Blue Box Boy – Matthew Waterhouse

I have been a fan of Doctor Who since my childhood in the 1970s. Once I became a teenager, my enthusiasm waned slightly and as Peter Davison took over from Tom Baker. One story made a big impact on me though – Earthshock in 1982. Featuring the Cybermen, it was a big milestone in Doctor Who history, as the young male companion Adric was killed off, the episode’s end credits rolling in silence.

Adric was the boy with the gold star badge, the outfit that resembled pyjamas and the bad haircut. He was in the programme from 1980 to his on-screen demise in 1982. He was played by Matthew Waterhouse, who turned 20 while he was in the show and is now aged 48.

This year, Matthew published Blue Box Boy – A Memoir of Doctor Who in Four Episodes. I first saw Matthew at a convention in Manchester in 1997 and found him incredibly intelligent and a really interesting speaker. But it wasn’t until earlier this year that I finally got to meet him, as he was doing a book signing of Blue Box Boy in Yeovil. He was lovely, very charming with a beautiful voice.

I have read lots of biographies, autobiographies and memoirs over the years, as they are amongst my favourite genres, but having read Blue Box Boy, I can say it is amongst the very best – if not the best book I have read in this category. I loved it!

Unusually, Matthew chooses to write in the third person, but once you get used to this, it just adds to the enjoyment and emphasises Matthew’s style. Matthew wrote this book himself, he did not have a ghost-writer and in fact, he also has a novel published (Fates, Flowers) with more to come soon. His writing is easy to read, fun and candid (without ever being exploitative or too revealing).

Blue Box Boy is beautifully crafted and a fantastic read. While in some ways, it doesn’t follow the usual autobiographical pattern of detailing the author’s birth, parents, childhood and so on, these bits of information are there, but they come through in various memories rather than a factual and chronological progression.

In some ways, this means we don’t get to find out everything we may want to know, but this – along with the third person narration – is probably used by Matthew both to guard his privacy and to protect his emotions. He briefly touches on the loss of two of his brothers and despite the third person providing a distance, this is still incredibly moving, but never over-sentimental. You know he is hurting, but you don’t have to be told about it in great detail. This affords him a level of dignity which some writers of autobiographies fail to maintain.

He is happier discussing his time in Doctor Who and understands most of his readers will be especially fascinated in discovering his views on this period. He goes into a good amount of detail on each story he worked on, peppering the text with anecdotes about co-stars and guest actors, which are always interesting.

His honesty comes through again here and he is not afraid to criticise those he worked with, though this is never malicious. While the tabloid press recently tried to make a story out of his comments about Tom Baker having a drink problem and a tendency to argumentativeness, this really is a non-story. Anyone who has read Tom’s own autobiography (Who on Earth is Tom Baker?) or heard him speak will know this; it is not a great secret, but something Tom laughs about himself.

Matthew is not afraid to be self-critical either and happily mocks his naïveté and youth in a way which is truthful but endearing. You can’t help but think he’s a complete sweetheart and there were many times while reading this, when I wished Matthew was in the same room, so I could give him a hug!

For many years, Doctor Who fandom found Adric a figure of fun to joke about and due to this, Matthew himself seemed to also come in for unfair criticism. There were even anecdotes about his apparent arrogance – how he tried to teach veteran film star Richard Todd to act, for example. This is explained in Blue Box Boy and is untrue, of course.

He writes about discovering Doctor Who as a child and how he used to collect the Target novelisations. He explains how he got into acting and his first television role alongside the young Nicholas Lyndhurst. Alongside the filming of Doctor Who, he writes about attending conventions during his time on the series and afterwards, then about his life since and moving to the USA.

I found I had quite a lot in common with Matthew. Besides Doctor Who (He was a fan before landing the role as a companion.), we both love Hammer horror films and British sci-fi like Sapphire and Steel. I even found more of my loves amongst the text – Carry On films, Blake’s 7, Space: 1999 and The Tomorrow People. It was a very good nostalgia trip.

