In an age when traditional stories are either analysed to death or made pretty and safe by the movies, there is something gloriously unkempt about Punch and Judy. On the face of it Mr Punch is a child-murderer and wife-beater, meting out violence to anyone and everything, including a policeman and the famous crocodile. The show survives and flourishes because we instinctively know this is an acerbic commentary on family life, a subversive tale with roots going deep into European culture.

Punch is a descendant of Pulcinella from Naples, by way of the French Pulchinelle. He arrived in England in the 1660s, when new Italian and French puppet shows were seen by Samuel Pepys. The French gave the character his harlequin dress and his squawking voice – a demand from theatre actors, who saw the incredibly popular Pulchinelle as a threat to their own shows.
Punch and Judy became a seaside children’s entertainment in the early twentieth century, with characteristic striped mobile booths and content adapted accordingly. Somewhere along the way the character of the Devil, who Punch defeats, changed to a crocodile, and Punch’s mistress Pretty Polly disappeared.

The show goes on though and, if anything, is growing in popularity. Scarborough Art Gallery is holding an exhibition of the puppets made by one of the great professors (the correct name for the Punch puppeteers) Bill Dane from Aberystwyth. Along with the Punch and Judy characters, Dane created puppets from its French offshoot Guignol and a host of fairy stories. There are wonderful creations of the Billy Goats Gruff, the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, an amazing dragon, a very fierce lion and, of course that bad old crocodile. The characters and the puppets are a delight, but they are also a crucial part of who we are – herein lies our cultural DNA.

Punch and Judy Puppets, Scarborough Art Gallery 19 July to 21 September
Puppet performances and workshops throughout August: www.scarboroughmuseums.org for details.