Stretton's success with the Australian Ballet led to an offer to take over as artistic director at the Royal Ballet with the intention of bringing new works to the company. His first and only season at the Royal Ballet was criticised with the Daily Telegraph's ballet critic describing it as feeble. In particular, the productions of Don Quixote and Sleeping Beauty were strongly criticised, as was his staging of a Gala for the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Productions of Carmen, choreographed by Mats Ek, John Cranko's Onegin, and Tryst, a new work by Christopher Wheeldon, received more favourable reviews.
