Nothing like nostalgia

Parents of a certain age, weep with joy! Children, pat them on the head and tell them not to be so silly. Here it is again - the tea-time TV legend that held us in thrall in the 1970s.

At least some of you. Not me, who switched off fairly briskly, being the wrong generation and preferring Wind in the Willows.

Unafflicted by nostalgia, I quite enjoyed the movie. It's funny, shrewd, well-animated and has the right voices to match the visuals. Step forward Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Ian McKellen and Joanna Lumley, along with Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue.

The trouble is, what came at you as you ate your buns in days gone by was very short doses of the possibly stoned Dylan, shaggy dog Dougal and Brian the snail. The feature film struggles to fill 82 minutes.

It's slicker than the original, if not quite at Pixar levels, there's more to it than teenies' stuff. What more can one ask? I did like Ermintrude and Dylan's rendition of The Kinks' You Really Got Me. That's a showstopper for our time.

The Magic Roundabout
Cert: U