Review: Starter For Ten (Bristol Old Vic)

Review by Seth Wilby

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

September is here, the weather’s getting colder, mince pies are somehow already in the shops and students across the country are returning to university. Also returning is Antic Productions’ musical adaptation of Starter for Ten, back at the Bristol Old Vic eighteen months on from its original run. Highly evolved, with new choreography, songs and design, could this production score any points from me, or should it have dropped out while it still could?

Based on the novel by David Nicholls and subsequent 2004 film, this new British

musical follows Bristol University fresher Brian through his dreams of competing on University Challenge. Throw in some extravagant characters, a teenage love triangle, and a smidgen of family drama, and you have the seemingly perfect formula for a winning musical. 

Adam Bregman is a brilliantly cast lead as Brian, the Southend-born brainbox with big dreams and the classic teenage struggle between the brain and the heart. Bregman takes us through this arc with ease, wearing Brian’s awkwardness with such a likeable charisma and a wonderfully melodic voice that perfectly complements the 80s style of the songs. Extra credit must also be awarded for a riotous piece of improvisation after technical difficulties paused the press night performance, which proved the audience’s love for Bregman. With anyone else at the helm, Brian could easily feel like a sidepiece in his own story, but Bregman ensures that he is someone the audience can consistently relate to and root for. 

Perhaps some of this relatability is due to the choice for Brian to seemingly be the only ‘normal’ student at Bristol University. The other characters are directed mainly as caricaturised stereotypes, which succeeds not only for comic effect, but in ‘othering’ Brian, thus strengthening the audience’s connection to him. These caricatures range from the rugged Glaswegian socialist Rebecca (played with grit by Asha Parker-Wallace) to the posh gap-year taking love interest Alice (an impressive professional debut by Imogen Craig, who embodies her character with a surprisingly endearing presence) to the socially awkward yet nerdy medical student Lucy (given what may be the show’s strongest arc by Miracle Chance, despite limited stage time). This is a consistently strong ensemble cast, with passionate vocals and an unfaltering energy that makes the show a joy to watch.

In fact, it is often those with the smallest roles who stand out the most- Luke Johnson and Christian Maynard nearly steal the show, particularly as Brian’s rugby-playing roommates, and Rachel John serves terrific vocals as Dr Bowman that makes me wish her only song was longer. 

Popping up from fridges and cupboards throughout, Stephen Ashfield is a great Bamber Gascoigne, host of University Challenge, boasting a brilliant rapport with the audience and some wonderful moments. In the dual roles of Brian’s mum Irene and quiz show boss Julia Bland, Mel Giedroyc has warmth and the entertainment factor, showcasing her skill in comic timing, yet I can’t help but feel that her comedic chops could have been better utilised, with Julia Bland the one character in the show which needs to be hammed up more to properly land the impact of her cameo-like role – in 2024, she was a Thatcher-like authoritarian whose number brought the house down in a way this does not quite manage.

For me, the stand-out performance belongs to Will Jennings as Challenge team captain, Patrick. Jennings’ portrayal is one of a loveable annoyance which the audience can’t help but relate to, as the exhausted PhD student just tries not to lose a quiz show. His number ‘Time to Quiz’ is a clear stand-out, which made me feel tired just watching, and, along with Bregman, an impressive amount of character development is shown during the song, which makes up the actual University Challenge round.

The songs (with lyrics by Emma Hall, Charlie Parham, Hatty Carman and Tom Rasmussen, and music by Carman and Rasmussen) are electrifyingly fun, and stick strongly to a pop soundtrack, feeling both modern and 80s-reminiscent, yet the energy with which they’re performed means each maintains some of its own identity. ‘Touched by an Angel’ is a stand-out, toe-tapping hit for Brian in act one and act two opener ‘Weightless’ is a certified banger. Although the quality of the songs does seem to decline slightly in act two, this is an upbeat soundtrack with moments which certainly stick in your head (the opening refrain hasn’t left mine since I saw the show in March 2024). However, to feel like a fully-fledged musical triumph, the score needs one stand-out song to deviate from the others – the act one closer lacks the spark needed to successfully stop the show, and the absence of a clear eleven o’clock number is detrimental to the show’s narrative. Instead, there’s nothing left to surprise you by act two, and, although there is plenty of potential (Brian and his mum have what could easily be a very touching duet on grief and family), no musical moment manages to land an emotional impact, and the most showstopping moment came from the aforementioned technical issues instead of a powerful musical number. Despite that, it's consistently fun and dynamic, making for a soundtrack which I could easily listen to again and again.

