On television in 1973, Jon Pertwee’s Doctor encountered a travelling showman who entertained his public with a device containing miniaturised versions of intergalactic monsters. The BBC’s new stage extravaganza uses a similar conceit to explain why creatures from Cybermen to Venetian vampires are invading the country’s arenas.

Gareth Roberts and Will Brenton’s script openly acknowledges the heritage of their carnival of monsters. It is let down slightly by their new character, the duplicitous Vorgenson. Starting out as little more than a narrator, Nigel Planer struggles to keep a sense of momentum through a succession of walk-on monster appearances. Men stomping around in character suits gets tired quickly, although the recreation of the terrifying Weeping Angels provides some genuine heart-stopping thrills.

It must be hard for any single actor to hold an audience the size of Wembley in his thrall. Nicholas Briggs manages much better than Planer in his brief cameo as Winston Churchill, but the show only really comes alive when the current Doctor, Matt Smith, interjects via a series of often hilarious prerecorded video sequences.

The real star of the show is the music. Murray Gold’s incidental score for the series is not to everyone’s tastes, but as performed here it mostly works. Some foreshadowing by the reuse of a sixties sound effect as a bassline will delight hardcore fans.

Given Smith’s limited participation, the denouement to the story could not be anything other than a little anticlimactic. Despite its faults, though, it does at least capture much of the charm of the TV series.