David Wood thought pantomime a form that 'tried to appeal to everybody, yet ultimately satisfied nobody'. He took to writing pantomime substitutes, shows created to be programmed in the annual panto season, but not wholly conforming to the panto form. Indeed, 'Mother Goose's Golden Christmas' is not based on the traditional Mother Goose story, but does feature a host of fairy tale characters from Mother Goose herself, to Humpty Dumpty and Little Bo Peep. Set inside a giant book, all the 'little' characters of the fairytales are incorporated into one new story - the daring rescue of the goose that lays the golden eggs. 'Mother Goose's Golden Christmas' was first presented at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch, in December 1977.