Having seen one or two episodes of the children’s programme on the box I was not sure quite how it would transfer to the stage.The answer is – successfully , especially if you are aged between 7 and 15.

Many of its elements were more associated with the pantomime genre– the audience participation (why is it that so many productions these days are not happy unless the audience spends at least some of the time on its feet?), lots of cheesy gags (though there is the odd one for adult consumption that passes high over the juvenile head) much of it involving bodily functions (it would appear that these ,together with multiple severed heads, play a highly significant part in British history),and the need to burst into song at the most inappropriate moments e.g. at the multiple hangings at Tyburn.

The highly talented and engaging cast of four brought it all off with aplomb and my eight year old was entertained throughout, and educated (I think).

Many children’s productions make the dubious claim that they are ‘educational’. Here it was true – not in a way that will bring about a GCSE pass but as a whistlestop tour of some of the most colourful (often gory) moments in the history of ‘Barmy Britain’. From Julius Caesar to World War 1(which fittingly provided the one poignant moment of the show) via Vikings, Crusades, Black Death, Tudors (including a hilarious Henry the eighth) , a memorable Victoria and much else.