Amalia Vitale

Pandemonium review

Anyone seeing Armando Iannucci credited as the writer of Pandemonium might expect a satire with the brutality of The Thick Of It or the classy bite of Veep. Think again.

Pandemonium review

Armando Iannucci's furiously funny takedown of No 10.

Pandemonium review

Iannucci's Boris satire isn't funny enough.

Pandemonium review

Patrick Marber's staging of Armando Iannucci's new satire runs until 6 January.

Pandemonium review

Caustic, vital theatre: little wonder the run is sold out.

Pandemonium review

The show is little more than a knockabout end-of-year school entertainment, that strangely has no satiric teeth beyond making up playground names for public figures. It offers no insight into their behaviour beyond stupidity, lacks any kind of context for the horror that enveloped the UK and, despite the lively, fluent performance of a fine cast, feels overlong at ninety minutes running time.

Pandemonium review

Satire needs a shot of Pfizer's finest to revive tired storylines.

Pandemonium review

When Iannucci lets rip, it's worth the wait.

Bristol-based Aardman Animation takes one giant leap for lambkind by introducing a rainbow-coloured alien to the tranquil surroundings of Mossingham. Denizens of Mossy Bottom Farm including the naughty pigs and rooster (the clucking image of Rocky from Chicken Run) remain in the background of Jon Brown and Mark Burton's script.

The sequel is lighter on visual gags - a local supermarket stocks jars of Roswell's jam and signage for H.G. Wheels Autos is a cute nod to The War Of The Worlds - but action set pieces are orchestrated with brio.

Shaun (Justin Fletcher) and his farmyard buddies clash with Bitzer the sheepdog (John Sparkes), who wants to restrict fun in the absence of Farmer John (Chris Morrell).

While the master is lost in fanciful daydreams of purchasing a new combine harvester, Shaun and the flock drive Bitzer to the brink of barking madness by firing sheep out of a giant cannon.

Late one night, an alien spaceship descends on Mossingham and a cute creature called Lu-La (Amalia Vitale) finds its way - via a pizza delivery cyclist - to the farm. Shaun stumbles upon Lu-La in a barn and befriends the extra-terrestrial with slices of leftover pizza.

The plucky sheep vows to help the stricken extra-terrestrial return to her hidden spaceship and send a distress signal into outer space. Unfortunately, Agent Red (Kate Harbour) and her team of operatives in bright yellow hazmat suits are on Lu-La's trail and they intend to capture the alien.

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is an entertaining sequel, which replicates the emotional heartbeats of Spielberg's classic ET, underscored with earthy humour and lively musical interludes.