Yeah, we were a little torn about this place too:
If you're here with kids who by nature have short attention spans, it might be hard to stay more than 20 minutes and to fully appreciate everything here.
If you grew up loving everything British, and have some kind of understanding about how all these toys/ memorabilia were most likely painstakingly preserved AND put together, over DECADES, by some private collectors - you'll probably be utterly impressed about how extensive and incredibly well-preserved the collections here are. Despite how a little boring and cold the displays appear, you gotta admit, they have lots of REAL unique antique toys AND memorabilia in there.
Though it is also good to note that - the sensitive, new-age folks might find some exhibits offensive (e.g. there's quite a lot of erm......... African and Chinese toys from that era, and from that perspective). But we love history and culture, and we get that every era's got their thing.
Perhaps they don't just need a new theatre/show - but better storytellers/marketers with fresh eyes to draw in and to remind visitors, that it is okay to look and learn from the past, in order to know how to navigate the present/future better. Maybe not so much of, "Keep Calm and Carry On" but rather, "Let's have a conversation and learn together" kinda messaging to make it an overall more meaningful and engaging experience for visitors.
Just a Penny (or Farthing) worth of thoughts.