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...