Hawkwind - they're a work of art

by Patrick Astill

Legendary space rockers Hawkwind play at Lincoln Engine Shed on December 6, and while founder member Dave Brock is pleased to be back on the road, he’s equally proud of the band’s first studio album for five long years, Blood of the Earth.

Listening to the work of art, it’s clear that the brand new tracks meld well with a couple of tried and tested – if re-worked – numbers that the band enjoy playing.

They’re clearly not just a bunch of ageing hippies, but instead work hard to develop and move forward with their music.

Sweet Obsession, for instance, was a solo release from 1984 which Dave has this time recorded with the band, to great effect.

“Falling in love and looking at shop windows, following your girlfriend around, having the courage to talk to her after a tiff – that’s what that’s all about,” he told Weekender.

“The album’s a bit different – you constantly have to do something different. It’s an art form.

“We started recording and started the album, didn’t like it and then started again.

“I haven’t listened to it since we completed it. Once the work’s done I tend to move onto the next thing.”

It’s fair to say that it would be worth a listen, Dave, and I tell him so. I enjoyed the first couple, which were instrumentals, and then it got into the best stuff, Sweet Obsession, Comfy Chair, and Prometheus – a strong middle section to the collection.

He laughs and we move on to talk about the tour, a 16-date affairs which is just the start, as the band moves on to Australia next spring.

“It’s nice to be in a position where we can do what we like,” he said.

“When you first start off you just live for the next day but these days there’ a lot more planning and we’re booking next year’s tour.

“We know most of the places we play at but I now find it a bit wearing! We do the tour bus and sometime stay in hotels but being such a light sleeper, I don't sleep that well on the tour bus... but I wouldn’t do it all if I didn’t like it!

“The music’s different every night. It’s the same numbers but we’re playing different solos and enjoying ourselves.”

And the fans enjoy it too, a surprising variety in the crowd

“We’ve got old ones and new ones. We do our own Hawkfest where we get to meet fans and friends and see their families and kids growing up.

“That means they range from very young to very old.

“It’s like when I was growing up in Notting Hill and we used to have reggae bands playing in the street with everyone joining in. that’s what music should be like.”

As for the next album?

Dave promises: “That won’t take as long as the last one! We’re doing it now. We’re writing new stuff all the time – it’s really boring if you don’t develop. We are artists.”

'You can't keep a good fox down' - boom! boom!

by Patrick Astill

The cheeky fox himself answered the phone when I called Basil Brush to find out more about his show at the Theatre Royal later this month.

With a string of dreadful, quickfire one-liners and terrible puns, it was soon clear that he’d lost none of his sharpness in 40 years of entertaining.

Resting in a “rather splendid foxhole” in deepest Surrey while on tour, he confessed that he didn’t have to share digs with his long-suffering TV partner, Mr Stephen, who’s also in the show.

“I wouldn’t share anything with him,” said Basil. “It was bad enough sharing a flat with him. He went to Broadway you know, before we got back on the road - Ealing Broadway, Boom Boom!”

For those who can remember, Basil retired in the late 1980s for 20 years, but returned to showbiz because, he says, “Auntie Beeb begged me to come back. You can’t keep a good fox down!”

I told Basil that I was almost as old as he is - and remember his first spell on our screens, when he became famous the world over and even performed in the Royal Variety Show.

“You saw me in flares then?” he asks. “I had to stop wearing them as it was attracting rescue teams.”

Of course, the little fella moves with the times and now dresses slightly differently to appeal to the youngsters.

“I’ve taken the lead in a modern world. Yo! Brother, it’s cos I is orange geezer,” he said, before confiding that he actually owns a couple of hoodies.

Still on the topic of clothes, he asks if I’ve seen him presenting the new Swap Shop on Saturday mornings. I had to confess that I hadn’t, but remembered the Noel Edmonds version.

Quick as a flash, he replied: “Yes, they asked me to do it because I’m furry and had bad taste in clothes too!”

He’s glad to be visiting to Lincoln again, to see the mums, dads and children, ending a tour of live shows.

“On television you don’t get to hear the laughs,” he said. “I love the fact that on stage I can hear the boys and girls laughing their heads off.

“We’ve always come to the Theatre Royal on tour, it’s just the one show this time so we want to get it full up!”

There will be the chance for children to give Mr Stephen a cream pie in the face, and lots of singing and joining in.

A full supporting cast includes Gameshow Charlie, who will give the audience a chance to win big prizes in some crazy games, award-winning circus star The Amazing Jeni – as well as some monkey business from Cheryl Chimp.

SAMPLE JOKE: Why do the Teletubbies always go to the toilet together? Because they've only got one tinkie winkie. Boom Boom!!”

First published in the Lincolnshire Echo. 

For those who never came home

by Patrick Astill

Tomorrow the nation will come together in an act of remembrance.

Some people might not agree with what they see as glorification of war and a celebration of conflict.

But that’s not why we stand in silence to remember the millions who perished in two world wars and many subsequent conflicts.

We wear our poppies not just an act of remembrance – but as a warning, to ourselves and our politicians to never let the horrors of warfare be repeated.

Our future leaders are the children of today and they should be aware of our nation’s past, and how it shaped the people who live here today.

For instance, on July 1, 1916, the British Army sustained 57,470 casualties, 19,240 of whom were killed. Yet that is a pinprick in the the 885,000 military deaths among UK forces from the First World War, or the 382,000 from the Second World War. Many more millions died, especially among Russian soldiers, while in Japan, 120,000 people died in the four months after the Hiroshima atom bomb was dropped.

Often, children do not know any of this. For most, history is not an option to GCSE level because it is such a dry subject. There are few parents and grandparents who have direct link to wartime - many people’s memories now may only be of past-war rationing.

There has to be a place for it in the curriculum so that young people can learn of the horrors of the Somme, Ypres and countless battlefields across Europe.

If they can see, hear and understand where the politicians went wrong, perhaps we can avoid future bloodshed and ensure it never happens again.

Our troops continue struggle to help bring democracy to the world today, and whether or not we agree with the individual campaigns, the poppy is a symbol for those who wish to show their appreciation for all who have fallen in the past, whether or not you agree that Britain today is a country worth dying for.

So there will be a poignant moment tomorrow when a hush falls over small groups of people dotted around the country.

We too will stand at a war memorial tomorrow, with our children, aged seven and five, and tell them – as we do every year – that we’re thinking of the daddies who never came home.

First published in the Lincolnshire Echo. 

Anyone can be bullied - labels just don’t work

by Patrick Astill

Anyone who has ever been bullied at school, whether on a one-to-one basis in the cloakrooms or in full public view of the class, will know the effect it can have.

The victim might feel isolated, because so many people ignore their plight – or they may simply be too scared to stand up to the bully.

They might feign illness to avoid school altogether, or develop other symptoms as a result of the stress.

It’s a frightening experience, can isolate people and damage a youngster’s self-confidence.

It can take many forms, from repeatedly picking on a child to muddying their shoes. From hiding a PE kit to demanding their dinner money.

If you think that bullying is confined to the school playground then think again.
Bullying UK gets complaints about what happens on and off the sports pitch too.

It isn't just other players who are the problem but parents, coaches and team managers can also be guilty of bullying behaviour.

The pattern isn’t just seen among children. It can be repeated later in life too, with workplace bullying.

It might not be as simple as getting all the worst jobs or assignments to do.

There might also be office politics, or someone who sees their chance to taunt with “I know something you don’t know” or subtle manipulation – even in such unlikely areas as the tea-making rota – during the working day.

However, figures suggest that a quarter of children have experienced bullying in the past year or so, with a lack of action by a parent or bystander often fuelling the problem: a child or adult who sees bullying but doesn't act, a parent who offers little support, or a school which doesn't take positive steps to prevent bullying can all exacerbate the situation.

Other children, parents and schools often know bullying is occurring. The Anti-Bullying Alliance says this means that it's everyone's responsibility to try to beat it.

The Alliance is adopting the theme of 'Taking Action Together' for this year's Anti-Bullying Week, which starts on November 15.

ABA’s Sue Steel said: "We can all take action together to create an environment where children understand what they need to know about bullying and that it's wrong, and that if they see or experience it there are things in place that mean appropriate action will be taken.

"It's everybody's responsibility to make sure that we've got what it takes to keep people safe from bullying.”

Getting everyone in the community to pledge action against bullying together could be in the form of a teacher making sure they regularly include anti-bullying messages in their lessons, or a community club developing a clear anti-bullying policy.

