Tintin was no hack journalist of old: hard-drinking, and chain-smoking - in the days when that was allowed - as he banged out a piece of scandal-infested copy on an ancient office typewriter. Instead, he was a clean-living, wholesome reporter, who believed in the importance of loyalty and friendship. He was the invention of Belgian author Hergé (or Georges Remi as he was in real life), and his moral code carried him through the 23 books that make up The Adventures of Tintin.

One of those stories, The Blue Lotus, has Tintin dramatically rescuing Chang from the swollen floodwaters of the Yangtze River. But Chang was no figment of Hergé's imagination. He was a real person, who had guided the author through the complexities of Chinese life and culture as he wrote the story. The two became firm friends, but lost touch when the Communist revolution swept the Chinese mainland. Years later, in 1960, while suffering from deep depression, Hergé revived memories of his friendship with Chang, and featured him in a new story, Tintin in Tibet. It's that new story which is told in the Young Vic production of Hergé's Adventures of Tintin.

Tintin hears that Chang has been killed in a plane crash, but is certain that his friend has in fact survived. So he sets out to rescue him. But there's a big problem: the plane has crashed high in the Himalayas. "Don't go," says Tintin's friend, the whisky-swigging Captain Haddock (favourite swearword: "barnacles"). "You're mad," say all the local Sherpas, who at first refuse point blank to join the rescue mission. Even Tintin's other trusty friend, his dog Snowy, looks exceedingly dubious. But, of course, the expedition goes ahead.

All this might make a very good film, but a stage play, involving realistic, hair-raising climbing, and a wrecked plane? Well, suffice it to say that, on opening night, backstage technical difficulties caused a late start and a very long interval. But cast and crew triumphantly pulled it off - with, I suspect, not all the nervousness displayed during the climbing sequence being just good acting.

The show begins as a zany musical, with catchy, rhythmic numbers by Orlando Gough. But gradually the production transforms into a solid piece of storytelling, with even the huge, mountain-dwelling Yeti (Daniel Llewelyn-Williams) - initially pooh-poohed as an old wives tale - turning out to be very real indeed.

Matthew Parish does a superb job as Tintin, projecting the necessary clean-cut, wholesome image without ever becoming cringingly goody-goody. Robust support comes from Stephen Finegold as Captain Haddock, and there's a marvellous performance from Miltos Yerolemou as Snowy the dog - he really does seem to have studied canine body language.

But equal credit should go to director Rufus Norris, designer Ian MacNeil, and the whole backstage team, who have created a hugely impressive stage spectacle while also remaining faithful to the spirit and look of the original, much-loved Hergé books. Highly recommended.

Hergé's Adventures of Tintin is on until Saturday, August 25. Tickets: 01865 305305 (online at www.oxfordplayhouse.com).