Far Away From The Watering Hole was all set to be a timely comedy on the dark underworld of children’s television, but then it wasn’t. Sian Docksey’s new writing features a gallimaufry of neurotics, both Beeb-like and institutionalised, yet the neurosis is so thickly spread as to be cloying.

The play follows Debbie Prebble, a producer struggling to keep up with middle-class demands for LGBT- and vegan-friendly kids TV characters. The tone falls pleasingly between Art Attack and Ab Fab. The stage is adorned with all the kids’ drawings and garish rugs that are the familiar paraphernalia of kids TV. All in all, the concept is a comic goldmine, yet the script fails to exploit this, hitting the odd funny bone but generally falling flat. Gags swing between the obvious and the abruptly brilliant (Fanny Fabulous the flamingo impersonator bitterly recalls her previous gig as a piñata at a bar mitzvah).

Ellie Nunn’s Prebble shone despite the odds, though this did seem to require some perseverance on her part. Prebble’s sidekick-cum-budding-lunatic friend Tammy Alligator is given endearingly by Rosie Brown, the pair warmly reminiscent of The Vicar of Dibley’s Geraldine and Alice. Other performances, however, are less rousing: the show’s panto villain comes in the form of TV top dog Penny Savagely, though Juliet Griffin’s grumpy pouting and high-heeled stomping don’t quite do it for me. Georgia Ingles brings almost too much intensity to her portrayal of (actual) nutjob Hannah: abandoned by script-writing intern Jason (Robbie Aird), the play attempts a drastic key-change, with palpably awkward results.

Though a colourful omnishambles was perhaps what the show is going for, I wasn’t expecting it to put the A back in ADC quite so badly; the first night tech (there had been no time for a dress rehearsal) was noticeably erratic. There are some fantastic ingredients in Docksey’s play - Andy the schizophrenic Anteater,  Rufus Prebble, Simon Alcock's negligent father to Debbie - and yet it fails to whip up a comic storm. The play lacks drive, staggering aimlessly to an abrupt end, leaving its audience humoured and a bit confused.

Far Away From The Watering Hole plays at the ADC until Saturday, 11pm