According to the star of this year’s Theatre Royal Plymouth panto us Cornish are all moneyed, posh and rock up to watch the show in our 4x4s.

Say that in Camborne, Shane Ritchie. I’ll let him off that line because the EastEnders star is really rather fantastic in this gloriously funny festive show.

Dick Whittington runs at the Plymouth theatre until Saturday, January 10, and it really is worth getting in your Land Rover Defender and crossing the Tamar to catch it.

This eye-popping production has everything you want from a pantomime – incredible sets, dazzling costumes, song and dance, mayhem for the kids and lots of naughty humour for the adults.

The whole cast is great but this would be nothing without the man alternatively known as Alfie Moon, who is not afraid to make a complete Dick of himself.

Ritchie is barely off stage and is an anarchic and utterly hilarious presence throughout whether interacting brilliantly with the kids in the audience who come on stage or picking on the “love interest” he finds in the front row.

At one point he turfed a woman out of her seat and said: “Have you ever been so close to a legend?” It’s fair to say, his performance was pretty legendary.

A twinkle never far from his eye, it’s obvious he tries to make his fellow actors lose it throughout which only adds to the fun.

The action starts with a wow factor – a giant, nasty talking rat which in most shows would be left for a grand reveal later in the show. Another astonishing bit of theatre magic comes at the end of the first act, but I won’t ruin the surprise here.

It’s not the Shane Ritchie Show, though. He is surrounded by talent. Anne Smith makes a deliciously evil Queen Rat and her version of Don’t Stop Me Now is a lot of fun with the ensemble decked out in impressive rat costumes.

Iain Stuart Robertson is a perfect dame as Sarah the Cook. A crazed and near the knuckle tongue twister skit between him and Ritchie is comedy gold.

Samuel Holmes brings a tentload of camp as the Spirit of Bow Bells, vying with Ritchie for the best lines, and has a beautiful singing voice as does Emily Beth Harrington as Alice Fitzwarren.

As this is Panto Land we will forget that Ritchie is old enough to be her father. Grandfather, perhaps? Oh yes, he is…

Highlights include a manic version of A Sailor Went To Sea during an underwater scene which all “goes wrong” with disastrous effect and Ritchie pushing the innuendo as far as it can go at a family show.

With kids screaming along and mums, dads and grandparents crying with laughter, Dick Whittington achieves what a decent panto sets out to do – to give the whole family a huge dose of fun at Christmas.

With the equally superb Aladdin at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro, we are truly spoiled. See both shows.