The car is famously the star of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and, as with many a star, he can prove temperamental at times.

At the performance I saw in Milton Keynes last week Chitty’s reluctance to fly led to a couple of hold-ups in proceedings before the interval was reached. Eventually, though, he behaved himself and soared skywards to spectacular effect.

I missed this fabulous show when it was at Oxford’s New Theatre over Christmas, so jumped at the chance to catch it at Milton Keynes, where it runs until March 13.

Nothing impressed me more than the performances of Matthew Farmer and eight-year-old Samanatha Allison who played the Potts children, Jeremy and Jemima with much confidence and charm. The rapport they enjoyed with the excellent Darren Bennett in the role of their father, the inventor Caractacus Potts, was evident throughout the performance.

There is splendid work, too, from John Griffiths, as Grandpa Potts, and Katie Ray, who supplies the love interest of the show as the aptly named Truly Scrumptious.

As for villains, this is a show very well equipped, with the Vulgarian spies Goran and Boris, played by Nigel Garton and Richard Ashton, their bosses Baron and Baroness Bomburst (Edward Peel and Kim Ismay) and the truly creepy Child Catcher (Dean Maynard) pictured above.

This is a show not to miss.

Box office: 0844 871 7652.