1976
THE
PRINCE OF DENMARK…Ronnie
Corbett…
Ronnie is the landlord of
the above named pub and
in this episode.
I play one of twelve
Rugby playing drunks that
want to liven up the pub
for a night. We rehearsed
during the week and did
the audience show on the
Saturday night. We all
had words to say and the
show went down well. (I
get to work many more
times with Ronnie Corbett
when I work on The Two
Ronnie’s)…
WHEN
THE BOAT COMES IN…James
Bolam…
Episode Title…
Comrades In Arms…
I’m Cast as the
First Fascist and a good
friend of mine, Steve
Ismay is the second…
Lots of rehearsals at the
North Acton Hilton then a
day at the Centre…
DOCTOR WHO…Tom
Baker…Louise
Jameson…
We filmed my part of the
show at Ealing Studios.
I was booked to play a
man about to kill Leela
but the tables are turned
when Louise Jameson's
boyfriend fires an arrow
into me just as I was
taking aim on Leela. (If
you’ve got to die
it’s better being
shot by a beautiful woman
than drowning in the
Pinewood Fish Pond)…
Now a funny thing
happened during the day.
The scene is set up where
Louise is about to shoot
me and I’m under
supervision from stunt
director,Terry Walsh, on
how to fall once I am
hit. (Here’s the
plot)
I’m dressed in a
small loin cloth and have
to fall onto a sandy type
floor.(which was
sawdust).
We rehearse it without
the fall and it all goes
well…
Now for the
take…BANG…I
imagine I’ve been
shot with the arrow and
fall forward. As I hit
the floor my old chap
(wedding tackle) decides
it wants to leave the
comfort of the loin cloth
and play with the
sawdust.
After a good dusting down
and another take we got
it right.
Louise and I meet up
again on Eastenders…
BEFORE THE
‘’OLD
CHAP’’ WENT
WALK ABOUTS……………..
THE
DICK EMERY SHOW…BBC
TV…
I worked on a few of
these shows and was Cast
in a couple of them.
Dick was a funny man to
work with.
THE
NORMAN WISDOM SHOW…
In about 1953 my Mother
took me and my brothers
and sisters to see Norman
in a film called Trouble
In Store at the local Bug
Hutch in New North Rd.
(That road still holds
many memories).
It was a film about a
little man being put down
but in the end coming up
trumps. Anyway, I’m
about to work with the
man.
An agent sends me to
Watford main line station
at 11am to play a crook.
I have to meet up with
another actor and wait
for the crew to arrive.
Now I’m dressed as a
smart crook and I’m
in the waiting room at
Watford Station and the
locals are giving me the
beady eye…
After about five minutes
another smartly dressed
crook arrives and the
locals must think the
heavy mob are about to
take over. (We soon have
the waiting room to
ourselves)...
Don Henderson introduces
himself and it seems we
have many friends in
common.
Mike Pratt, Dudley
Sutton, Tom Baker etc.
After about half an hour
of chatting we get a
message that the crew are
running late at the other
location and will not be
here till about three
thirty.
‘’Fancy a swift
half’’ I
enquire to Don. "I
could fancy a swift pint
more" He replies.
After three hours in the
pub next door to the
station we wend our way
back to the waiting room
just as the crew are
turning up...
‘’Sorry to have
kept you waiting so long,
hope you haven’t
been too
bored’’ said a
crew member.
I’m trying to get
the gob and the brain to
work as one…
"We’re fine,
we’ve been looking
at a few sights"
(from the bottom of a
glass).
The Director tells us
that we are going to
chase Norman, catch him
and beat him up…(No
problem).
Now no one told us that
Norman is the fittest man
for his age that I had
ever seen. We could not
catch him and I was
coming second.
Norman was told to slow
down his running so that
the big bad bullies could
beat him up.
(There’s got to be
another story here
somewhere).
We worked quite late but
managed to finish the
shoot…
Don Henderson went on to
greater parts. Thank you
Sir Norman Wisdom…
DON, SIR NORMAN
AND AITCH AT WATFORD
I always list the
commercials I do
throughout the year at
the end of the year and
besides the beer and
other commercials the
next one stands out in my
mind. It was for American
fries or crisps or
something like that, but
someone Took a
photo…
GET OFF YOUR
HORSE AND DRINK YOUR MILK
NEXT
- 1977
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