THE last magic conceived by the late Paul Daniels will be showcased in The  People's Theatre Company's musical adventure at York Theatre Royal on Sunday afternoon.

The Yorkshireman, who died on March 17, created the magic for the cast to perform in the new stage adaptation of Steven Lee's book, Don't Dribble On The Dragon, that will feature in the Liitle Feet Festival of Children's Theatre.

The People’s Theatre Company, specialists in fantastical, original drama and music for three to eight year olds, struck up an 18-month creative partnership with Mr Daniels after they met on tour while he was in pantomime in Gravesend.

The Surrey company is determined the hour-long show should be a "fitting tribute to the years Paul Daniels spent delighting people of all ages with his astonishing illusions".

Adapted by artistic director and actor Steven Lee, Don't Dribble On The Dragon is a "feelgood story of brothers Jack and Tom, growing up and the importance of family" that combines fun and pathos with singalong songs and Mr Daniels’s trickery.

"Tom is a teething toddler with a cool older brother, a secret dragon and a dribbling problem that just won’t stop," says Steven, "Tom's endless drooling threatens to tear the brothers' friendship apart, but can their dragon's amazing magic help them put it back together again or only end up making things worse?

"In our show, Paul's technical brilliance will conjure up such 'amazements' as the fire-breathing dragon, explosions, lights that appear from thin air, a magical sponge cake and gravity-defying mangos."

Mr Daniels died just before the show was completed, so the final technical advice and finishing touches were added by no less than the president of The Magic Circle, Scott Penrose.

Steven, 43, will play teenage brother Jack, a role for which he has had to perfect his skateboarding techniques with gruelling daily training over the past few months.

He has written and produced such children’s shows as Bink And The Hairy Fairy, Santa In Love and the family pop musical The Witch’s Bogey, while several of his books have been adapted for the stage, most notably How The Koala Learnt To Hug.

Steven will be joined on the Theatre Royal main-house stage by James Mitchell, 36, in the role of younger brother Tom. James has performed in five CBeebies Live British tours and is an associate of the Inner Magic Circle.

The show is directed by Nick Lane, the South Yorkshire playwright and associate director at Hull Truck from 2001 to 2014, and the scaly dragon will be played by Kate Powell, who may hail from Caerphilly but turns out to be a Scottish, rather than Welsh dragon, proudly sporting a tartan Tam O’Shanter.

After the 2.30pm show, Steven and the cast will be available to sign copies of Don’t Dribble On The Dragon, Lee's picture book with illustrations by Shalini Vadivelu. The book can be bought at the theatre, priced £5.99, or you can bring along your own copy.

Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk