Most of us face change with some trepidation, no less in our entertainment world than in everyday life.

For example, will Top Gear be as good in the hands of Chris Evans as it was with Jeremy Clarkson? Is the new generation of The Clangers living up to those many of us loved when we were younger? Can that iconic old film, It’s a Wonderful Life be successfully turned into a radio play without ruining the magic?

The last question was put to Oxford Playhouse audiences last week and the answer was a resounding ‘yes’, thanks to a Tony Palermo script, sympathetic and respectful to the 1940s Frank Capra version, and a multi-talented cast directed by Guy Retallack.

The set was simple: a radio studio with a couple of microphones, five chairs for the actors who played all the character, often changing from one role to the next and back again in a matter of seconds, and a sound effects table controlled by a highly talented Susan Burns.

I approached the evening with some fears. After all this has been my favourite film for more than half a century. This was holy ground. But I had nothing to worry about. Oliver Stoney was the same caring George Bailey as portrayed in the film by James Stewart. A sound performance.

Augustina Seymour played his wife Mary Hatch, occasionally slipping into the role of a bespectacled clerk in the Building and Loan office, or her daughter Zu-Zu.

David Benson was, first the play narrator, then a grieving pharmacist Mr Gowver, next the soon-to-die Pa Bailey, finally the villain of the piece, Mr Potter. Meanwhile Richard Albrecht alternated between being the disorganised Uncle Billy and the wingless guardian angel Clarence, sent to save George from a watery grave. Lynsey Beauchamp played mother – both of them, May Bailey and Mrs Hatch, while Benjamin Chamberlain completed the cast with roles as younger brother Harry, the bank examiner and son Peter.

With a talented team throughout, it was a memorable evening.