Thirty years ago, the world was a very different place.

There was no reality TV, no Big Brother, and no Simon Cowell eager to sign up the next big thing.

When the original Fame was released in 1980, the new intake of students at the New York City High School of Performing Arts were told there was no easy route to success: “Fame costs. And right here is where you start paying... in sweat.”

With Debbie Allen’s classic line ringing out, against an R&B chorus of “Remember, remember...”, so begins the remake of Fame, brought all-singing-and-dancing up to date.

In the same format as the original, we’re taken through four years at the school – it’s like a gritty version of High School Musical without the basketball.

Through the opening auditions, we’re introduced to the new young cast, playing the 10 main students, including Marco (Book), Jenny (Panabaker), Malik (Pennie), Alice (Payne) and Denise (Naughton).

Allen, who played dance teacher Lydia Grant in the original film and the spin-off shows, is back as Principal Simms.

She delivers a rousing speech to the new pupils, as well as reminding them that they’re there to study: “We don’t care about your dreams of being in OK! magazine – if you want short cuts and easy rewards, I recommend you leave now.”

Instead, we see the hard graft, the rejections and emotional turmoil endured by the main characters as they struggle to fulfil their potential.

As with the original, all the kids have their own unique problems: Jenny’s too tense, but desperate to act, and gets seduced by a former student-turned-TV star.

Malik’s mum doesn’t even know he’s at the school, and he’s unable to express his feelings about his sister’s death, while Denise is bored with being a classical pianist and wants to sing, but her dad won’t let her.

Dancer Alice rebels against her posh parents by inviting scruffy pianist Victor to dinner with them, and Marco cheesily romances Jenny.

Young choreographer-turned-director Kevin Tancharoen is careful to pay homage to the original, while making it a fresh film in its own right.

So there is an impromptu lunchtime jamming session, but diehard fans will be disappointed not to see the taxi sequence revisited – perhaps it was too tricky in modern NYC?

But there’s nothing forced about the musical numbers, they happen organically as part of the intermingling storylines.

And apart from the Jenny/Marco plotline, there’s nothing Disney about the updated Fame.

Tancharoen deals gently with issues such as suicide, underage drinking and relationships.

The music is updated for a late Noughties audience, with rap and hip-hop being the order of the day.

The grand finale graduation show is a medley of ballet, African tribal dance and gospel singing, but it doesn’t raise the roof.

Far more compelling is the sexy dance routine Payne performs to Sam Sparro’s Black And Gold – and Mullally’s karaoke performance.

Naughton, main picture, who effortlessly dispatches the biggest numbers throughout, sings an R&B cover of the Fame theme song but it’s only heard over the closing credits – sadly we never see her perform it.

She’s definitely the standout actress among the young cast, and we will undoubtedly remember her name for some time to come.

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