Writing in The Guardian newspaper, the playwright cited instances such as an encounter with an idiotic market researcher at the British Museum (he insisted on putting Poliakoff down as a “single parent” because his wife was absent), or the fact that British Telecom sold their mobile phone business in that industry’s early days because their surveys were badly conceived. In Sweet Panic, a middle-class parent locks argumentative horns with a child psychologist and challenges the assumptions made by the marketplace. The cast includes Jane Horrocks (best-known for Little Voice), Victoria Hamilton (Tony nominated for A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg) and John Gordon Sinclair (whose biggest West End hit in recent years was She Loves Me, but became a household name with the film “Gergory’s Girl”), with Poliakoff himself directing..

And in case any admirers of his work are upset at not being able to get to the Duke Of York’s Theatre in London’s St.Martin’s Lane, good news. It’s to be televised, with the cast intact.

For ticket information call (0)207 369 1791.