IN Tom Sharpe’s latest instalment of farcical misadventures – after Wilt In Nowhere five years ago – comes a comedy of errors much to do with slapstick reversals.

It all begins with the Gropes, an ancient matriarchy from Northumberland, whose long line of powerful women are the result of a coerced tryst between a seasick Viking and an unsightly nun.

In present-day Croydon, Vera has taken her husband, timid banker Horace and their “love child” Esmond, hostage in her Barbara Cartland-inspired fantasy world.

They both attempt to escape her clutches and there follows a series of hilarious, if improbable, mishaps. A riotous, albeit laboured effort.

Trisha Andres