EASTENDERS...
Someone sent me these
pictures from EastEnders
that I did in 1990. I was
there to play a
Gorillagram to Kathy
Beale as a suprise set up
by Phil and Grant on
Kathys 40th Birthday....
They rang the door bell
and Kathy came out...And
I said...... ''Now
you've reached the age of
forty, doesn't mean you
can't be naughty''
SHELLEY…THAMES
TV…
Cast Inc…Hywel
Bennett…
Cast as a betting shop
punter and recorded
before an audience.
I only had a couple of
lines to say and was
alright during the
rehearsals but on the
take when it came to my
bit I forgot the lines
and my mouth opened and I
said "Oh f**k
it". I got a huge
round of applause from
the audience and got it
right on the second take.
(You can’t win them
all)
NIGHTBREED…
PINEWOOD…
Got called down to
Pinewood studios for a
day from a 1st A.D. who
said he wanted me to do
some business..
Wardrobe dress me as a
lumberjack type person
and I go onto the set..
All I’ve got to do
is fire a shotgun at a
very small man (stuntman)
who is dressed and made
up as the Devil. (This is
a horror film) (Easy so
far!)
I fire the gun into some
bushes but miss the
target. The director
tells me to go forward
and find the little
devil.
All of a sudden this
little man (stuntman) has
me around the neck and
slings me over his
shoulder and onto the
floor..
(I’ll have a quick
word with the 1st A.D. as
soon as I get my wind
back)..
1st A.D.: "Sorry
Aitch, I didn’t know
he was going to do that,
the director said he was
only going to get you on
the floor so he can slit
your throat" (Nice,
and me with my first
grandson (Marc) only a
few weeks old).
I said to him "You
can’t go slinging
granddads about it
ain’t right"..
1st: "We’re
paying £150 for the
job". "Sling
away".. I tell
him..."but
don’t cut my throat
too deep I wanna have a
swift half at
lunchtime"…(I’m
back)
I’m off down to
Bognor Regis for a day to
play a disgruntled café
owner who has some strong
words to say to a punter
that takes hours to drink
one cup of coffee..
1991 is the worst year
for me and things are
getting hard.
Keith sent
me a script where I was
to play an angry father
whose son had been nicked
for stealing a pint of
milk.
There was quite a bit of
dialogue with a young
P.C. as we moved from
room to room in the
police station..
(Now I’ve done
enough films and TV to
know as you move from one
room to another you pick
the shot up on a new
angle)
This time Keith wants to
get it all in one shot so
out comes the
"Steady Cam"
(Steady Cam…this
enables the camera
operator to walk with the
camera wherever the
actors walk and the
camera is always steady).
Now it’s quite hard
for me to do all the
moves and the dialogue as
I’ve always said
I’m a Supporting
Artist that can do some
lines.
We rehearse a couple of
times then we go for a
take and it all goes well
until I get to the line
near the end of the piece
that goes "My
son’s not a
thief" but I
actually say "My
son’s not the
filth" (It
doesn’t go down too
well in a police station)
After another take
it’s in the can.
Thanks Keith…
CASUALTY…Director
Mike
Brayshaw…BBCTV…
Mike has got me down to
Bristol to do some public
liaison work.
I take Gypsy Dave and
Jerry Judge for a week of
night shooting.
In this episode there are
riots going on and we
have a couple of hundred
mixed kids off the
streets to help us create
the riots..
I’ve done a few of
these by now and what I
found out was you get the
biggest rioter from the
crowd and get him to help
you control his mates. He
gets a bit extra in his
pay packet and for that
week we had no bad
trouble.
I caught one kid sniffing
a bag of glue but he got
sent home.
It was very hard work and
I could not have done it
without the help of Gypsy
Dave Cooper and Jerry
Judge.
Dave now lives in
Thailand and Jerry has
his own security firm and
does public liaison work
for all the top stars..
(Well done boys)..
GOODNIGHT
SWEETHEART…Director
Robin Nash…Producer
John Bartlett…
Cast Inc…Nicholas
Lyndhurst…
Got a call from Chris
D’oyly John (Now
location Manager) to help
him out for a week down
in the East End of London
doing some public liaison
work on this production.
I got on well with both
cast and crew and the
week soon passed with
only the occasional
altercation from a couple
of drunks..
As lorries and cars were
passing by they would see
Nicholas and shout out,
"Rodders you
plonker!" they
thought we were doing
Fools And Horses.
1993 and
the shop is in dire
straights and the only
thing to do is to walk
away from it…
I have tax bills, VAT
bills and a million other
bills to settle.
The only thing for it is
to move out of my beloved
Islington and to find a
cheaper house out in the
sticks near my daughter
and grandson Marc…
(We have had to move
again since).
I paid all my bills but
had to pay the lease on
the shop for another
year.
So I’m fifty three
years old and flat
broke.. I have only
myself to blame..
It was becoming a bad
time to own a video shop
with corner shops putting
in stands for video hire
and libraries hiring out
videos and then there was
the Sky Channels opening
up I was working in the
film game to pay the rent
on the shop..
People who I’d known
in the film game for
nearly thirty years were
older and they too found
it hard to get work.
What else could I do.. My
last "Proper"
job was in a timber yard
in the '60s and I was a
bit old to carry sheets
of block board around all
day..
I signed on the sausage
roll (dole) for a while
till I could get my head
together.
We weren’t starving
but the swift half’s
had to stop and I’d
be on the phone all day
looking for any film
work..
Things can
only get better. (gulp)
I do a few episodes of
EastEnders which helps..
THE
KNOCK…Director
Keith
Washington…LWT…
Keith has cast me in a
good role as Henry
Mitchell for a few
episodes and I am the
landlord of a local East
End pub.. (Dodgy person)
I have quite a bit to do
which I manage but on the
last day of shooting I
have so much pressure
from my problems at home
and the money from the
lease of the shop that I
can’t play my part
in The Knock the way I
would have liked to have
done.
We did finish all my
scenes and when I saw it
on TV it looked ok.
This was all down to
Keith Washington who
edited it in a way that
he got the best out of
it. I thank you Keith and
I’m sorry if I let
you down.
I
managed to get another
couple of jobs in 94 but
the writing was on the
wall.
Odd days on EastEnders
and a Crimewatch
weren’t going to
keep me.
I started writing and
came up with a couple of
good scripts. (I thought)
I found out that
it’s not the writing
of the scripts
that’s the hardest
it’s the selling. I
invested in a word
processor and would sit
for hours/days/months in
front of it churning out
the written word..
I sent them off to film
and TV companies and had
a lot of very good
replies,
(Good replies don’t
pay the rent)
I have kept all of the
replies on file and hope
one day I can tell these
people that my ideas were
good..
House wise I’m
forced to move again to a
smaller place.
(If it carries on like
this I’ll be looking
for a two bedroom tent)..