Children, parents and schools can all take action together to beat bullying.

Similarly, if a parent hasn't talked to a child about how to stay safe online when using social networking sites for instance, once again they are “standing by” and opening the door for cyber-bullying could take place.

This cyber-bullying – through use of mobile phones and websites - is a growing problem, with victims getting younger as children are given mobile phones and become computer-savvy at an earlier age.

Fourteen-year-old Louise Marshall is a finalist in the Miss Teen Galaxy-UK contest in the spring and is using the contest as a platform to inform people about her experiences of being bullied.

“It was mostly cyber bullying but I also got called names and was kicked out of groups,” she said.

“I kept it to myself for a long time before I eventually told my mum and she helped me approach the school.

“I was quite scared about doing that and couldn’t have done it without her.”

That set in motion a train of events which helped her to get where she is now, making a fresh start and living a proper life again.

“Moving schools changed me completely,” said Louise, who’s from North Hykeham.

Making new friends and enjoying life made her realise she wasn’t the odd one out and that it was the bullies who were wrong, and not her.

Recent research by the Department For Children, Schools And Families found that more than a third of 12 to 15-year-olds had been cyber-bullied.

This can be nasty or threatening text messages or e-mails and vicious rumours spread via social networking websites or circulation of cruel or embarrassing pictures circulated on the Internet.

Lincolnshire County Council, which runs most of the county’s schools, is well versed in what can trigger bullying and how to deal with it.

The authority recognises that school days are a time when the influence of other children is very important and fitting in is seen as essential.

Sophie Whitehead’s job as anti-bullying officer at the county council came about after a steering group was set up which identified to need for a co-ordinated service across all the related areas such as teenage services, school improvement and helping schools departments.

She said: “All schools by law have to have an anti-bullying policy.

“Initiatives in Lincolnshire include resources for schools, assemblies and lesson plans.

“For anti-bullying week we are sending a CD out to every school in the county and we’re running workshops for schools where a team of people will travel to 52 schools across the county to explain the issues.”

It’s when children are thought of as different for any reason that they can be picked on and bullied.

Sadly, we still live in a society in which to be different in any way can mean ridicule and bullying (often copied from parents) and this ensures that prejudice will continue into the next generation.

It is crucial to be alert to the possibility of bullying and make sure you know the telltale signs.

For instance, it’s unhelpful to suggest that there's a type of child who bullies or who is bullied, as it suggests there's nothing that can be done about it.

Child psychologist Sam Bishop, who advises the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said: “It’s not about typologies but about situation that a child might be in. The labels just don’t work.

“It’s to do with people who are perceived as different, whether it’s special education, home environment, race and several other different things.

“It is very difficult to generalise. The main differences are with gender.”

She said that the patterns in girl bullying were different those among boys, with girls indulging in manipulation of relationships while boys’ bullying was more to do with aggression.

“The girls peak in Year 9 (aged 13 or 14) when everything in their life begins to change.

“Boys tend to be pushing and shoving in a hierarchical way when they go to secondary school because they have to establish who’s in charge and so on.”

Sue Steel added: "All sorts of children bully, and children are bullied for all sorts of reasons, but it's important to acknowledge that this behaviour is happening, it's wrong and that it needs to stop."

"We have to recognise that it can be difficult for children to support each other when bullying occurs, even though they know it's the right thing to do.”

WHAT CAN INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN DO?
* refuse to pass on gossip or hurtful text messages;
* choose not to watch bullying – and walk away instead;
* be kind and supportive to the victim;
* ask if they‘d like help to tell someone;
* do only what they feel it’s safe to do;
* tell a trusted adult or older pupil, if they feel they can;
* refuse to put up with bullying;
* walk away, tell an adult or friend – and avoid fighting.

-- WHAT CAN PARENTS/CARERS DO?
* listen to their child if they find out they’re being bullied;
* discuss what they‘d like to happen;
* talk to the school, if they feel it’s something they can’t sort themselves;
* chat with your child about their school day;
* teach your child to respect others from a young age;
* explain why bullying is unacceptable.

Useful websites:
bullying.co.uk
Anti-bullying Alliance 
Anti-cyber bullying website
Dealing with bullying at work

Bullied at work? It’s more common than you might think.

Bullying and harassment is any unwanted behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated, degraded, humiliated or offended.

It is not always obvious or apparent to others, and can happen without an employer's awareness. It tends to be an accumulation of many small incidents over a long period of time, which individually would not form a case.

It can be when manager only communicate via e-mails to you, or you end up being the one who has to make the tea. It could be constant nit-picking, fault-finding and criticism of a trivial nature, from a boss or a work colleague.

Bullying from colleagues is just as distressing, when they blur the lines between friendship, loyalty and manipulation.

If you worry that you are being targeted, conciliation service ACAS suggests that you talk to other colleagues to find out if anyone else is suffering or has witnessed what's happened to you, and perhaps see someone who you feel comfortable with to discuss the problem, maybe someone in HR or a company counsellor if you have one.

If you have a trade union or staff representative you an talk to them.

In any case, ACAS advises that you keep a diary of all incidents to record dates, times, witnesses and your feelings. You should also keep copies of anything relevant, such as letters, memos, e-mails and notes of meetings.

First published in the Lincolnshire Echo. 

Is it a sad state of affairs for people in their late 30s...?

by Patrick Astill

A new report suggests that the age-old mid-life crisis is affecting people not in their late 40s and beyond – but more commonly between 35 and 44 years old.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that men will go out and buy a fast sports car, or start an affair with someone 20 years their junior.

But what it does mean is people are yearning after something they haven’t got … or something they feel they should have.

Reggie Perrin suffered a mid-life crisis

People in their late 30s and early 40s are the unhappiest in society, according to the Relate survey, which talked to more than 2,000 people about communication.

They were also the loneliest of any age group. One in five felt lonely all the time, or had suffered depression.

What we term a mid-life crisis involves complex factors and can be triggered when people think they’ve reached life’s halfway stage. Men in particular realise the truth that they are not young any more.

They feel anxious about what they have accomplished, either in their job or personal life, and weighing up what might happen next can cause a period of depression. They may mull over unresolved difficulties in the past, realise they won’t achieve all they had hoped for, and feel a sense of loss over missed opportunities.

There can be powerful emotional upheavals as people face up to what they see as diminished options for their future.

It’s easy to make light of insecurities and nagging doubts, as we presume every little cough could be the start of something terminal and that perhaps we should buy some boy toys like a massive Kawasaki, or take a course to become a helicopter pilot.

There is, however, a recognition that we might need to make a real change. In fact, psychologist Carl Jung wrote that the greatest potential for growth and self-realisation exists in the second half of life.

The health service acknowledges that what we label mid-life crisis is a controversial syndrome which experts think is related to the brain or to hormonal changes, and can be quite debilitating. It accepts that everyone’s circumstances are different.

There may only be a feeling of restlessness that comes out of the blue, or a feeling that everything is meaningless, despite having lots of positives to focus on.

There is sometimes the Reginald Perrin scenario, like the television character from the 1970s, where people try to destroy what they have built up in order to start again in a more contented and fulfilled existence, after goals and ambitions seem to fade away.

The first advice is to see your doctor and get some help before things get worse. If it’s depression, it can be triggered by a major life change, such as redundancy, divorce, separation, bereavement or long-term illness. There may even be no obvious reason.

People do deal with their “crises” in wildly varied ways. They may well buy that motorbike, or go down the route of plastic surgery. Others may leave their spouse as they look for a new beginning, while many are less dramatic and organise a weight loss or fitness routine.

Mental health charity Mind is very much focused on what can happen next.

Head of information Bridget O’Connell said: “If we can be honest about our painful and confusing feelings, mid-life can be a time for reassessment and reappraisal, a learning period providing the opportunity to change.

“We may become more interested in exploring parts of our psyche that we have lost touch with, develop a greater self-knowledge and sense of inner strength, and be less dependent on the approval of others.

“We may cultivate a greater interest in spiritual matters and express hidden skills and creativity. Many people also find that their relationships become deeper and more rewarding.”

The survey also looked into those relationships, and found one in three people in this age group felt shorter working hours would improve family relationships.

Relate’s Claire Tyler said: “Traditionally, we associate the mid-life crisis with people in their late 40s to 50s, but the report reveals that this period could be reaching people much earlier.

“It’s when life gets really hard – you’re starting a family, pressure at work can be immense and increasingly money worries can be crippling. We cannot afford to sit back and watch this happen. The ensuing effects of relationship breakdown on society are huge, so it’s really important that this age group has access to appropriate and relevant support, be that through friends and family or other methods, such as counselling.”

