Now, sorry if this causes offence, but pantomime IS generally rubbish. (*Insert compulsory "oh no it isn't" reference here*).
Oh, Come On - we've all had that slightly crappy sinking feeling on the train out from London to the family, ending up near the back of some tiered seating in a naff towncentre hall to sit through three hours of god-awful jokes, pap innuendo and the odd fleeting glimpse of some old bloke in drag.
So this year, why not do something a little different? At The Old Vic, Stephen Fry is putting on his own version of Cinderella. Londonist will be heading there in a move to recover from the seriously naff nature of the whole festive period, but we can also see that it might be a viable alternative for some of you to take the rellies.
We have little idea what to expect, but our best guess would be that Fry will have taken a normal panto, turned it on its head, and then added lots of irreverent wit, heaps of naughtiness and a healthy dollop of cross-dressing. Oh yes, and some cake. To quote some early bumph we've seen, there will be "So much cake you won’t believe".
Cinderella's on from 4 December until 20 January. More details here, or on 0870 060 6628. And don't forget you've only got a few days left to do all that shopping.