A FOLLOW-UP to the hit musical Dreamboats and Petticoats, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran continue the story of three couples. Bobby (Alex Beaumont) and Laura (North-East-born Elizabeth Carter) have had a hit with their co-written song, but further success eludes them; Norman and Sue are married with a baby on the way, and Ray and Donna are still hanging out at St Mungo’s.

The Conquerors, Bobby’s old band, offer to take Bobby on tour as their lead singer and he leaves Laura in the lurch, taking with him an unpublished song they have written. The group plays the Cavern in Liverpool, hears the Mersey sound, and recruits Norman to give them a harder edge.

So the old crew comes together again, and the flimsy plot is stretched to breaking point to accommodate a huge number of early Sixties hits. High points are an a capella version of You Really Got a Hold On Me, and Beaumont’s cover of Roy Orbison’s It’s Over, his incredible range easily reaching those killer notes.

Ross William Wild provides the charisma and the eye candy as sewer worker Norman, ably assisted by Louise Olley as hugely-pregnant wife Sue, with a powerful and tuneful singing voice.

Everyone in the company seems multi-talented, with two girls whipping out saxophones at the drop of a hat. The music sometimes drowns out the vocals, but the songs are great and the audience are right back there as everyone listens to Radio Luxembourg, the Horace Batchelor fans spelling out “K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M” along with the cast. A fun trip down memory lane.

Runs until Saturday. Box office: 01325-486555

Sue Heath