SCOOBY- Doo, where are you? For once there was an easy answer to the question. He was at Oxford's New Theatre last week - and providing a great time for the young fans who packed in to see him. The test of any show for children is how successfully it entertains them into silence. This one passed it thoroughly. There was rapt attention in the seats all around me as the Warner Brothers cartoon favourite set about his sleuthing.

He was ably presented, in an entirely convincing costume, by actor Pierre Marc Diennet, and accompanied by the usual gang of friends from the TV show. That meant his nerdy side-kick Shaggy (Matthew Quinn), brainbox Daphne (Kate Chamuris), the glamorous Velma (Liz Pearce) and pleased-with-himself leader Freddie (Jamie Wilson).

They found themselves up to their quivering necks in their usual sort of creepy adventure after they pointed their van, the Mystery Machine, in the direction of Clawhammer Studios in Hollywood. They were following up an invitation from Velma's film director uncle (Franciso Trujillo) to watch work on his new vampire movie starring the mercurial - and highly amusing - Belinda Del Monte (Sarah Chamberlain). Dark forces were at work, however, determined to prevent the movie being completed. The Spectre was on the prowl. But even before he was unmasked, we all suspected that his actions had less to do with the supernatural than with an all-too-human greed for loot that was available in the long-lost Clawhammer fortune.

The 100-minute show was all great fun, with lots of laughs, a well-judged musical element and plenty of colour. There were even a few shafts of more adult wit to keep the parents amused. A polished affair.