CHILDREN’S author Brough Girling says he is planning to come and see the Torch Youth Theatre’s version of his own novel, The Bangers and Chips Explosion, this July.

Talking to Anwen from the Torch Theatre’s marketing team, Mr Girling said the show “will appeal to anyone who read, or reads, or wishes they still read The Beano”, that it’s “clinically proven to make you laugh” and that dinner ladies should really be called ‘Lunch Women’.

“When I had lots of kids’ books in print (1980s) I used to do author visits to lots of junior schools. The first person I’d meet would be the school secretary,” said the teacher-turned-writer when asked where he got the idea to write The Bangers and Chips Explosion.

“I noticed that jolly, welcoming, cheerful school secretaries usually worked in jolly, welcoming and cheerful schools, and the opposite was also the case!

“I had the idea that maybe school secretaries run schools, not the head teachers! This is not quite true, but I thought I could exaggerate it a bit to comic effect: I liked the idea of a rather straight-laced, bespectacled woman becoming an action hero and saving the day!

“Mrs Perkins is obviously the hero of the story. But the crooks and Mrs Gunge and Inspector Bollard were all fun to invent too.

“I don’t remember how I arrived at the CROOKS not COOKS idea – but the story then was pretty easy to write.”

The Bangers and Chips Explosion will be performed on the Torch Theatre Stage in Milford Haven on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 21, 22 and 23 at 6.30pm. For further details, visit www.torchtheatre.co.uk or call 01646 695267.

“It will be fascinating to see how the characters emerge in your production,” added Brough.