There were outstanding cameos during the second act. Viktoriya Zhukova was eye-catching in the Spanish dance at the prince’s coming of age ball. And Romanova again impressed, this time as the evil Rothbart’s daughter Odile. With wonderfully controlled whirling fouettés she deceives Seigfried into choosing her as his bride . . . The St Petersburg Classic Ballet brings great charm to this piece. They and Tchaikovsky’s delicious melodies easily sweep you through two and a half hours of meditative delight.

Nigel Havers gives the impression of having far more fun than a working chap has any right to. If you didn’t know it was him, you might think the part of Fleshcreep was being played by a beastly half-brother. In the best panto tradition he relishes being Mr. Nasty whilst staying on the artistic side of ‘hamming it up’, but with enough oleaginous malevolence to provoke spontaneous ‘boos’ and hisses . . . This is a pantomime, which delivers in talent and spectacle with colourful sets . . .

J B Priestley’s classic polemic is very much in step with Jeremy Corbyn’s recent social inequality cris de coeur. The production is clearly in danger of being closed down any minute by the Ministry of Information! As Inspector Goole stepped forward to entreat us with his sermon of a caring society, I fully expected George Osborne’s thought police to storm the building, arrest the cast and put the audience on advanced surveillance.