THEY like their pantomimes big in Hull. As the programme cover announces proudly, Jack And The Beanstalk features Panto's Biggest Ever Giant! and Panto's Tallest Beanstalk! and the box office-busting comedy double act, The Hilarious Cannon & Ball.

In 2005, the veteran comedy duo surfed into Hull on the wave of their Aussie jungle jaunt in I'm A CelebrityGet Me Out Of Here, and now they return with a tall, lightly-bearded Australian in tow: Dan O'Connor.

Armchair addicts of teatime telly will know him better as Ned Parker from Neighbours, but Alan Harding's boisterous panto makes greater call on his pop-singing prowess with his background in gospel music in a church band and a Top 12 finish in the 2004 Australian Idol competition. Cannon & Ball had no imports from soap, reality or children's TV in 2005's Dick Whittington, but O'Connor's Jack Trot is given plenty of stage time here, often in tandem with Lucinda Gills's demure Princess Apricot, not least for You Are The Music In Me, the High School Musical 2 hit that has all the young audience members joining in.

As to be expected, the comedy is entrusted largely to the well-grooved partnership of Bobby Ball, the little daft one who will stretch a routine as far as his red braces, and Tommy Cannon, the straight, twinkling-eyed one detailed to keep him in check.

Cast as Jack's Cousins, they tend to rely on setpieces, old-school slapstick to the fore, whether milking Daisy The Cow or sending plates crashing all around them in a second-half routine where timing is all. Ball has a licence to wander into ad-lib territory, and should so even more once the show beds down.

Luke Baxter's Fleshcreep, looking strangely reminiscent of Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl, feeds off the boos in one of pantoland's journeymen baddie roles.

Emily Trebicki, originally booked to play Cinderella at York's Grand Opera House before a late switch to Hull, has fun with her wand, but Nick Wilton's Dame Trot and Andrew Fox's King Crumble are peripheral figures.

So, what about the Giant and the beanstalk; do they live up to their billing?

The Giant is very big and hairy but not at all scary, while the beanstalk is a mechanical device, whose best contribution is to provide distraction for an unexpected reappearance by Jack.

  • Jack And The Beanstalk, Hull New Theatre, until January 12. Box office: 01482 226655