Review: OPERATION OUCH: QUEST FOR THE JURASSIC FART!, Southbank Centre

Operation Ouch: Quest for the Jurassic Fart! arrives at the Royal Festival Hall at The Southbank Centre with all the confidence and chaos audiences have come to expect from television’s favourite medical mischief makers. Dr Chris and Dr Xand van Tulleken deliver a high energy family show, which balances silliness with genuine scientific insight, creating a riotous theatrical experience which keeps children captivated, while giving adults plenty to ponder.

The performance opens with a knowingly daft fake safety announcement before anticipation erupts into delighted noise from the young crowd. Team Blue, Dr Chris, and Team Green, Dr Xand, take to the stage to rapturous applause and swiftly establish the central mission. They are heading to the prestigious FARTERS Conference in a years time and intend, quite literally, to cause a stink. Victory promises both glory and a sizeable cash prize, but it must be earned through science, showmanship and modern experimentation to thrill and deliver.

A hazardous yellow box containing the legendary family fart collection sets the narrative in motion. Originating with Great Uncle Barnabas, the collection is treated with mock reverence as a serious medical archive, boasting the windy essence of famous inventors, writers, pop stars, politicians and musical geniuses. The joke lands instantly and becomes a playful framework for the science which follows.

The doctors excel at making complex ideas accessible. Using visual material stretched across the front rows, they demonstrate the impressive scale of the small and large intestine, encouraging children to think differently about their own bodies. Messages about healthy eating, particularly the importance of legumes, pulses and vegetables, are woven neatly into the humour. The explanation that every fart is unique, like a snowflake, is met with glee, especially when the audience is invited to participate and a ‘sample’ from the front rows is theatrically collected.

One of the most visually exciting moments comes with the use of lasers to scan the fart sample, transforming the joke into the spectacular. The audience learns that farts are mostly odourless gases such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane. A clever ‘apparatus’ analyses the bean based meal, while the trickster twins demonstrate the difference between a day’s worth and a week’s worth of farts, igniting it into impressive fire. Along the way, parasites such as giardia are introduced, to explain the effects on villi and their role as nutrient absorbers.

The narrative builds as the doctors realise that their collection is missing one crucial component, a dinosaur fart. A precious chunk of amber crucially containing an ancient fly and a mosquito becomes central to their prehistoric ambitions, pushing the show into playful science fiction territory. The biggest gasp of the show comes with the appearance of an endoscope, offering a surprisingly intimate live view inside Xand’s nose and mouth. It is both fascinating and faintly horrifying, and it lands as one of the show’s standout moments.

Beyond the laughs, there is a thoughtful heart to the production. Dr Chris and Dr Xand explore embarrassment as a shared human experience, rifling through Xand’s old school reports to reflect on 'naughty' behaviour, confidence and self belief. The message is clear and warmly delivered that fear of embarrassment should never block curiosity, kindness or the courage to try something new. Xand's success is testament to his tenacity. A montage of Operation Ouch highlights reinforces this theme, reminding the audience of the hazards and joy of learning through real life experience.

The final stretch leans fully into absurdity as an attempt to inject dinosaur DNA into Dr Chris spirals into a surprise prehistoric encounter. Jokes about venturing to the dark side of the U bend and a gleeful song about embarrassment bring the show back on track, with enthusiastic audience participation sealing the finale.

Silly, scientific and surprisingly sincere, Operation Ouch: Quest for the Jurassic Fart! is a joyful celebration of curiosity. Science on stage can be loud, messy and laugh out loud funny, while still delivering messages of the power of knowledge and confidence, which resonate well beyond the show.

Read our interview with Dr Chris van Tulleken about the show here.