Humpty Dumpty is not one of the most popular pantomimes. However, with Malliagate the nation got to see a version of it just before the start of the panto season.

The show didn't stop the day Manuel Mallia was dismissed. It continued the next day in Parliament. When Joseph "Hard Decisions" Muscat began to address the House on the subject of Malliagate, there were only 18 members of the Labour parliamentary group present. No fewer than 21 gave a clear signal about what they thought of the whole affair and Muscat's attempts to put Labour's reputation together again.

In this, the 21 Labour parliamentarians are in touch with public opinion. At the beginning of the scandal, I met an old friend who is very involved in the cultural and entertainment business. We chatted about the surreal Manuel Mallia story and how it totally destroyed Muscat's credibility as a strong leader.

I couldn't resist asking about the Christmas pantomime scripts. My friend summed it up nicely: "This political farce is fodder for a panto script. So many things are happening we keep changing the script every three weeks!"

This was some time ago. Something tells me they've had to change the script again.

Muscat has indeed turned politics into a farce. The elements are all there: songs, slapstick comedy, larger than life characters (including principal boy, panto dame, comic lead and villains) and, let's not forget, the chase.

If it weren't so seriously sad and worrying, it would be hysterically funny. I have a feeling that, as with many pantos loosely based on a popular fairytale, even this one has a highly unlikely resolution of the plot. Honestly, is it really over?

 It feels like end of Act 1 to me and, since we were not given a programme at the door (this is a government that boasts about roadmaps and programmes and then loses them), I have a gut feeling this farce is probably in three acts.

 The audience is having a ball, particularly on the social media. When the PN media revealed the phone call transcripts and, eventually, the actual conversations themselves, audience participation in pure panto style came into its own. You could almost hear all the traditional "calls" including "He's behind you" and "Oh no it isn't ... Oh yes it is."

The villain got his hissing and booing and, unusually, so did the principal boy. There was no "ooohhh" for the poor victim. Actually, I think the universal sense of tragicomedy boiled down to one thing: the audience was splitting its sides laughing while gravely aware that it, society, was the real victim, and not the "Scotsman" who, for a time, seemed to have vanished into thin air.

The good fairies entered stage right with cameras, microphones, notebooks and laptops. They are the journalists who stood up to be counted and did not look away. They are the ones who actually changed the plot because this farce was not meant to happen at all. There is no story line in a "hit and run case" is there? Nobody got hurt and, had the intended script been followed, within a few days it would have been all forgotten.

So what went wrong? The principal boy, who asked his closest elf to write the script, assumed nobody would find out anything about what really happened on the infamous night when there was a car chase, shots were fired, and calls were made, even though they are not considered by the official inquiry.

The principal boy was sadly mistaken. Not just about that night but about Maltese society. Early in the saga, he told TVM's Reno Bugeja that people only care about the bottom line: the money in their pocket. By the end of the affair, when he was trying to pick up the pieces, he had to admit that people care more than just their pockets.

Who knows? Perhaps he's realised we have dignity.

Taghna Lkoll Hit Parade

This week's selection is taken from great panto songs:

(1)   Let me entertain you - Joseph Muscat

(2)   We go together - Manuel Mallia

(3)   Flash Bang Wallop - Ray Zammit and the Police

(4)   You got a friend in me - Mallia to Sheehan

(5)   Hakuna Matata - Muscat to Mallia

(6)   What do I do now? - Carmelo Abela

 

As always, I'm interested in your suggestions. Keep them coming.