Carol Brady, from the Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation NHS Trust, which deals with mental health, says the so-called mid-life crisis of the thirty-somethings may, instead, be something else. Lincoln-based couples counsellor Denise Pickup agrees.

Carol said: “The concept of mid-life crisis is people making changes to their life.

“I don’t know whether people are experiencing the traditional mid-life crisis younger, but now, if people have not made it by their 30s or 40s, they may think they have failed.

“Mid-life crisis is still something that happens to people who are a little older, for instance when retirement is looming. Life events, such as being affected by bereavement, is not typically happening to people in their 30s.

“What’s different in their 30s or 40s is having a pressurised job and children. The Relate survey is picking up on the pressures people have at that age.

“Maybe it’s at that point when people realise they are not moving on as quickly as they feel they should be – maybe having a big mortgage and not much money – and that survey would be reflecting the economic situation at the time of the survey too.

“People can experience mental health problems at all times. Depression and loneliness has been identified in a group of people that you might not expect. But you get people feeling like that at all levels.

“Depression is highest in older people, when people are more likely to be living in poverty and be socially isolated.”

Denise Pickup said pinpointing the origins of what many people call a mid-life crisis was crucial towards managing it.

She also believes that more and more people in their 20s could now be described as “kidults”, as the lifestyle of adolescence extends into early adulthood, and people settle down later.

People used to have a job for life from the age of 17. Now many are not settling down until they are 30.

“They can be flung into high pressure,” she said. “We’re on our own a lot in modern life, too, what with online banking, and even self-serve petrol pumps. There was a lot more certainty in previous generations.

“Traditionally, mid-life crisis happens to men aged over 45. People in their 30s are getting very flaky, but it’s not a mid-life crisis. It’s a delayed adolescence, and if we can pinpoint the reason they were unable to flower as a teenager, this can be handled quite safely.

“We’re living in stressful times. It takes people longer to mature. A lot of people come to me saying they are having a mid-life crisis, but it’s usually a delayed adolescence.

“People don’t understand the stresses of society and so they are not sure how to cope.

“We used to look to our grandfathers for how to live their lives and now look to celebrities. But, although it seems they have it all, there is still often a burn-out after two or three years.”

She said more and more people were encouraged to chase their dreams. But often this would end in disappointment. Not everyone can win The X Factor or Britain’s Next Top Model.

• Reasses your life; plan for the future; identify the positives; assert yourself; be healthy – all good advice from mental health charity Mind:
• Look carefully at all the different areas of your life, to identify how you want to live in the future. Try to be realistic and honest with yourself.
• Consider all your important beliefs, such as your role in life, to see if they are still valid and fit in with what you want for the future.
• If you’ve had long-term difficulties in your relationship, now is the time to consider having counselling as a couple.
• See your mid-life crisis as a mid-life quest. It can be a time of opportunity to put aside past disappointments.
• View this as a time for moving forward, for developing your own sense of values, rather than conforming to expectations of others.
• Is there a long-term pattern in your life of fitting in with everyone else’s wants and needs, while neglecting yourself? Now is the time to change that.
• Talking about problems with a psychotherapist or a counsellor can help people make sense of confusing feelings.
• Mid-life lifestyle changes can prevent potential health problems: stopping smoking, cutting down alcohol and starting.

First published on Saturday October 23, Lincolnshire Echo. 

A healthier outlook is the right medicine

I noticed that the chemists this week were all full of people holding tissues to their noses and looking for their first cold cures of the season.

We get the first bit of cooler, wetter weather and people are claiming flu, coughs, colds and head colds.

All that wind and rain last week surely can’t have wafted bird flu in from paradise?

I really don’t think they can all be ill.

Perhaps it’s psychosomatic – getting up when it’s a bit darker and watching the nights drawing in might just be helping folk imagine themselves into a wintry state of mind.

Are we lulling ourselves into sickness and snot simply because we’re dreading the thought of five months of winter?

We all know that illness can be affected by your thoughts.

Particularly traumatic experiences in life can literally turn people’s hair grey – or make them lose weight or become chronically sick with a whole variety of illness.

So is the same thing happening with the change of seasons on a lesser scale?

They say there’s something called Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is down to a lack of sunlight.

But surely that isn’t restricted to the wintertime with our odd climate? And anyway, that doesn’t give us a cold, just makes us glum.

Back-to-school germ sharing must have finished by now. That annual phenomenon is good news of course, because it hardens off the immune system to battle the dangers ahead …

The clocks haven’t even been put back yet. It’s not been wellie weather for schoolkids. We haven’t had a truly cold night.

Yet everyone seems to have had their heating on.

When I was a lad even the schools weren’t allowed to fire up the boiler until after half-term week.

Maybe the warm environment, combined with people staying in and sitting inside steamed-up public transport is the key?

Or perhaps the first warning shots from mother nature that winter is finally on its way reminded people to stock up on their vitamin C and menthol pastilles ... just in case.

That rush to the pharmacy counter might have combined with the snifflers and splutterers to cause the queues this week.

Whatever it is, I’d wager that a healthy outlook on life might count just as much as any over-the-counter proprietary brand.

First published in the Lincolnshire Echo. 

Disney on Ice, Nottingham Arena

If you're a fan of Disney's favourite stories, this was the night to get out with the kids to see the best of the last 100 years – yes, 100 years – of magic.

Full of memorable music and lyrics, this show brought the usual two-dimensional experience to full-colour 3D life.

It's a hit because all of the children can sing along, and so can the adults.

We enjoyed a whole host of Disney legends, including Aladdin, Nemo, many of the princesses, and the cast of Toy Story, who after their recent cinematic outing got the biggest cheer of the night.

The sound quality didn't help much, though.

The It's a Small World number brought the first half to a successful close, revisiting the opening day of Disneyland Park in 1955. The colourful celebration of fun worldwide for children everywhere hit the spot, the moral of the story being that everyone shares the same hopes and dreams. Proof indeed that the magic of Disney brings everyone together.

The second half featured a skit from Mickey Mouse, then and appearance by Pinocchio, with some of the youngsters a little confused by Jiminy Cricket, as he's not on the telly much nowadays – but they went along with it, because the adventures were so good.

Mulan and The Incredibles built the excitement up until we had the musical climax with classics from The Lion King.

The finale brought all the main characters back onto the ice for their farewell, then the biggest spectacular surprise – fireworks from the famous Disney castle.

All in all, a good night, even if we were left wondering where Tinkerbell was!

Private lives on show in real Bedroom Farce!

Four couples sharing their beds on stage gives scope for something for everyone in this gentle comedy about our private lives.

I say our private lives because what Alan Ayckbourn wrote when he put pen to paper for this one really does reflect what we get up to in the privacy of our own homes.

Of course, the stakes are ratcheted right up the scale when other people invade that space - and that's what happens in Bedroom Farce.

Three of the couples end up sharing their bedrooms with someone outside the family circle. No, it's NOT like that - but hints and nods to what they're trying to say bring sniggers of recognition from the audience as well as some glaring home truths.

So we have Juliet Mills, married to Bruce Montague. A mature couple, shall we say, with gentle Bruce still full of affection for his dear wife, and her reflecting (perhaps) on what their bedroom life might have been.

Their son Trevor (Oliver Boot) is suffering martial strife, especially when his wife Susannah (Natasha Alderslade) confesses she's started to see women in a new - maybe attractive - light.

The plot sparks into life at a party hosted by Kate and Malcolm (Julia Mallam and Ayden Callaghan) and as the dust settles, daft Trevor plants a kiss on his not too unwilling ex, Jan, played by Claire Wilkie, whose husband (Maxwell Caulfield) is at home (in bed, of course) with a bad back.

Juliet Mills gets all the best lines - patting the bed gently with one hand, enquiring "this old trouble, is it?" to her confidante.

And she brought the house down with her line that began "When S. E. X. rears its ugly head".

Her tiny figure on the stage was brought to life in her characterisation, in contrast to Montague, whose seasoned bumbling created the perfect foil for her all-knowing asides.

Bruce was the flirtatious Leonard on TV, playing opposite Wendy Craig, and at times the short monologues here mirrored a Carla Lane speech, reminiscent of the voice within from Butterflies or even the Liver Birds.

With Bedroom Farce being written in the early 70s, perhaps that's hardly surprising. Not a rip-roarer this one, but plenty of food for thought.

And you might just recognise yourself on stage...!


