From the second cast September 2003 featuring Gary Wilmot as 'Caractacus Potts':

"...I was lukewarm about the show when it first opened, and was tempted back only by the outstanding new cast, which includes that most sympathetic of leading men Gary Wilmot as the inventor Caractacus Potts, the great Russ Abbot as Grandpa, Wayne Sleep as the Childcatcher, and the delicious Sandra Dickinson as Baroness Bomburst. They all offer good value, with Wilmot in particular finding a depth of winning humanity in the role of the widowed inventor that entirely eluded the spookily bland Michael Ball..." The Daily Telegraph

"...Gary Wilmot is an infinitely more attractive, far less self-obsessed Caractacus Potts than Michael Ball. Russ Abbot brings real flair and a lesson in comic timing to Grandpa Potts. Caroline Sheen's Truly is just the right side of bumptious. And, as the Child Catcher, Wayne Sleep cleverly negotiates that fine line between the absolutely terrifying and the downright ridiculous... The entire show is very definitely designed for the theatrically sweet-toothed. But with such Rolls-Royce production values, this old banger can't help but spread a little West End happiness." The Guardian

"...In the hands of a new cast it remains deliciously clever without growing cloying... At every step, something seems to encourage enjoyment without patronisation... and even having seen it before, it is hard not to gasp in wonder when the full-size car sails out over the front stalls. Like Potts's invented confection Toot Sweets, this remains a musical morsel supreme, and thankfully more Bang than Chitty." The Financial Times

"...Now the self-proclaimed 'most fantasmagorical stage musical in the history of everything' has undergone its first wholesale cast change, the burning question is this: on a scale of one to truly scrumptious, how does Adrian Noble's production now rate? Pretty darn scrumptious is the answer, with the new leads heading an immaculately drilled ensemble of adults and children that is, even by the West End's bloated standards, breathtaking both for its skill and sheer size... Enchantment guaranteed for children; adults certainly won't regret coming along for the magic ride." The London Evening Standard

From the original cast April 2002 featuring Michael Ball as 'Caractacus Potts':

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang hit the West End last night with an outburst of sheer theatrical magic. Not many stage vehicles land so smoothly as this account of Michael Ball's inventor, Caractacus Potts, his two young offspring and Miss Truly Scrumptious who find themselves threatened by danger and depravity in a land where children are an endangered species. The epic musical is beautifully calculated to enthrall the young with its fairytale weirdness and offer adults the seductive chance of a second-childhood in its amusing company. The 1968 film, which Jeremy Sams has cleverly adapted for the stage and was in turn taken from Ian Fleming's original story, looks pallid in comparison... Chitty Chitty Bang Bang proves itself an ageless pleasure and a pleasure for all ages." The London Evening Standard

"...There is no doubt whatsoever that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is going to be a smash hit. I just wish it were a smash hit I could warm to more. Though Jeremy Sams's new script is a great improvement on the Dahl version - properly integrating the naturalistic and the fantasy sequences, avoiding the cheat of a conclusion and serving up much better jokes, most of them at the expense of the Germans (hurrah) - there is something deeply cynical about this show. It has been designed, with all the ingenuity of one of Caractacus Potts's inventions, as a machine to make money. To this end every crowd-pleasing wheeze - from the initial choice of this already popular story to a chorus of cute children in rags - has been dutifully wheeled on. But, apart from the technology - the car really does fly impressively, and Anthony Ward's inventive Heath Robinsonish designs are a delight - this still strikes me as a show with a big budget where its heart ought to be. There isn't a hint of the breathtaking originality Julie Taymor brought to The Lion King in its transfer from film to stage..." The Daily Telegraph

"It seems everyone is currently turning popular movies into stage musicals. But unlike The Full Monty, this Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is in almost every respect superior to the original. Adrian Noble's exhilarating production seems to release the Dionysiac music-hall spirit and inventive magic that were only fitfully realised in the Ken Hughes film. For a start, Jeremy Sams's witty adaptation makes much more sense of the story... The great joy of the show is the way it returns the Sherman brothers' excellent tunes to their theatrical origins... Anthony Ward's designs, however, are the show's most remarkable feature. What is especially brilliant is the way he plays with recurring machine motifs... Noble's production is the best he has done in years. The result is a musical that has that quality of ecstasy one always looks for in the genre but rarely finds." The Guardian

"...At a cool £6.2million, it is the most expensive musical ever staged. Fortunately, like the magic car that takes to the skies, this one will fly and fly. A new musical where everyone knows the songs has a headstart. You can tell from the moment the audience starts clapping along with the main theme of the overture that this one is going to be a wiiner. And so it proves to be, with balletic choreography from Gillian Lynne, evermore spectacular sets by Antony Ward and fine singing from Michael Ball as Caractacus Potts - and teenage newcomer Emma Williams as Truly Scrumptious... Nichola McAuliffe is a show-stopping comic truimph as the purple-rinsed, child-hating baroness..." The Express