PREMIER pantomime dame Berwick Kaler has donned his famous boots again, ready to star in another season of festive fun and frolics on the York stage.

The veteran thespian will play Widow Twankey in a thigh-slappingly good performance of The Lad Aladdin at York Theatre Royal from next week.

Berwick makes a return to the pantomime stage after he was forced to pull out of his role in a production of Hobson's Choice in March after suffering illness on the first night.

He will be appearing alongside his long-term sidekick Martin Barrass, who stars as Wishee Washee in his 20th pantomime.

They will be joined by cast members David Leonard, who plays baddy Abanazar, and Suzy Cooper, who is taking the title role.

Berwick said: "Expect the unexpected and you won't be disappointed. We're breaking with tradition and going for laughs this year - there are at least two gags in it that you've never heard before.

"We're waiting for you to come through that theatre door. Let's hope we can all finish this grim year off with a huge riotous belly laugh."

New cast members include Vincent Gray and Dan Wilder, who both appeared last year in Sleeping Beauty, and Elianne Byrne, who starred with Berwick in Hobson's Choice and plays Empress Su Doku.

The Lad Aladdin runs from December 15 to February 4.

Meanwhile, fans of side-splitting comedy can also take in the Grand Opera House's Christmas pantomime, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.

The show features a star-studded cast, including Mark Rafferty, of Neighbours, former children's ITV presenter Danielle Nicholls, and Anne Nolan, of the Nolan Sisters

It will run from December 18 to January 1, and again from February 15 to 18.

Updated: 10:03 Saturday, December 10, 2005