(U, 98mins) Starring Colin Firth, Emma Thompson and Thomas Sangster

Emma Thompson makes her return to screenwriting after the Oscar-winning Sense And Sensibility with this adaptation of the Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand.

The actress has a ball as Mary Poppins, the grotesque nanny with shades who wages a battle of wits against the hell-raising children of a widowed man (Firth). However, the kids soon need the Nanny's help when their dad is forced into an unhappy marriage.

Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie and Angela Lansbury deliver suitably over-the-top comic turns.