The book (by Hall and Parham) feels similarly youthful and authentic, with some notably funny moments (although there are still definite cuts to be made, with some lines not achieving the necessary laughs). The writing’s strongest feat is making sure this doesn’t feel like ‘the University Challenge musical’ – on top of this and the love triangle, Brian feels like a layered, relatable character. Still, it has achieved the impressive feat of making an audience care about University Challenge despite the fact that, to be totally honest, it seems like a pretty dull premise, and probably would be if the writing didn’t manage to make us invested in Brian and his dreams from the start.

One of the most obvious changes from the 2024 production is the ending, which seems now to work even harder to end the show on a positive note, successfully compelling the audience to their feet by the curtain call. I’m sure some people won’t like the massive gap of sorts in the storytelling that this creates, but, to me, this manages not only to prevent dragging out the show, but also to stress that it doesn’t matter what happened, and we should instead be focused on the outcome and how it had changed people. Don’t get me wrong, the ending still needs a clearer moral to give the musical purpose, which could be easily sorted with just a few lines of dialogue, but, in all, it sticks to a definite vision and aim. However, where most musicals suffer an identity crisis during their development, this one faces the opposite problem- it isn’t willing to stray from the feel-good factor when the story is begging for more. An act two flashback to young Brian is the closest the show gets to emotional poignancy, which is disappointing when the potential is so much more. 

Parham also directs, and has managed to create something successfully steady with some fun moments of staging yet it is too safe to stand out as something special in the crowded market of new musicals. For example, the use of University Challenge contestant benches to form most settings was one of the more imaginative choices of the last production, yet this has been cut for the more literal use of individual desks, which improves the production’s quality at the expense of some of its soul. Scene transitions feel awkwardly long, and the production seems to avoid applause after songs, despite the genre demanding it to avoid uncomfortable pauses. Perhaps it would have been beneficial for a director’s eye separate to the writing team, since, dramaturgically, there are changes to be made to improve the flow of the piece – act one sees an extreme concentration of songs which necessitates one or two cuts, yet act two faces famines when the audience wish they could be energised by more songs. 

The new choreography (by Alexzandra Sarmiento) is a consistent stand-out, infusing each scene with energy and making the show an uplifting joy to watch. Also new for this iteration is Lee Newby’s set and costume design, which is the total embodiment of the eighties. Newby sets the show against a tonally bland checkered background which mimics the backdrop to 1980s University Challenge, acting as a constant reminder of our context even as numerous settings elegantly slide in and out. The design is striking and grand, taking advantage of the full depth of the Bristol Old Vic’s stage, although the steps at the front feel under-utilised. It also manages to give the production an air of permanence and quality through the use of a solid checkered background as opposed to the curtain of last year’s version, which makes even the smallest scenes feel significant. 

However, this production faces one major problem – it is playing everything too safe. It chose to be a feel-good musical, and based every subsequent choice off of that. So, while it does leave you with a smile on your face, what else does it manage? It lacks the emotional punch to make you cry, and never reaches the wit to make you belly laugh. Everything feels too safe to be impressive, and that means its progress will be stilted here. Clearly, there are West End ambitions from this encore run, yet, in its current form, there is nothing to make it stand out enough to earn a place there. The changes which have been made are mainly inconsequential – they have produced a totally different show, both visually and beyond, but haven’t notably bettered it. In 2024, it was a good, fun show. In 2025, it is still a good, fun show, but nothing more.

If that seems overly critical, that’s probably because it is. This is still a four-star review, and it was consistently something that I really enjoyed watching, yet I also genuinely believe it can grow to something even better. It earns four stars not only for the exuberant experience I had watching it, but for the potential that it must try to fulfill. In its current form, it could easily continue to play theatres across the country to great responses, but I don’t see why it should decide to stop before reaching its peak. It has such broad scope in its target audience, thanks to its 80s nostalgia, youthful energy, and brilliant soundtrack, that it has the potential to have a major moment in the musical theatre world the moment it stops being afraid- try harder to make me laugh, try harder to make me cry, and it can become something genuinely superb.

Starter For Ten teeters on the edge of something truly great. There is not that far for it to go for the narrative to become fully heartfelt, for the writing to become consistently funny, for the songs to become bonafide showstoppers, and I really hope that it is given the opportunity to achieve that. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm, because this is a show that I would genuinely love to see return again, so it can fully close in on its potential to be something wonderful.

Started For Ten plays at the Brtistol Old Vic until October 11th

For tickets and information visit https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/starter-for-ten

Photos by Pamela Raith