Herge’s Adventures of Tintin

Published Friday 16 December 2005 at 18:00 by Jeremy Austin

David Lan and the Young Vic have built for themselves a real reputation for quality Christmas shows and this adaptation of Tintin in Tibet does not disappoint.

There is so much colour and vibrancy and humour and quality of performance that it grips from the opening dream sequence to the baleful howl of the lonely Yeti at the end.

Ian MacNeil’s set, with its towering mountains and comic book-style framing of scenes, transports the audience into Herge’s world.

Once there, the cast are remarkably good. Russell Tovey’s ginger, London geezer Tintin will not be to everyone’s tastes but his performance exquisitely portrays the inner turmoil the burnt-out boy reporter is feeling as he faces an impossible task trying to find his best friend who has crashed on a Tibetan mountain.

Sam Cox as the irrepressible Captain Haddocks blisters his barnacles just as he should, providing a voice of reason for his headstrong charge.

But prime among the performances is the simply astounding Simon Trinder as Snowy, Tintin’s dog. His comic timing is exquisite, his interpretation of David Greig and Rufus Norris’ brilliantly witty, wonderfully pathos-driven script takes us into the mind of a dog. Fabulous.