Last year, we had the pleasure of seeing the mighty John Barrowman in pantomime, where he co-starred with the Krankies. It was a terrific show, too, and not without a few risqué moments. Very funny ones at that.

This year, John Barrowman and The Krankies – which sounds like a great Eurovision act to us – are in Manchester. And it seems their new show, Dick Whittington, hasn’t gone down quite so well.

An official complaint has been made to the Manchester Opera House, reports the BBC, with the complainant arguing the show is “too smutty” for children. Amongst moments cited were Barrowman getting the audience to chant “Alice loves Dick”, the moment where he fondled Janette Krankie’s breasts, and a bit where said Krankie pretended she had a penis.

As the complainant wrote, “My children were repeating Alice loves Dick and sticking their fingers out of their trousers for a pretend penis throughout the evening”.

The theatre has insisted no offence was intended. The show continues.

BBC.