Can it really be panto season again boys and girls? Oh yes it is - and there are plenty of shows to choose from in our neck of the woods.

Prepare for a feast of slapstick, comic cross-dressing and dancing pantomime cows over coming weeks as the likes of Aladdin, Cinders and Captain Hook entertain us through the festive season.

The Alhambra's panto starts a six-week run next week, and it's hello again to Bradford favourite Billy Pearce, who returns to tread the boards. Billy plays Mr Smee, Captain Hook's bumbling sidekick, in a swashbuckling, magical production of Peter Pan.

Rehearsals started this week for the show, which opens next Friday, running until January 27.

Billy has been looking forward to returning to Bradford for what will be his eighth panto here. "I love it here, it's a great theatre. I love the staff and the crew. I've been coming here so long it's like home to me," he says.

"Panto is a big responsibility - and Yorkshire people want their money's worth! The story is very important; I can't just go out there and be Billy Pearce. It's not the Billy Pearce show, it's a pantomime with me in it."

Last year Billy appeared in the Alhambra's Aladdin, pulling in record-breaking crowds of more than 96,000, an increase of 16,000 on the previous year when he took a break from Bradford and appeared in panto at Wolverhampton.

And Billy's turn as Dick Whittington in the Alhambra panto of 2004/2005 saw the theatre raking in more than £1,300,000 - making it the highest grossing pantomime in the venue's history.

This year Billy has had a hand in the script, and other familiar faces will be joining the cast, including stunt troupe The Acromaniacs as the pirates. Indian princess Tiger Lily is played by Roni Elizabeth Hart, who appeared alongside Billy in Cinderella at the Alhambra four years ago.

Captain Hook is played by Peter Blake. "Hook is quite scary, because you never know when he will turn on you," he says. "In the book he's said to scream and shout and carry on. When he's doing that he's quite safe; it's when he goes quiet that he's very frightening."

Over at The Priestley in Little Germany, Dick Whittington has pitched up with his faithful cat, Tony. The panto, which runs until Saturday, is billed as a great family show, with great songs and lots of silliness.' Ring (01274) 820666 for tickets.

Meanwhile, at Harrogate Theatre, Snow White is waiting in the wings to entertain you. The panto - you've guessed it, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - features Nurse Nellie, Queen Serpentilla, the evil queen whose looks are no longer the fairest in the land, and one or two fairies and promises laughs, romance and family fun-aplenty right through to January 12. For tickets ring (01423) 502116.

At City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds, everyone's favourite rags-to-riches tale unfolds on stage from December 12 to January 13. Cinderella is packed with wicked humour, infectious song and dance routines, and the City Varieties legendary Rock Fight.' For tickets ring 08456 441881.

The tale of a penniless boy, his OTT laundry-obsessed mother and an evil sorcerer unfolds at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax. It is, of course, Aladdin, and this production features magic, adventure, comedy and speciality acts including Hungarian aerial acrobat Lorent Markoscany. The show runs from December 14 to January 5, for tickets ring (01422) 351156.

York Theatre Royal's legendary panto dame, Berwick Kaler, not only slips on the high heels again for this year's production, Sinbad the Sailor, he's also co-directing it.

Expect breathtaking sets and costumes, slapstick and belly laughs galore.' For tickets ring (01904) 623568.