IT’S that time of year again….. Oh yes it is! Oh no, it isn’t! Oh yes….. You get what time of year I’m talking about?

After living overseas for 18 years pantomime greeted me as if it had lived in a time-warp.

The actors were different, songs had been updated but the same jokes, style, and stories were the same, and have been since I saw my first pantomime - Dick Whittington, starring Norman Wisdom.

Like many families we went every year to see the panto at Birmingham’s Hippodrome and over the years must have seen them all, starring whoever was famous at that time - John Nettles, Su Pollard, Christopher Biggins, Jeffrey Holland, Lionel Blair.

When the bigger pantomimes began to charge the earth for a family, the smaller theatres produced them with emphasis on family, fun, dazzling sets and costumes and quality actors. Some of the larger theatres followed this trend of not casting ‘stars’, thus the pantomime became the star.

4,500 people came to see The Regal’s 2016 panto.

We must be one of the smallest professional pantomimes in the country but the fact we can produce one at all shows great support from you, our audience, and community for what we do, and also that you trust us to deliver your traditional festive entertainment.

We all work hard for what little we have to spend and we strive to give you the best we can offer with what little resources we have, but after being at The Regal for what is nearly a year now I think the best thing we do is to put the show first.

No stars, no egos, just solid, family fun.