Maxwell Caulfield and Claire Wilkie

Three young actors steal the laughs from Charley's Aunt

When two Oxford students require a chaperone at short notice so they can lunch with their sweethearts, the non-arrival of a millionaire aunt sets a trail of mayhem in motion.

The nearest they can get to a stand-in is a (male) student friend, so he togs up in ladies’ garb and the deception begins …

Nick Waring as Lord Fancourt Babberley is reluctantly called upon to be the imposter aunt by the two would-be suitors Charles Wykeham and Jack Chesney, played by Henry Gilbert and Tim Samuels.

The three young actors in Charley’s Aunt at Lincoln’s Theatre Royal excelled – and carried most of the laughs between them.

They supported the more famous faces among the senior cast, which included Duty Free’s Neil Stacy as Jack’s hard-up father, Ben Roberts from The Bill, Sabina Franklyn (the real millionaire widowed aunt) and Glyn Grain.

The humour started right from the off, with some visual gags and slapstick humour from the three young men.

While the students pursue their own loves, Jack’s impoverished father sets his sights on Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez who sadly is, in his/her own words, “no ordinary woman”.

Spurned (quite reasonably) by what he thinks is the real Victorian widow, he predictably finds love with a new arrival into the plot.

The cross-dressing Babberley then attracts another suitor and must keep the deception running long enough to secure evil uncle Stephen Spettigue’s permission for his niece and his ward – Eloise Irving as Amy Spettigue and Isla Carter as Kitty Verdun – to marry the student pals.

Bearing in mind the play was written way back in the 1890s, the humour transferred instantly to the modern audience.

Cliché it might be, with bashful lovers, an evil uncle, broke dad and a mystery missing aunt – but that is the stuff of a good farce and this one is a comedy classic which continues to impress.

Pop Idol Darius becomes big band hero

As we catch up with Darius Campbell, star of stage and small screen, we find him trapped slap bang in between interviews.

He’s busy promoting a musical tour which he’s producing himself, The History of the Big Bands, which visits Lincoln next month.

My slot was scheduled for 5.30pm, then tomorrow, than 4pm, 3pm, 2.30pm and 2.15pm, after he’d done a live broadcast. We settled for 3pm.

It sounds as though the likeable musical polymath is going through it a bit. But he confides that he really is living the dream.

Darius, who used to be Darius Danesh, said: “When I was 12 years old I was part of Scottish Opera in a children’s chorus and performed in the original production of The Trojans.

“Then I was a child actor in Carmen, which went to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

“When I was backstage I always remember what was behind the backdrop curtain.

“There was a space five times the size of the onstage area, and twice the size of a football pitch. It was filled with the stage props and staging from all the great operas – it was a bit like stepping into the other side of the wardrobe into Narnia for me.

“I remember feeling that I wanted to be part of all that.”

But Darius gave up a promising operatic career to study English literature at university, before exploding back onto the scene via Pop Idol and Popstar to Operastar.

His career has now come full circle with the chance to once again beguile the theatre audience.

“I always wanted to be involved in telling a great story. Whether that’s in a love song, acting in Shakespeare or in a West End musical, whatever it might be. It’s the spectacle.”

Having recently performed as Escamillo in Raymond Gubby’s vast production of Carmen at the O2 Arena, this is now Darius’s own chance to run the show.

He said: “I’m experiencing the challenge of producing a tour, which is really exciting.

“I want to transport the audience back to a different era.

“I’ll be reliving the big bands through the eyes of band leaders like Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and taking the audience on a journey through the work of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Nat King Cole. I am supported by big band performers who are among the best musicians in Europe. It’s not just a gig – it’s a show.”

Fans of Darius will know his range. He was Billy Flynn in Chicago, Sky Masterson in the Olivier Award-winning Guys and Dolls and Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, all in the West End.

He wrote Colourblind, which went straight to No 1 after Pop Idol, then had a platinum album, five further top 10 singles, and a Sunday Times No6 best-selling book Sink Or Swim.

He has a particular soft spot for swing, and the crooning style that goes with it.

He said: “I love what Amy Winehouse did in reinventing 60s soul. The idea of crooning is something I like. I’m lucky that my training has allowed me to explore the range of my voice.

“The only other singer that’s doing that at the moment is Michael Buble. There’s only six or so specialists.”

So which is his favourite track from the show? After all it takes in music from Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Woody Herman and Buddy Rich.

Of course, he’s non committal, but offers this as a tempting tit-bit: “I’m a big fan of everything that Not King Cole did.

“Big band was something that lent itself well to his deep velvety voice.”

There’s good news then, for Darius fans – he’s also putting together a tour album to go with the show, so you can hear his own deep, velvety voice whenever you want to...

Fun Lovin’ Criminals. Remember them?

Perhaps best known for Scooby Snacks in 1996, they’re well and truly back, with a series of concerts and a new single We, The Three.

After some tricky times in recent years the boys are all friends and all happily settled and at one with the world.

And they’ve all relocated to this country, despite their New York connections.

Their album Classic Fantastic is testament to their new verve and joie de vivre. It features their trademark eclectic mix of sound and is a work to be proud of, according to Leicester-born drummer Frank Benbini.

“We’re like brothers from other mothers,” he says. “We argue, go on tour around the world together and still look after each other.

“We still create music and still have magical shows all over the world.

“It’s what we always do. The three of us love music of all kinds. The album has hip hop, blues, rock, funk, latin and reggae. You put all the styles in a pot and what comes out is FLC music. It’s eclectic.

“It’s a bit more upbeat because the last ones were clouded by the bad times.”

So what of these bad times the band suffered? It seems they were out of commission for almost seven years. That’s apparently been down to bad money and bad blood.

“There had been major problems with the band members and it got to the stage where we didn’t know if we were carrying on,” Frank says. “That period started from the time the World Trade Centre was hit.

“Then we had people taking money from accounts they shouldn’t have done, we lost our management and we’ve been in a law suit for the past four or five years.

“It wasn’t the best of times for us to be creative, but once we got back and Classic Fantastic came out this year we knew things had worked out.

“And all good US bands at the end of the day need a good UK drummer.”

And what of the move from America? The two from New York started the band back in 1993.

Frank himself was a Brooklyn boy for quite some time, but made the break to come back home.

“We’re all based in this country now,” he says. “We had a period when I was based in Brooklyn, New York, for five or six years.

“The others were there, too. But now we have all moved over here.

“All three of us have moved now and they have married English girls, so this is our base.”

The first leg of their tour was in March to kick-start the promotion of it and they are now back on the road for the tour proper.

And it’s tough work, almost a gig a night throughout September, covering the whole of the UK and then nipping over into Europe to begin the third leg.

Frank says: “We have always been a live band. That’s the greatest thing about FLC. We have always had a good show and always taken it seriously – it’s good to be back out there doing shows.

“It’s been going down great with the fans. They know every word and that’s good for when we forget them. It’s been getting good reviews.

“The pace isn’t too bad. A run of five days and then a day off. It’s more cost-effective too.”

Cheer up, because those big, black clouds of summer have a silver lining

The national press has been full of some good news about how this wonderful, dry summer has revealed the best showing of aerial photos of archaeology for years.

Pardon? The last time I looked out of the window there were big black clouds and it was on the verge of tipping it down.

It seems to have been like that since the first week of July – when, incidentally, I got back from a fortnight in Cornwall feeling very pleased with myself for getting it right again. It was hot and sunny for 13 of our 14 days by the sea.

Then, as usual, the school summer holidays were blighted by cool, damp weather. There's not been much playing out in the garden for our two kids.

Sometimes I wonder if the swing set, climbing frame and see-saw could go back on eBay, where I got them from.

Yet, we've had a few days away and have been lucky. Mid-week trips to the south-west and north-west came up trumps.

Somehow, it seems as though we haven't had a summer, except for the one way back in the springtime.

We were all getting into work after a bad night's sleep because it was so hot. I remember having windows open and the bed covers off.

Yet, according to the papers, the weather conditions since early summer have allowed experts to take aerial photos of dozens of so-called crop mark sites.

They reveal a Roman camp in Dorset, a fortress in North Yorkshire, more sites in the West Midlands, Cumbria, the Yorkshire Wolds and Vale of York. Sixty new sites, mainly prehistoric, were found in just one day over the East Riding.

I'm a big fan of archaeology – I've even got a qualification in it – so this is fantastic news for enthusiasts.

And even the Met Office agrees with me about the weather: "July saw more than twice the normal rainfall in a swathe from west Wales through north-west England, southern and eastern Scotland to Shetland.

