to the critics.

“Clary’s camp delivery, oversized costumes and utter disregard for character, plot or motivation are a significant draw, setting rather than lowering the tone,” writes Vale. For Ryan, Clary’s “snide comments, spoken songs and racy sarcasm” make him “the king of pantoland”, while for Swain he is a “marvel, whether dispensing filthy innuendo or mercilessly skewering his castmates”.

There is admiration, too, for Clary’s fellow regulars Gary Wilmot, Nigel Havers and Paul Zerdin, even if they have little to do besides being the butt of Clary’s cracks. For Swain, they are a “magnificent” foil for Clary, while for Millward, together the four of them are “a gift that keeps on giving”.

Elsewhere, there is praise for Rob Madge, graduating from the role of cow last year to Tinkerbell – or Tink – in this production, and for pantomime newbie Jennifer Saunders, who plays Captain Hook. Madge is “an absolute riot as an outspoken, thoroughly modern Tink”, writes Vale, while “Saunders takes to the genre like a duck to water, working the crowd with consummate ease”.

Peter Pan – the verdict

Five stars from WhatsOnStage and four from everyone else points to another fabulous festive show from Michael Harrison and his company. The production’s established formula – an avalanche of innuendo, a scant storyline, big-budget spectacle and an ensemble of familiar faces led by the incomparable Julian Clary – shows no sign of staleness in its eighth winter in the West End. The critics love it. Once again, the Palladium panto proves the jewel in producer Crossroads’ crown.