Our take
The most playful of the specials: a dream episode that turns the whole household into a fairy-tale pantomime, with Jason Donovan gamely sending himself up as the dashing rival. It is silly in the right way, full of panto gags and winks at the audience, and the Rick Astley cameo is a proper Christmas cracker of a surprise.
What happens
A family Christmas party turns sour when Lucy announces that she has got tickets to see Jason Donovan in panto. Lee loathes panto, all the more because Jason Donovan was Lucy's teenage crush. That night, as Lee and Lucy lie in bed with their backs to each other, Lee has an unsettling dream in which his whole life has turned into a pantomime and he is dressed as Buttons. Lucy is Cinderella, Toby and Anna are the Ugly Sisters, Geoffrey is Baron Hardup and Wendy is the Fairy Godmother, while Prince Charming, the handsome suitor who pursues Cinderella and asks for her hand in marriage, is played by Jason Donovan himself. Can Buttons keep the fairy-tale couple apart? Rick Astley turns up too, as the front end of a pantomime horse.
Can the kids watch it?
No BBFC rating was found; it went out after the 9pm watershed with the show's usual innuendo, so it best suits teenagers and adults.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Lee Mack as Lee
- Sally Bretton as Lucy
- Hugh Dennis as Toby
- Abigail Cruttenden as Anna
- Geoffrey Whitehead as Geoffrey
- Deborah Grant as Wendy
Guest stars
- Jason Donovan as Prince Charming
- Rick Astley as Front of Pantomime Horse
Writer
- Lee Mack
Director
- Nick Wood