"It was also wetter than normal across most of the rest of Scotland and Wales and in Northern Ireland."

So what's all this about a great summer?

Oh, hang on – there's a "but": "In sharp contrast," it says, "much of the Midlands, eastern and southern England were very dry, with less than half the normal amount of rain in counties from Cambridgeshire to Sussex. Overall, it was duller than average, especially in many western areas."

So, there we have it. It's not been a wet summer on the whole, even for August, apparently. Just dull. And, with more of the past being revealed than at any point since the great drought of 1976, that's hardly dull, is it?

Words by Patrick Astill, first published, and copyright Derby Telegraph

Why it's a numbers game for Buddy Greco

Life is something of a numbers game for Buddy Greco. He’s just turned 84 and this is his 60th visit to the UK.

He’s on a run of 33 dates around the UK, on the back of his 70th album.

The big draw is that he’s no tribute act. The Rat Pack of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis were his best friends in the 60s and a quick search of the internet throws up dozens of images of them all having fun together during those heady days in Vegas.

Frank Sinatra rated his pal highly, saying “Buddy can make anything swing - nobody comes close in that department".

“The originals were my dearest friends in the world and I certainly miss them,” said Buddy.

“I tell stories about my relationship with Frank and Sammy and so on during the evening.”

Buddy Greco is a true legend and has been headlining in Vegas since the 1950s, yet his voice remains mellow and smooth. He started his career as pianist and vocalist for jazz musician Benny Goodman. When Goodman was recruiting for a bebop band, Buddy was one of the musicians he hired. Buddy, of course, went on to become one of America’s most popular entertainers.

He boasts Grammy and Emmy awards along hits including The Lady Is Tramp, Around The World and Girl Talk.

And now he’s taken on this huge UK tour and shows no sign of slowing.
Buddy says: “I’ve been very fortunate. My father lived until he was 99 and I have just turned 84.

“The music business is only a number. I don’t look it and certainly don’t feel it.

“I have always had a very successful career in Britain. This is my 60th trip here over the years.

“I first came with Benny Goodman in 1949. People have been wonderful to me all of my life. At one of the venues this time around a man in his 80s came up to me and asked me to sign a flyer from that Benny Goodman concert.

“Yet we have a whole new audience too. Young kids want to know about what it was like. They want to know about Marilyn Monroe, who was also one of my good friends. I love doing this.

“I do it because I love it. I’m now at that point where I just enjoy it more and more.”

Frank and Buddy
The tour takes in mostly theatres, compared with the cabaret venues of the past.

Buddy takes to the stage and does some numbers from his vast repertoire along with a little bit of chat about his great friends in the Rat Pack and their golden says in Vegas, then the tribute band The Rat Pack Is Back do their stuff, before the intermission. After that, Buddy’s wife of Lezlie Anders - who he is proud to point out is more than a couple of decades younger than he is – comes on for her tribute to Peggy Lee, before the pair combine for the finale. The Goodman Allstars Band and the Flamingo Vegas Showgirls complete the Las Vegas Experience.

While he’s not traveling, he’s settling down in the south-east to tweak his stage musical – a ‘Fever’ tribute to Peggy Lee, which he’s planning to take to the West End next year.

“We’ve found a gorgeous flat in Westcliffe on sea. I sold my house and nightclub in Palm Springs – we’re going to be here for quite a while!”

And there seems to be no stopping the creative talent that already has an impressive pedigree: “I’m a piano player/singer, not the other way around,” he said. “I try to get my hand into as many things as possible.”

“I’ve just finished my 70th album and I’m still writing, and recording and performing. And as long as the good Lord allows that’ I’ll carry on!”

Words by Patrick Astill, first published, and copyright Derby Telegraph

Tales of pilots lured to their deaths

Stroll across the High Peak and you’ll always enjoy some of the country’s finest scenery.

Wander only a few minutes away from the main paths and – if you know where to look – you’ll be rewarded with an awe-inspiring, time-travel moment, where you can see and sometimes feel the ghosts of the past.

For scattered across an area from Glossop to the west and Sheffield’s borders on the east are almost 70 air crash sites, around half with debris still laying on the ground.

A new book, High Peak Air Crash Sites, explains how the sheer height of the national park lured pilots and navigators into believing they were 2,000ft up, rather than just inches above moorland sitting 2,000ft above sea level.

The evidence is there through the tons of metal strewn across 30 individual sites. A further 36 sites, often showing tell-tale craters and crash scars, can also be found. Most date from the Second World War but others are from as recently as 2006.

The author, Pat Cunningham, is a former RAF and British Midland aviator of 40 years standing, with more than 20,000 hours of operational and commercial flying under his belt.

The book tells the moving story behind each crash, discovered using coroner’s reports and researching official investigations as well as talking to the people involved and people who know the land today.

Inevitably they are stories of tragedy. One, from 1948, recalls how a US Air Force Boeing F-13A perished along with its 13-man crew on a local delivery flight between Scampton, in Lincolnshire, and Burtonwood, Liverpool, after a successful mission over Russia during the blockade of Berlin. It was their final flight and the crew would have been on their way back to the US a few days later.

Cloud conditions led the pilot, Captain Landon Tanner, to use Visual Flight Rules for the 86-mile trip. But he never completed the 22-minute journey.

Pat, getting to the human story behind the tragedies, records that the aircraft wreckage was found in line with the direct route it would have taken, and just three miles north.

The book records: “There had been no witnesses and no recorded emergency transmissions. Beyond this, a crew member’s watch had been smashed while reading 1050 hours. Taking this as the time of impact, and calculating from the known take-off time to obtain the planned estimate for Burtonwood – around 1037 hours – they might well have reasoned that the crew has done some sightseeing before entering the cloud belt; a reasonable assumption in view of their imminent departure from the United Kingdom.”

Pat, who lives in central Derby, said: “I’m a flier and a walker and I take an interest from both points of view.

“Many walkers are only interested if there is a lot of metal about but I find the stories fascinating.

“It’s the human side that’s important. A lot of people would have said in the 40s, for instance, that a crew should have known better. But you have to realise these were young chaps who were floating around in a very darkened landscape and with communications silence, so they were on a hiding to nothing.

“And very, very few were flying in anger. Of the 300 crashes in the wider area, we have about four with battle damage.

“Most were simply getting lost thinking they were over low ground and thinking they had flown higher.”

High Peak Air Crash Sites is illustrated with photographs on almost every page, as well as map references to allow walkers and sightseers to pinpoint these historic and fascinating monuments to the past.

High Peak Air Crashes (Central), [ISBN 978 1 84674 219 4] is by Pat Cunningham and published in paperback by Countryside Books, priced £12.99.

(Words by Patrick Astill; First published and copyright Derby Telegraph 27-8-2010)

Author Wendy took on 'bad boy' persona for tale of art, sex and money

Chick-lit author Wendy Holden has hit on an unusual marketing ploy for her latest novel, Gallery Girl.

It's set in the "high-octane world of art, sex and money" – wonderful ingredients to transform into her latest page-turner.

Wendy made time to take on the persona of her bad-boy artist character and launched an art exhibition which opened in London for a single night earlier this week.

It showcased 12 contemporary artworks, with Wendy doing the creative work to help her get into the mindset of Zeb Spaw, the villain of Gallery Girl, which came out yesterday.

She's not without a track record for being artistic.

As well as being a journalist on The Sunday Times, Tatler and The Mail on Sunday before becoming a full-time author, she's also dabbled professionally at drawing and painting, and loves sculpture and galleries.

The spoof show, angry_with_britain, by Zeb/Wendy includes Fifteen Metres of Fame, his homage to Warhol, a 15m rope hung with pictures of celebrities mounted on cardboard (mostly from All Bran boxes).

There is also Tripetych, three panels featuring blown-up images of offal.

The exhibition is trailed as "spoof and a bit of fun", and Wendy's character is "angry".

"He's not so much an angry young man as an angry middle-aged man," she said.

"I had to get inside his angry mind and also those people surrounding him. There are so many satellites of people, dealers and those who surround him, like the owner of the gallery, patrons, a predatory female nymphomaniac collector…

"In the middle of this is my heroine. She doesn't particularly like the world she has been thrown into but has to get to know it more.

"What I'm always looking for is something behind the scenes of a glamorous world, and it's got to be funny.

"The very fact of being a glamorous person is inherently funny, because it's so difficult for them to keep their façade. There's a gap between what we see and what actually goes on.

"The world of contemporary art is so terribly po-faced, it's ripe for comedy.

