YOU probably think I am a chap of great intellect concerned with weighty political conundrums, a reader of dusty books and an everyday quoter of the Bard.

I have a confession to make. On New Year’s Eve, I saw 2022 out by heading to the Novello Theatre for the current incarnation of Mamma Mia! – the Abba musical.

Of course, I haven’t been able to get my Voulez Voues out of my head ever since.

Josie Benson shines at the Novello

It’s a shame that the ticket prices are no doubt prohibitive to many – I was gifted my seat by a mischievous friend – as it remains a zippy couple of hours which surely only a grinch could fail to enjoy at least some bits of. The stalls were largely full of tourists happy to shell out, nodding to the familiar tunes.

My biggest smile was reserved for Josie Benson, who I knew once as a youth worker in Camden. She has a belter of a voice as the hilarious Tanya.