DECEMBER 18, BATH: Oh yes it is, it's that time of year again when the blokes wear outrageous frocks and the girls strut their stuff as handsome heroes.

It's the exclusively British tradition of pantomime, and there are few more well versed in the art than Chris Harris, who both directs and plays Dame Trott in Bath Theatre Royal's Jack and the Beanstalk which opens tonight.

Chris, who hails from Bristol, has written books on the subject and is in demand for lectures and workshops all over the world on the peculiar theatrical forms and devices that make a pantomime.

This is Chris's fifth show for Bath, and the second as director. He is delighted with his cast this year, which includes, in his words 'real actors rather than personalities.'

Playing the Fairy is Sherrie Hewson, best known as bubbly Maureen Elliott in television's Coronation Street and later Virginia in Crossroads, but she has a host of other stage and film credits to her name.

Shaun Curry, sometime Shakespearean actor, fight director, music hall chairman, Les Pinner in Just Good Friends and Jonah in London's Burning, takes the villainous role of Fleshcreep (boo hiss!).

The much loved Nigel Pargetter of Radio 4's The Archers, otherwise known as actor Graham Seed, plays the king.

Says Chris: "Actors are storytellers, and that is really the point of pantomime. When it's done properly it's magical. Otherwise it's just another variety show."

Chris's Dame grew from the character of Lily he played for a BBC television series, Hey Look, That's Me, in which Chris was as "an anarchic crazy woman" who interviewed unsuspecting members of the public on an eclectic range of subjects. It ran for eight series as a popular family show.

But he said the Dame must be more than a lunatic in a dress.

"You've got have a convincing character and be able to act the part of a mother parted from her son and heartbroken about having to get rid of the cow. I don't go overboard with the dresses. They're fun, but there's a danger of looking like a Christmas tree and losing the character.

"I think I have five or six changes of costume and believe me, that's the hardest part of the show, climbing in and out of them. We do a traditional strip with things called rip-away knickers and if you get that wrong, you're in trouble!"

With occasional writing partner Chris Denys, Chris Harris has written a basic guide to the intricacies of pantomime called Alphabet of Pantomime which includes a certificate for children to complete with details of where and when they saw their first panto. It's at the stocking-filler price of £2 and available from Chris at the Theatre Royal, Bath or from ccharris@btinernet.com.

Jo Bayne