Judy stands up to Punch as classic puppet show gets modern makeover

‘Punch and Judy tends to provoke a deep-seated response’: puppeteer, or ‘professor’, Spike Lidington, aged 20, who has worked on the Judy Project version. Photograph: University of Exeter

After 362 years of frankly horrendous treatment at the hands of her husband, Mr Punch, Judy has had enough.

For the first time, the female half of the most famous puppet double act in history will take centre stage at a brand-new contemporary version of the seaside favourite, Punch and Judy, at London’s Covent Garden tomorrow.