BACK in 1970, Kenneth Williams was the indisputable star of the radio show Stop Messing About.

Fast forward 40 years to Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre and not much has changed – Kenneth Williams, aka Robin Sebastian, is still the undoubted star of Stop Messing About, based on the original radio series.

Sebastian steals the show with his phenomenal portrayal of Williams, which is so good it’s hard to believe it’s not the great man himself. He minces, snides and snarls his way through the role with spooky accuracy.

The play sees Williams joined by fellow stars Douglas Smith (Charles Armstrong), Hugh Paddick (Nigel Harrison) and Joan Sims (India Fisher), and skilfully transports the audience back to the golden age of radio comedy.

Frolicsome, witty, naughty and at points just downright silly, the show certainly tickled the fancy of the Wyvern audience.

Highlights include what to do if you find a Gutenberg Bible in a second hand book barrow where books are only a sixpence, the film adaptation of The Dirty Half Dozen, or The Smutty Six, and the Tiddleywink Championship won by an Army team.

The show, written by the radio series’ original writers, Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer, is unusual – there are no set changes and no plot as such; it is merely a faithful re-enactment of the classic show. And it is a bizarre sensation to begin with, going to the theatre to listen to the radio. But close your eyes for a moment and it feels as though you are in that studio audience.

Anyone who is a fan of the original show, who misses the waspish, face-contorting humour of Kenneth Williams or who is a fan of modern day radio comedy, such as Just A Minute and I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, will enjoy this rare treat.