"Contemporary art is a perfect subject, full of money and fame. There's so much potential humour."

It was when Wendy created the character of Zeb for Gallery Girl that she decided she wanted to do some of his awful work for herself. His masterpieces included spraying crisps gold and labelling them Golden Wonder, or making a Barbie doll's toilet gold and calling it Flash in the Pan.

"I really did enjoy writing it," she said. "I've gone further than ever before with a character, not just in creating him but realising some of his artwork too."

She'd already written about the film world and glossy magazines, all with those vital ingredients of money, power and people, often pretending they are something they're not.

Of course, in the narrative of Gallery Girl, Zeb lives up to the pretence, and learns that nailing a pair of pants to chipboard will get him more headlines and interest than the traditional styles. So that's the direction he goes off in. He is drawn as a very clever person who markets his own art.

Not a career path that Wendy, now 45, saw through. "When I first started out in the late 80s my first career was as a cartoonist for all sorts of people. I realised I probably wasn't going to make a career out of that and it fell by the wayside," she said.

But she's doing just fine without that particular string to her bow. Away from the fiction, she still writes for newspapers and magazines on social and lifestyle topics and you might catch her on the radio as a contributor to debates.

She's currently finishing a new book – as yet untitled – about a social climber, set in the south of France, and is tossing around a few ideas for her next.

Wendy, whose previous best-selling novels include Filthy Rich and Fame Fatale, lives in Two Dales near Matlock with husband, Jon McLeod, and their two children.

She's had success with nine novels so far, every one a top-ten bestseller.

Gallery Girl by Wendy Holden, published by Headline (Trade Paperback), £12.99.

Words by Patrick Astill, first published in the Derby Telegraph

Playing safe or falling prey to the nanny state?

How long is a piece of string?

More importantly, how long are those apron strings that you should keep the kids attached to during the summer holidays?

I had an unusually liberating experience recently. I sent my kids off on a nature trail – and out of sight for ten minutes – at an open day at a local attraction.

Normally this might set palpitations in motion, as they are only six and four. There were lots of strangers about, hundreds in fact.

And yet this time it felt right. It was on home ground, a venue they were comfortable with. No chance of them wandering off into the street. Just a circular trail within the confines of a big, noisy, friendly and busy family open day.

What WAS I thinking of? A walk alone to the end of our (long) street wouldn't normally be on the cards. But then that's a through route with lots of naughty drivers ready to draw up alongside and pounce. But only maybe.

So what are we really protecting them against?

When I was a lad we lived at the coast, and we were allowed out on our bikes for half a day at a time and our parents would expect us home when we got there, often late in the day, hungry and grubby. We could only have been nine or ten, but if a ten-year-old was left to fend for themselves for half a day with an eight-year-old sibling they would no doubt be castigated by the so-called liberal press for child neglect.

While aged 11, we were invited up into the quiet signal box at our remote village level crossing. Perhaps there was a greater trust of strangers in those days. He'd let us put coins on the line and then rush back to see how they'd been flattened after the excursion had rattled by. Today he would most probably be prosecuted.

What has changed in the intervening 30-odd years?

Even now, as parents ourselves, we take risks with the children. Who hasn't, for instance, left a sleeping baby in a locked car so as not to disturb them? After all, they're only outside the house, so what could go wrong?

You've got the pair of them in the bath, only three or four inches of water. The phone rings, you nip out to answer it.

But this is safety at home rather than an issue of freedom. Is the risk of letting them explore, perhaps fall on the rocks at the beach, or perhaps get stuck up a tree, the same kind of risk?

Is it more about letting them find themselves in the real world? Have an adventure? Are we guilty of being sucked into a 24-hour rolling news agenda of tragedy, disaster, child neglect and paedophilia?

So back to my original question. The answer, of course, is "How long is a piece of string?"

Reginald D Hunter, Just The Tonic

On the television he's an unassuming observational wit.

But as Reginald D Hunter puts it: "That's business, this is art!"

And as he said, people come in to gigs like this with "hope and expectation" after enjoying his telly routine, but leave with shattered dreams and crushed hope after seeing the stand-up.

Of course, that's just one of his gags. But it is material that would make anyone blush and there were a couple of uncomfortable moments, mostly because of the language he uses - which is clearly intended to shock.

Oddly, the two parts of his act which were best received were the old staple of women drivers, and his visual "bear with me" gag.

As this was an Edinburgh preview, it would be interesting to see which of the rest of the material he keeps in. For it was all good stuff as he instantly built a rapport with the crowd.

He covers a wide range. His supposed abusive (if traditional) deep south childhood, his love life, being single, race, politics are the main fodder.

Sipping on a constant stream of double vodkas from the bar, Reg drew us in with his warmth and personable charm. Even when the easy-going comedy is juxtaposed with his impressions of an Australian friend's very strong expletives, you can't fault Reg. And it's surprising how many expletives he claims not to have heard of before he came to Britain! He's been here 12 years now on the stand-up circuit so he's getting a good handle on his vocabulary.

Supporting act Nick Helm took a while to warm up. But his poetry and music hit the spot with the audience, which preferred that to his jokes. He left the stage after some community singing with the applause still ringing in his ears.

My life is flashing before me!

One thing about a potential career change is that it brings into sharp focus a lifetime spent in journalism.

And it’s the formative years that stick with you.

I remember the first war in Iraq, the Gulf War, when hundreds of casualties were expected among the allies trying to restore the world order in the Middle East following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

In fact so many American troops were expected to die or be seriously injured that a contingency was set up at the former RAF hospital at Nocton Hall in Lincolnshire.

I was working for the Lincolnshire Echo at that time, and was fortunate enough to be sent along to find out what was happening there.

It had closed as an RAF facility in the 1980s and had been taken over by the USAF – and was in fact a little bit of the United States on British soil, much as an Embassy would be.

More than 1,300 US medical staff and Army reservists were sent to the area for the 1992 conflict, and I was treated to a tour of ward after ward of sterile beds, all set up under cellophane ready for the expected influx once battle commenced.

The sheer scale of the operation was incredible. From the giant big-bellied transport planes on the runway, to the armoured vehicles rolling around the site and the hundreds of staff being readied for what was expected to be a bloody conflict.

Lincolnshire’s rich RAF past helped the operation with many staff billeted at RAF stations dotted around the area, including Scampton, then home to the Red Arrows display team.

The war began in August 1990, in the middle of the night our time, after weeks of posturing and troops being made ready.

The tension was high and it was something of a relief when the order was finally given.

Moves by the Coalition forces to kick off Operation Desert Storm sent some 100,000 sorties, dropping 88,500 tons of bombs and destroying military and civilian infrastructure in a move which effectively won the war as soon as it had begun. No Iraq planes flew during the whole conflict, although 75 Allied planes were downed from anti-aircraft fire from the ground.

At the Echo we published an early edition about the hostilities and regular news updates in several daily editions, with what was a more forthcoming supply of copy compared with the time delay attached to the Falklands Conflict some ten years before.

And USAF Nocton Hall? It treated just 35 casualties.

Misery – Newark Palace Theatre

It cannot be easy to bring a well-known film to the stage and make it work so well.

On the big screen, the actors can shoot, re-shoot, use camera tricks and all kinds of devices to tell their story.

On the stage at Newark, Julie Fox and Matthew Hewitt get this Stephen King tale spot on and manage to make us smile and squirm in equal measure, as they make an easy connection with the audience.

They work well together to convey writer Paul Sheldon’s descent into hell when imprisoned by his “greatest fan” after a road accident.

As schizophrenic Annie takes control of “her” author at her isolated farmhouse, she realises she need to keep him there longer if he is to pen a personal sequel for her – and stops at nothing to keep him there. The scene where she breaks his ankles as a safeguard against his escape is particularly well handled, and sent a palpable shudder through the audience.

One gripe was the lengthy pauses used to denote the passage of time, where the theatre is plunged into darkness to the strains of an electric guitar lament. They could only have been ten or twenty seconds but each and every one would have been a more comfortable with just a few seconds less each time. Or maybe it was the ideal time-out to hammer home the agony of Paul Sheldon as he plots his shocking release.

And although it was only a small audience, the actors could surely have found time for a second curtain call so we could have shown our appreciation a little longer.

When it's all in the eye of the beholder...

With days at the office now potentially numbered, I'll miss the little gems of knowledge teased out during the working day.

We play the birthday quiz from time to time, and Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop IV etc) was on the list today.

"Isn't he the voice of Garfield?" says one.

"No that was Bill Murray."

Well I wouldn't know either way, as I never liked Garfield on television. But I did like the newspaper strip.

Of course, this kind of preference is in the eye of the beholder, and bringing a cartoon strip to life can kill off your own personal impression of how the characters interact with each other.

Fred Basset seemed to work for me. Not so much The Perishers. And Peanuts was always a joy.

For the record, it's Bill Murray in the Garfield film, while the TV series was voiced by Lorenzo Music.

"Mmmm... Lasagna."

The Sociable Plover - Newark Palace Theatre

Perfectionist twitcher Roy Tunt is ready to catch a rare species on film and tick another box on his list of British birds, the most important, which will complete his set and make him one of the elite.

This is the premise of The Sociable Plover (Vanellus gregarious and a wader in the lapwing family of birds, which is critically endangered).

Gnome collector, scoutmaster and with a broken marriage behind him, is Roy (Guy Masterson) a knowledgable perfectionist or a pedantic OCD-suffering nerd? The banality of his life is painful.

He is suddenly joined in the claustrophobic atmosphere of the hide by gruff, mysterious “Dave John”, wringing wet, and hungry, after not having eaten for three days. Dave (Ronnie Toms) says his brother has just died while serving in the RAF.

And although a slightly sinister presence after the square behaviour of Roy, the audience can easily warm to his Londoner's charm and attempts at conversation with his new-found friend.

The action, set in an L-shaped bird hide of around 12 square yards, veers from black comedy to taut thriller and unfolds to reveal a twist so unexpected that it would be unfair to reveal any more of the plot.

Suffice to say, the 100 or so who turned up at the Palace in Newark to witness it would have done well to bring a few more friends along to enjoy this perennial favourite.

Written and directed by Tim Whitnall, The Sociable Plover mimics Pinter's two handers to some extent but is less coded and readily accessible.

Torvill and Dean’s Dancing On Ice The Tour - Trent FM Arena

The ice dancers put absolutely everything into their performance in a rip-roaring extravaganza by the TV stars on tour in Nottingham.

And although there was only one real slip-up, the judges were predictably harsh, reminding us that they see the same routines night after night – and judge them according to improvement or worsening of their ice dancing.

Cheeky Andi Peters was our host, and got proceedings under way for what was a slightly subdued audience by this show’s standards.

Perhaps they’ve seen it all before. Indeed, Gaynor Faye, Chris Fountain, Ray Quinn and Clare Buckfield were competitors who had all previously graced the famous Nottingham ice in at least one previous tour. They were joined by newcomers Mikey Graham, Hayley Tamaddon, Emily Atack and Gary Lucy.

And of course we had the wonderful T&D. We love ‘em. Flashbulbs popping every time they set foot on the ice, and their eye-watering new Bolero routine saw our golden couple suspended from the rafters by purple silks. A standing ovation no less.

Of course, it was all a bit of fun and no reputations were made or lost.

It was clear on the night, however, that some were having more fun than others. Gaynor and Clare looked as though they were really enjoying themselves. Hayley seemed the most desperate to do well, while Chris was clearly way out in front on the night, and not only won the judges’ vote but carried off the trophy in the Bolero dance-off.

The first half of the show was the bit where the audience helped with the judging, having the chance to text their favourite after watching and hearing what the judges had to say. The panel comprised former Olympians Karen Barber and Nicky Slater, 2007 TV series winner Kyran Bracken, actor Christopher Biggins and Nottingham Post columnist and writer Erik Petersen.

We saw:
Mikey Graham – with professional dancer Melanie Lambert;
Gaynor Faye – with professional dancer Matt Evers;
Chris Fountain – with professional dancer Brianne Delacourt;
Ray Quinn – with professional dancer Alexandra Schauman;
Hayley Tamaddon – with professional dancer Dan Whiston;
Emily Atack – with professional dancer Fred Palascak;
Gary Lucy – with professional dancer Maria Filipov;
Clare Buckfield – with professional dancer Lukasz Rozycki.

When Harry Met Sally - Theatre Royal

Two solid performances from the leading actors endeared a packed Theatre Royal audience to them as they recreated this famous film for the stage.

Coronation Street's Rupert Hill (Jamie Baldwin) played opposite Sarah Jayne Dunn, (Mandy from Hollyoaks), as Harry and Sally, who met in New York when she needed her flat decorating - and were then thrown together again five years later, and another year down the line to begin their confusing relationship.

As we know, he's onto a winner with his disputed claim that a man and a woman cannot remain friends without romance getting in the way and we thus explore the possibilities...

Such was Rupert's command of the role that we could feel the women in the audience seething at his attitude and stance but, of course, they were sucked in and fell under his spell, as did Sarah. Despite also coming from soapland, she proved that these are actors of quality by matching her foil on stage.

Alas, there were too few men in the audience to judge her by their reaction, although the audience reaction as a whole was interesting for her most famous scene, spontaneously applauding as one at her, ahem, acting skills.

Compared with the Hollywood blockbuster, the simple set and straightforward scene changes helped focus on the narrative and let our imagination fill in the gaps.

Whether set in the park or the gym the cast truly made us believe, simply because the nature of their story is that we want to believe and identify with their situation.

A small but perfectly formed cast carried the story through to its inevitable conclusion - but we won't spoil the ending in case you get a chance to catch the show before the weekend.

Death of Nottingham's Alan Sillitoe

Nottingham-born author, the novelist Alan Sillitoe has died aged 82.

The writer, who became popular as one of the angry young men of British fiction, is hailed as one of the modern literary greats.

His novels included Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, made into a film starring Tom Courtenay.

I had the honour and pleasure of interviewing Mr Sillitoe for the Nottingham Evening Post in the 1990s.

Contrary to what I had been warned, he was by no means a 'difficult' subject and was, in fact, kind and helpful to me in my quest for a good story as a junior reporter.

The Barron Knights - Palace Theatre, Newark

I thought I could remember The Barron Knights from way back.

Well, the 70s is way back isn’t it, when they hit the charts with A Taste of Aggro and Live in Trouble?

It turns out they’ve been going strong since 1959, and although I knew they’d had some “straight” songs in their repertoire too, I had no idea these 60s covers were the ones that get the crowd going.

Harmony forms a key part of the group’s evening and they used their talents to perfectly recreate the work of the Everly Brothers and Frankie Valli, among many others. Paul McCartney’s Blackbird, for instance, sung a cappella was a moment to savour.

The only remaining founder member is Peter Langford – and he reminded us of his own virtuoso talent, leading the band in The William Tell Overture and performing flamenco on acoustic.

A true cabaret band, you get the feeling that The Barron Knights today wouldn’t be out of place doing summer season. But they have bigger fish to fry, continually touring the world.

Whether the band is still genuinely funny after all these years or whether there’s a certain amount of warm affection, it’s hard to judge on their comedy numbers.

While their 70s hits made me chuckle, there was also new (to me) material, which neatly filled the gaps between the music they say has formed the soundtrack to their lives.

Time out from the singing gave Peter chance to remind us that they previously toured with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. But those days are long gone – magically brought back to life only as long as The Barron Knights continue to tour.

Peter Pan, Northern Ballet Theatre - Theatre Royal

If you’ve never done a ballet before then this is the show for you. Better than panto and a pacy production to entrance children of all ages, it's a world away from what you might be expecting.

It crackles into action from the off with the Darling children going through an animated bedtime routine as Peter Pan’s shadow watches on.

Such is the slick quality of the show that when Peter finally sails in through the open bedroom window, it fits in so well with audience expectation that we simply sit back and marvel. Awe-inspiring too, is the flight scene with all three children and Peter leaving home for Neverland, floating dreamily through the stars.

Northern Ballet Theatre has quite rightly attracted the plaudits for this production, which at two hours just flies by to quicken the pulse.

It is a faithful telling of this famous old story – but without letting dialogue get in the way.

A feisty, jealous Tinkerbell does her best to scupper Wendy’s relationship with Peter, and even sacrifices her own life to save his. A little audience participation brings her back to life, while some Lost Boys, a few pirates, Captain Hook and a crocodile all serve to enrich the mix.

Highlights for us were the early scene where Peter fights with his own shadow, and the seven wonderful dancing mermaids – and although performing in a tight fishtail instead of tights can’t be easy, it didn’t stop the dancers from impressing.

Fantastic scenery helps the audience to really believe, the action switching from the Darling Family home, flying over London, then into the jungle, through the mermaids’ lagoon, the pirate ship and the Lost Children’s cave.

