Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Peter Pan Goes Wrong review on BBC1

Perhaps best are those moments that need no translation - props failing and actors fluffing - but Peter Pan Goes Wrong is also a model for cross-platform collaboration, milking every possible benefit of a new format.

This is a great compromise; if you want jolly, festive TV but can't stand the cheesiness of panto, and all the sweet-rustling and child-howling that goes with it, then you'll enjoy this. David Suchet presents this pantomime which makes gentle fun of the BBC and amateur dramatics. Backstage, he tells us the BBC are presenting this performance of Peter Pan which is brought to us by the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society. It's all part of the BBC's noble commitment to community theatre and localism. "This is not a pantomime!" insists the pretentious director. "It's a traditional Christmas vignette." "Oh no it isn't," says the lead actor, slyly.

There follows a performance of Peter Pan, filmed on stage in front of a live audience, which is riddled with mishaps and panics as the amateur dramatics company proves just how amateur it really is. Peter Pan crashes into scenery, props collapse and every aspect of panto is lovingly ridiculed.

Peter Pan Goes Wrong review

Aptly for a show about the boy who never grew up, there's an innocence to the comedy here. The visual gags may often be predictable, but they are executed so well, and pile on so relentlessly, that there's a wealth of goofball, no-brainer fun to be had. The BBC goes right with Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

How Peter Pan is going wrong on TV this Christmas

"We were aware it would be a challenge," explains co-founder of Mischief Theatre Company Jonathan Sayer, "but we wanted to make sure it was an adaptation for TV, not just a theatre show that's being filmed."