Coronavirus will not be stopping panto season this year and one Oxfordshire theatre group will be performing virtually.

For 37 years Didcot Phoenix Drama Group has put on a family pantomime in Didcot with tickets at low prices.

This year will be no exception with the pantomime 'Dick Whittington of Didcot' to be performed and recorded on video chat.

The show has been specially written by group member Malcolm Thick.

He said: “Entitled Dick Whittington of Didcot, the panto has all the traditional elements of Dick Whittington- Dick, the Cat, adventures in London, a trip to Morocco, the bells summoning Dick back to London, and the Cat defeating the rats in the sewers. But the action starts and ends in Didcot.”

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The production will not be performed on stage and the majority of the cast members will be in different locations.

However, the magic of pantomime still remains. With the help of a green screen for special effects and editing magic, the group’s technical expert, Karen Carey, will bring the pantomime to life.

She said: “Adapting the action to a number of small Zoom screens with all the actors social distancing has been a great challenge.

“On the other hand, special effects can be created on screens which would be impossible on the stage of the Civic Hall and the panto can be filmed scene by scene and put together like a proper big screen motion picture.”

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Chair of the Didcot Phoenix Drama Group, Dave Cooke said: “The show this year will be free for anybody to watch. Our costs have all been covered by donations.

"We are hoping that, if people have enjoyed the show, they will make a voluntary donation to the Didcot Emergency Foodbank.”

The pantomime is now in rehearsal and the dates of broadcast will announced after Christmas.