2007
5th and 6th of January are spent filming in the the Bloomsbury flat that belongs to the manager of The Stranglers. Jaqueline Genie is the writer and director who saw me in ACCIDENTAL DEATH last year and the film, which also features Ken Campbell, is called EX. I play a Spanish padre!
I wait and wait for a recall for my dream job - Felix Humble in HUMBLE BOY at The Dukes, Lancaster. WILL I GET THE PART????????.............YES - see the Humble Boy blog.
Easter. I go to the South Coast to enjoy the sun, sea and company of my family. It is Finnley's 1st birthday and he loves his chocolate cake. Lots of presents and cards because it is my Dad's birthday too.Oh, and a bottle of bubbly I have been saving from the run of Humble Boy.
On Wed I have an audition for LAUREL AND HARDY for the New Vic, Stoke. Here we go again!
Thurs 12th April sees a three hour recall with the director Paul Warwick and physical theatre genius John Wright. I manage to smash a pot plant! We play, watch some L&H routines and rip jackets. At 4.09pm, Craig from Scott Marshall rings with an offer which I accept immediately! How many actors can say that they have played Ollie on stage and screen? But who is going to be my Stan...?
Wed 18th - I get a call from Steve Harper to say that he has accepted the part of STAN. Our paths have crossed before, not just at the recall for STAN and I am very happy that he has decided to come on board. We start rehearsals in Stoke on Monday 25th June!
Monday 23rd April at 9pm on ITV1 I appear in DIAMOND GEEZER as "Big" Bob Andrews!
I have completed my first week of rehearsals at the New Vic. My co-star Stephen Harper, director Paul Warwick and MD Julian Litmann and I are having a great time as well as working our socks off. I am singing and dancing like I never thought I ever would be able to!! Next week John Wright joins us for a week which should be great fun. I can only snatch moments here and there to do updates so forgive the sparse nature of the blog.
And now, the party is over!! We had a very successful run and there are rumours that the show will have another life. I had tremendous fun on stage with Steve - some of the adlibs were priceless. The show tested me to the limits but I am proud that I came up with the goods when required. The highs were higher and the lows lower than HUMBLE BOY and once again, I finish a theatre job with no money to show for it but at least I have a very good credit on my CV and can assure myself that I made the people laugh!
Monday 13th August - Craig at SMP comes up trumps with a casting for a guest lead on DOCTORS. I have to go to Elstree for 3pm! I get the part and have a great time filming. It is broadcast in December 2007.
November, December and the first few days of January 2008 are spent in Northampton (or Hampton North as I called it - anyone with rudimentary Cockney Rhyming slang will get the gist!) running around after 101DALMATIANS. Not an experience that I would wish to repeat and I now believe, even more wholeheartedly, in that showbusiness saying - Never work with children and animals!
2008
March sees me train as a tour guide on the Original Sightseeing Tour and I really enjoy it! Being paid to learn the history of London and then entertain a captive audience on an open top bus is more fun than you might think! Especially when you're on MY bus. The same afternoon I am offered the tour guide job AND the part of Pigsy....(see MONKEY BLOG)
SEPT
I am going to be filming some sketches for Omid Djalili's new show on BBC very soon and I am very excited! At last I feel that the people that matter are getting a chance to see what I can do!
25th Sept at Barnet Copthall Stadium filming Handy Andreji and Fantasy Football - Omid ran like a whippet and looked great in his "kit"
29th Near Pinewood with my mate Dave Nellist as "The Geordie Bastard", me as Alan "King of All Darts" and Omid as the missus, Lambrusco. The highlight of an increasingly cold day was Omid going in the pool! The burping farewell was one of the most difficult scenes I have ever had to do without corpsing!
I have an A-MAZ-ING time filming a commercial in Johannesberg for VISA/F.I.F.A 2010 World Cup. See forthcoming blog!
