For the third year in a row yesterday we headed to Hammersmith and the Lyric Theatre for their performance of ‘Father Christmas‘, aren’t we just so lucky that our reviewing jobs include things like this!

This story, made famous in the Raymond Briggs book, is brought to life once more for the Christmas period at the end of the Hammersmith and City Line! If you’ve not been (actually even if you have been but then of course you will already know this) then you MUST book tickets to go. And you MUST book them very quickly because they are selling out fast. Still, there are SOME dates still available and I can honestly say it will be one of the best tenners (£8 for children) that you spend this festive season!

There are two sets of cast taking it in turns to play the big man, puppeteer and musician. We saw Barry McCarthy rather than Vic Llewellyn who we have seen for the previous two years and although I think he wasn’t quite as wonderfully grumpy, the show was every smidge as brilliant as we are used to.

Most of this performance is delivered by watching Father Christmas himself but he wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of a musician and puppeteer; you may not notice them often if you don’t deliberately look but they do the most wonderful job and make the magic of this show so special. We love the reindeer especially when they fly, the way the turkey cooks in the oven and many, many other bits but our favourite, still and as ever, is when Father Christmas goes to the toilet, you have to see it, you just HAVE to!

Delicate music and sound effects are delivered from high up in one corner of the set which is brilliantly designed with so many little finishing touches most would never think of. This show is funny, clever and has charm in abundance, it really IS the pages coming to life and exactly as you imagine it when you read the story. It is a show worth travelling to from not just inside London but quite literally the length and breath of the country it is so perfect!

Tickets are on sale now at www.lyric.co.uk.

We were invited to see the show for free in return for an honest review.

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