Theatre review Big-hearted bear wins us over while his nemesis steals show

Here is the Peruvian bear as we have never seen him before or so we are led to believe from the marketing of this musical, which is based on the beloved 2014 film, itself based on Michael Bond’s beloved books.

- Arifa Akbar

But this is in fact exactly how we have seen him before: initially alone in Paddington station, with marmalade sandwiches under his felt hat and a pleading look in his eye for strangers to be kind to outsiders such as him.

This is not new fare, even if Paddington is brought to life with state-of-the-art animatronics: James Hameed is his voice and remote puppeteer, while Arti Shah is under his furry skin on stage (puppet design by Tahra Zafar).

The Brown family are also recognisable from the film: risk-averse dad (Adrian Der Gregorian), arty mum (Amy Ellen Richardson), adolescent Judy (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) and encyclopaedia-chomping wee Jonathan (Jasper Rowse on the night of attendance), along with houseguest Mrs Bird (Bonnie Langford, in national treasure mode).

So why do we need this Paddington in our lives? Well, because it simply comes together so well. Splendiferously well, in fact. This is the new Mary Poppins: a well-known story imaginatively staged, immaculately performed and utterly winning.