Grandpa In My Pocket, the theatrical version of a popular children’s television series, has now been brought to the stage by the Teamwork company.

Actors hurl themselves into technicolour fantasy with untiring energy and dauntless enthusiasm, demonstrating real live theatre for children and connecting entertainment with reality rather than electronics.

But presenting theatre very specifically for small children requires an adult alongside and here, unlike the traditional pantomime, it doesn’t quite work.

Grandpa shrinks into a clever puppet and hurls about in pockets, model aeroplanes and pretend seagulls – miniaturisation enables some nifty repair work and surprising flexibility – but even if Grandpa takes off, the story never quite does. Tiny puppets, removed from their small screen, don’t easily fill the cavernous spaces of the Theatre Royal.

Robin Simpson is charming in the lead role and Dale Superville, Sam Worboys and Javan Hughes are all engaging. Lizzie Franks and Ebony Feare sing and dance with comical exaggeration but all the cast seem to be trying almost too hard to win reactions from the audience, something television doesn’t have to do.

Best gag? The town banker who really wanted to grow up to be a pirate. Now, there’s a story.