It’s hankies at the ready for the wartime tearjerker Goodnight Mr Tom

Goodnight Mr Tom, based on the novel by Michelle Magorian, follows a young evacuee who is sent to the idyllic English countryside in the build up to the Second World War.

Against a dark and dangerous backdrop of the ever-present threat of war, the sad young boy William Beech strikes up an unlikely friendship with elderly recluse Tom Oakley.

The young lad and his older friend’s lives intertwine, but just as it all seems to be going well, William is devastatingly summoned back to London by his mother.

Whether you’ve seen the BAFTA award-winning TV film starring John Thaw (we watched it many times while studying the war at school), or read the original book, this stage adaption is not to be missed.

It’s been adapted for the stage by David Wood OBE, who is the country’s leading writer and director of plays and musicals for children.

Olivier award winner Oliver Ford Davies (Hamlet; RSC, Star Wars, Game of Thrones) reprises his role as Mister Tom alongside six talented young performers.

Arthur Gledhill Franks, Jamie Goldberg and Ewan Harris will alternate the role of William, and Joseph Holgate, Thiago Los and William Price will alternate as Zach.

One of the lead characters is of the canine variety, and the production uses a puppeteer to bring the doggy companion to live on the stage.

While the show can be quite harrowing in parts, it does appeal to all the family, and for grandparents it’s a chance to revisit the era of the war with a younger generation who probably couldn’t even imagine being sent away from home to live with total strangers.

From February 12 - 16. For tickets call the box office on 0844 871 7652 or visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes.