Paddington is back-and he's gone immersive

The bear from darkest Peru has donned his wellies and duffle coat for a live experience’ that is halftheatre, half-party, with lashings of marmalade

- Kate Wyver

An almighty crash sounds from above.

"Everything's fine, Mrs Brown!" a voice calls out. I peek my head round the door of 32 Windsor Gardens. On the winding stairs sits a pair of little red wellies, as if someone rather small and accident-prone has just slipped them off and scampered upstairs.

This is The Paddington Bear Experience, which has just moved into London's County Hall, on the banks of the Thames. A cross between a film set, a theatre show and a party, the 70-minute experience presents a rose-tinted world spun from Michael Bond's beloved stories about the bear from darkest Peru, slightly heightened and slightly magical.

"It's all about the warm Paddington welcome," says director Tom Maller, who is collaborating with designer Rebecca Brower. The pair previously made Peaky Blinders: The Rise, recreating the world of the TV crime drama. Maller, who spent years working with immersive experts Secret Cinema, took on this project because he wanted to make a show his three-year-old son would enjoy. When he goes home, he takes back messages from his friend Paddington.