Paddington the Musical review: London will look after this bear

Paddington’s name is on everyone’s lips in London - the world-famous bear is the star of a new musical at the Savoy Theatre.

I can be pretty cynical about these things, but my goodness he’s adorable. When the life-size bear walked on to the stage, the whole audience let out a ginormous ‘aww’!

It’s so believable that you have to keep reminding yourself that there’s not really an actual bear on stage. He’s unbearably cute but his emotions feel real. When he’s sad, you can see it in his eyes. When he’s cheery, he dances around the stage. When he’s being spoken to, it really feels like he’s listening.

The technology behind this production is sublime. A small actor is inside the bear suit with another actor backstage doing his voice and remote controlling his body. I saw James Hameed and Abbie Purvis at work - they are such a talented pair.

We all know the story - first written by Michael Bond and then performed in the fabulous 2014 film. A bear arrives in the UK from Peru at Paddington Station. He’s picked up by the Brown family, who welcome him into their home. He wrecks the place but soon learns the ways of human-folk.

We follow the twists and turns of his journey, including a hunt for Paddington after he’s ‘bear-knapped’ by an evil hunter. It, of course, has a heartwarming happy ending.

London comes across brilliantly in the show - it’s a love letter to this wonderful city.

The music, written by McFly’s Tom Fletcher, hits the right note. The tracks are cheery and catchy and well-performed by the cast. The on-stage team includes TV’s Brenda Edwards but it’s not full of celebrities. Instead, it’s a highly-experienced West End cast.

Marmalade is, as you know, Paddington’s favourite food. The high-budget song celebrating the sticky substance is gloriously entertaining.

It becomes a bit panto at times - water is sprayed at the crowd, posters fall from the sky and there’s plenty of double entendre to keep the parents entertained.

The script could be trimmed - it runs at 2 hours and 40 minutes. I’d suggest that some of the scenes with the human characters could be cut. The show is always best when Paddington is on stage.

It’s a hugely entertaining show, which should run in the West End for years to come. There’s really nothing like it in London.

We’ll be sure to look after this bear - he’s one of us now.

Paddington the Musical is booking until October 2026.