Always beware of sequels - as much in the theatre as in the cinema.

The original Boogie Nights, last seen in Brighton with Sheila Ferguson of the Three Degrees, celebrated the Seventies. It was a nice example of the modern pop musical which strings along various hit songs to form a story, a form which reached its peek with Mama Mia.

But now we are trying to do the same with the Eighties and it doesn't work anywhere near as well because they were not a particularly distinctive decade for pop music.

The storyline for Boogie Nights 2, largely the responsibility of EastEnder Shane Richie, is trite, cheap and nonsensical. It revolves around the life of hard-living Roddy O'Neil, a wheeler-dealer who becomes the owner of the Boogie Nights night club.

He falls out with his partner and then falls from a tenth-floor balcony and we meet him as he lies in a coma.

At this point David Essex enters as an arch angel who takes our hero on a reflective journey through his life, helping him seek redemption and, in a Family Fortunes-type gameshow, allowing the hero to win a second stab at life.

The problem with this story is you really don't care for any of the participants. But it does provide a vehicle for many embarrassingly funny references to the Eighties.

We have yuppies, brick-sized mobile phones, much talk of Porsches and the general materialism which marred the decade. Even Maggie Thatcher makes an appearance.

There are some nice touches. A scene in the gym is funny and a set-up of Blind Date certainly made me wonder why it ever become so popular.

David Essex is no Sheila Ferguson and, like most of us, has not aged well. His voice is still not bad on the low notes but his high notes seem ragged around the edges. He is not helped by being dressed in a ridiculous white frock coat, white breeches and boots.

You can't fault this show for its noise, energy and verve but at times this ensemble cast seems to be full of nothing but acrobats.

The saga of the Eighties was much better done in the Boy George musical Taboo.

The major disappointment was the irritating speaking voice of Scott Robinson of former boy band Five whose awful cackle goes further into my heart.

But this is not a critic's show and if you loved the Eighties you will enjoy it.