The curtains rise at the start to Phillip Schofield as Dr Dolittle talking to Polynesia the parrot, voiced by no less than Julie Andrews. The first Act begins with a lively rendition of "Talk With the Animals", showing early on the cast's enthusiasm for the show. Considering some of the other shows that have started slowly and gone on to reach very high points by the second Act, this is always encouraging.

The good doctor has given up on human patients long since, and instead concentrates on his love for animals, as well as planning adventures around the world to find rare creatures. The plot centres on his plans to scour the globe to find the legendary Great Pink Sea Snail and make his fortune. He is helped by his animals, and friends Matthew Mugg (played by Jimmy Johnston) and a young boy named Tommy Stubbins (Simon Schofield - the programme doesn't mention if he's any relation). By the time they are ready for the voyage, however, the doctor has had to break out of jail, and once the crew are on the high seas he has to deal with a stowaway as well. During both Acts it must be said that the young audience the play is aimed at means that the storyline moves along very fast, and that the continuity and some of the finer plot details are not always top of the agenda, especially in the second Act, which takes place largely on the floating Sea-Star-Island. There are also one or two truly daft pieces of scripting in places (most notably the hint of a "romance" between Doctor Dolittle and a seal who has been one of his patients for no more than a few hours). Some of the diction was also a little poor for (as an example) my grandmother to hear properly, but for the younger ones and others without hearing aids this shouldn't be so much of a problem.

The ending seemed a little sudden and it was during the last fifteen minutes or so of the story proper that most of the continuity was lost, which was a pity but not too drastic in the end because the nature of the narrative meant there weren't many loose ends to tie up.

The puppets were made by none other than Jim Henderson's Creature Shop, and were suitably impressive, especially the Pushmi-Pullyu and the Great Pink Sea Snail itself. The animals in the background also provide a bit of light entertainment if you ever decide to let your eyes wander whilst the action is happening, and are brilliantly puppeted. The set is similarly vibrant, clever and colourful, and shows attention to detail taken to the extreme - a real delight to run your eyes over, and lit with some good effects. The acting was solid, Schofield and Sam Mancuso as Straight Arrow, Dolittle's overseas colleague, were my own personal picks, but there were no really weak performances. The orchestra were also on top form, and the music, whilst not carrying the same weight as, say, Jesus Christ Superstar, was still superb for this kind of show. Where the production falls down for me is in the storyline. Of course, being written for children it has to maintain a pace and humour to keep them interested, but in this case it does so at the expense of providing the older audience members with any real laughs or points of reference that another production might have managed.

Overall, the quality of set, acting, sounds and props - as well as the puppets - was so high that it might seem a little unfair to give the show a merely average rating. However, the gripes sadly affect the most important area - the storyline. it would be absolutely ideal for taking children to, make no mistake, but for older people the show doesn't hold quite so much interest. In conclusion, then, an enjoyable enough show with stunning effects and set, and good acting, but the quality of the script was only ultimately good for young children and merely fairly enjoyable for others.

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