THERE'S a wonderful moment on Christmas morning when the reality of Father Christmas' stocking almost lives up to the anticipation.

Glimpses of brand names, enticing glitter, intriguing outlines. It could be perfection...but seldom is.

So it is with the Royal Shakespeare Company's eagerly anticipated festive show: Merry Wives The Musical.

It's got big-brand appeal. There's Judi Dench, Simon Callow, Alexandra Gilbreath in the cast for starters.

It's got glitter with local boy Alistair McGowan and the magic touch of director/adaptation by Greg Doran.

And it's got a great pedigree, based on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor with music by Paul Englishby and lyrics from Ranjit Bolt.

But, when you tip it all out, it's inevitable disappointment. That could come from pitching expectations too high but, probably, has more to do with last-minute panic-shopping.

It feels like "Oooh, pantomime - grab that higgledy-piggledy wrong-scale set" and people it with the usual suspects. There's love interest (pretty Scarlett Strallen and Martin Crewes); a clown (Simon Callow as a wondrously noisome Falstaff) and ugly sisters (although, with the totally delightful Haydn Gwynne and Alexandra Gilbreath, Mistresses Page and Ford are anything but).

Then: "We've got to have some stomping musical numbers to bring down/raise the curtains" plus some magic and fairies. Well, it's a recipe that won't appeal to lovers of this Shakespearean bit of flummery and will be unlikely to make sense to anyone else.

There are lots of rich pickings, including Dame Judi's cartwheel across the stage (courtesy of a youthful lookalike) and a plummily rich Simon Callow, but the sum total is disappointingly far less than its parts.