And while the dancers are doing the work on stage, the NBT Orchestra performs impeccably throughout, adding to the magical atmosphere.

The performance we saw featured...

• Peter Pan: David Ward


• Wendy: Pippa Moore


• Hook/Mr Darling: Kenneth Tindall


• Neverbird/Mrs Darling: Hannah Bateman


• Tinkerbell: Michela Paolacci


• Shadow: Thomas Aragones


• John: Sebastian Loe


• Michael: Jeremy Curnier

Disney Live - Trent FM Arena

There's often a feeling that Disney's live shows are a little too saccharine-sweet for the discerning palate.

If the all-pervading scent of candy floss and popcorn that hits you as you walk in the Arena doors takes your mind off the commercial opportunities as you find your seat, you can sit back and enjoy a show that's really rather good.

But when it's £9 (minimum) to have your photo taken and choccy buttons are £2.50 a bag, it's a relief to sit down unscathed.

Fortunately, as soon as it's curtain-up, all this is forgotten, because – quite simply – we are transported into the wonderful world that's Disney.

It IS truly magical when you're six and four, like my two are, and I was pleased to see my favourite, Goofy, was first on stage to tell us about the magical story book that has been discovered in Mickey's house.

Along with Donald, Mickey and Minnie, he introduces the stories of three of our favourite princesses, Snow White, Cinderella and Belle.

And yes, it is something special to see the seven dwarfs doing their "Heigh Ho!" routine, and watch the Queen quiz her magic mirror about who is the fairest of them all…

Incidentally, it was the evil Queen during that brief exchange that got most of the flash-bulbs in the sparse crowd.

A slick all-singing, all-dancing show that your little princesses (and princes) will fall in love with.

Hedda Gabler - Theatre Royal

IT must be something of a daunting prospect for an actor to tackle a 120-year-old classic, and one that's been translated into English at that.

Perhaps more daunted were the audience for the opening night of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, who may not have known exactly what they'd taken on.

Without a doubt, this was a showcase for the talents of Bond girl Rosamund Pike – as the leading lady - and Robert Glenister, who both more than rose to the challenge.

A darkly comic masterpiece, the show is based around several triangular relationships, with knowledge and understanding on all sides serving only to stretch, pull and strain to the inevitable tragic conclusion.

And yet the audience seemed a little nervous to lose themselves into the action.

A couple of mid-act scene changes wrong-footed the usually compliant Nottingham playgoers with a lone round of applause after a very pregnant pause prompting the others to join in. This was coupled with some rather nervous laughter for the lighter comic or ironic lines spun by the cast.

It was nice to see Anna Carteret, still best known for TV's Juliet Bravo, alongside classical and comedy actor Tim McInnerny (RSC and Blackadder), with Zoe Waites (Doctors, The New Adventures of Robin Hood) and Janet Whiteside (The IT Crowd) as accomplished supports.

But it was the elegant, striking Rosamund Pike who made her presence felt on stage. Sweeping majestically in her gorgeous fitted gowns, she was clearly a woman not to be messed with. And rarely do we see a woman so at home with a pair of equally elegant pistols.

Hedda thought she could get everyone eating out of her hand but of course after seemingly engineering such a result, things unravel spectacularly around her.

Enjoy, by Alan Bennett - Theatre Royal

On the face of it, Enjoy is a straightforward tale of a woman continuing to live in her slum-like back-to-back while it is rebuilt into a living museum of the past.

We find the prime mover behind the development is her estranged son, returning home as a daughter, seemingly to protect his child-like parents against a future they are clearly not ready for.

The ageing couple, convincingly played by Alison Steadman (now best known for the Braithwaites and Gavin & Stacey) and David Troughton (latterly of New Tricks fame), found they were happy discussing their lives with an interloper from the council than with each other. This included frank talk about their sex lives, disability, hopes for the future and regrets of the past.

A sudden death is treated with typical Bennett-style down-to-earth humour paving the way for a no-holds-barred sequence on the potential benefits of death – the ensemble ultimately slightly irked that death was misdiagnosed.

Many questions of life and death are tackled, such as how we don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone, whether it to cling to what we know or seek new horizons, why we delude ourselves from an obvious truth, and how we put on airs and graces only for an audience.

The characters had an audience on stage throughout, being shadowed by local authority officials, ostensibly there to observe “real life” before the terraces were bulldozed. This was a useful tool for the author, the two main characters becoming remarkably self-aware – and painfully cognisant of the truth behind the hidden lives of their two grown-up offspring.

First performed in 1980, this play ages beautifully, with the constant refrain that “we’re in the 20th century now you know” reminding us that for those re-homed to the new museum, that’s where they would stay. For ever.

Present Laughter - Theatre Royal

Dating from 1939, this Noel Coward play could have provided something of a challenge for both the audience and cast alike.

It proves to be complex, multi-layered and ultimately rewarding.

Bringing the past to life was effortless for the company and after the scene-setting of the first act the audience lapped up both the increasingly chaotic situation comedy and the in-jokes for the aficionados of Coward’s work. The humour was served up in a range of guises and varied from the subtle through to farce and even a touch of slapstick.

Yet this was also a thought-provoking production, Questions are asked of who we really are; how much of one’s life is a performance and how we perform differently to our various different personal audiences.

Perhaps the leading man, Garry Essendine – played by Cold Feet’s Robert Bathurst – really is the lonely performer, and despite all his trappings of wealth and success is merely “advancing with every sign of reluctance into middle age”.

If that’s the case then so are the ladies playing opposite him, and their intricate web of relationships must see beyond that performance. Dorothea Myer-Bennett (Dead Man Talking) as Daphne Stillington is blinded by his sophistication while would-be mistress Joanna Lyppiatt (played by Emma Davies who you may know as Anna De Souza from Emmerdale) and Essendine’s kind-of-ex-wife Liz (Serena Evans from Pie in the Sky and The Thin Blue Line) both think they know what’s best for him.

Tim Bouverie, in his first professional role, is another Essendine fan sucked into his circle and plays with such conviction you wonder if he’ll stalk the lead even after the curtain falls. And with Belinda Lang (2Point4 Children) on stage and also directing it’s a formidable line-up.

It works. It’s a play of its time which stands the test of time and is well worth a look

Remembering Michael Foot (he came to Nottingham, you know!)

Remembering the politician Michael Foot, two main images come to my mind - from when I was a child growing up in Thatcher's Britain.

Of course, we recall his well-publicised appearance at the Cenotaph in a 'donkey jacket' (pictured right) and the disastrous 1983 General Election loss following his publication of what Gerald Kaufman labelled the longest suicide note in history (the 700-page election manifesto).

But we also remember him remaining true to his beliefs and true to his roots, which is something many of his colleagues of today would do well to copy.

His strong principles and commitment to socialist politics may have cost him his one chance to become prime minister, but he probably died with a clear conscience.

He was also a keen football fan and towards the end of his life I was pleased to see him supporting Plymouth Argyle from beneath a swathe of woollies at Nottingham Forest's City Ground.

Strictly Come Dancing Live! Trent FM Arena

Entertainment was the name of the game for this sequined extravanagza - even if the ladies' costumes were a little daring for a Tuesday night in Hockley.

But the risqué was nicely balanced with some beautiful floaty numbers, and both Austin Healey and Mark Ramprakash also flashed the flesh, maybe in a bid to win the all-important vote!

The feeling you get from seeing Strictly unfold live in front of your eyes is a world away from watching it on the box in the corner of the living room.

It's not just the celebrity element. You can really appreciate the hard work from the amateurs and the precision and skill of the professionals.

Even the judges stepped on to the dance floor, with Bruno and Craig getting up-close and personal with an audience who lapped up their every move. And a welcome return for Arlene got one of the biggest rounds of applause at the start of the show.

The professional dancers shimmied a superb ensemble opening turn to warm up the crowd and this set a near-impossible bar for the competing couples to aim for...

The line-up of energetic celebs also boasted Ricky Groves, Chris Hollins, Ali Bastian, Natalie Cassidy, Zoe Lucker and Kelly Brook.

Among the professionals, the crowd was particularly wowed by Lilia Kopylova, whose red-hot tango set pulses racing.

It was good to see a full house at the Arena so soon after seasonal expenditure - but who'd have wanted to miss out on all this glitz and glamour?

Before the finales of flaming pyrotechnics and fond farewells from our new friends on the dance floor, the winner for the opening night was crowned. Take a bow, Austin Healey.

This tour is back in February, by popular demand, so grab a chance before the penny-pinchers at the BBC pull the plug.