Blue Box Boy took Matthew a year to write and you can see why. At 423 pages, it has a lot of content but you still finish it wishing there was more – which has to be a good sign! I found it a fascinating read, revealing, witty, clever and hugely enjoyable. Matthew comes across very well and it is easy to hear his voice in the words. The only slight criticism I have of the book is that there isn’t a section of photographs that you usually get with this kind of book – but it’s only a minor niggle.

While Adric is not my favourite Doctor Who companion (That honour goes to Sarah Jane Smith!), Blue Box Boy is my favourite Doctor Who related book so far and I would highly recommend it.


Blue Box Boy is published by Hirst Books and is available from www.hirstbooks.com for £11.99.

The Orphanage - A Haunting Masterpiece...

Wow! This film is amazing! You need to watch it! But, wait. Before you go off to order it, have a quick read of my review to see why it is such an amazing movie...

After recently watching Pan's Labyrinth and loving it, I decided to see more of producer-director Guillermo Del Toro's films. After a recommendation from a good friend of mine, I bought The Orphanage (El Orfanato) on DVD and watched it shortly after it arrived. After finishing watching it, I went online and ordered another three of Del Toro's movies.

I have a favourite producer-director at last! I'm not sure I've ever had one before, except maybe Steven Spielberg in the 1980s. Guillermo Del Toro's films really seem to speak to me. I love their fantasy quality, the surreal fairytale feel to them and the way life and death, reality and make-believe don't always have the definitive edges you expect them to.

The Orphanage is more realistic than Pan's Labyrinth and has no mythical monsters in it, but again, it captivates, charms and compels. I felt I was completely enveloped by the story and felt annoyed when my husband came home from work to break the atmosphere!

The story begins with scenes from an orphanage and children playing in the grounds of the big house. It then forwards to the present day and we meet Laura (Belen Rueda) who used to be an orphan in this very house, but is now an adult, happily married to Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and mother to a young boy, Simon (Roger Princep). It is Laura's dream to re-open the house for a small group of disabled children.

Simon is an unusual little boy who enjoys spending time playing with his imaginary friends. When he goes missing one day, Laura begins to wonder if these imaginary friends are somehow involved in his disappearance...

Hopefully this has whetted your appetite, but hasn't given away too much. It is essentially a ghost story, I suppose, but has elements of several genres in there, including drama and thriller. I wouldn't class it as a horror movie, as it is more spooky and chilling than horrific and frightening. There is very little gore, just one slightly gruesome scene, but it is the kind of film that wraps itself around you and seeps into your mind.

I found the boy with the sack mask quite a disturbing sight, but I dislike scarecrows and find them rather scary and I think that is what it reminded me of. But this is one of those clever films that create a mood, a tension, with beautiful cinematography - misty corridors, shadowy figures, a glimpse of something in the corner, a silent and invisible threat. I do wish more modern films would realise this and not think two hours of guts being dragged across the screen makes a scary movie! (Stand up, 2010's The Wolfman!)

Most of the action takes place in the house itself, which gives a claustrophobic feel to it all. The house is situated near to the sea and caves, which are both beautiful and threatening and these locations are well used too.

The acting is wonderful throughout with not a bad performance in sight. Belen Rueda is completely convincing and as a mother myself, I could really understand the pain she was going through. Restrained and never over the top, she portrayed the stress and worry beautifully, with grief and time etching lines into her face until it seems unable to ever smile again.

Roger Princep was nine years old when he played Simon and again, his portrayal is perfect. He retains an innocence and vulnerability of a child his age, while somehow adding that extra layer, which makes us watching it really question the existence of his imaginary friends. He also achieves that difficult balance child actors face by being cute, but not sickly sweet.

Another performance worthy of note is American actress Geraldine Chaplin, who plays Aurora, the medium Laura calls in, to see if she can shed any light on the whereabouts of the missing Simon. This is one of the tensest sequences in The Orphanage and Chaplin is both unnerving and reassuring as Aurora.

The film is beautiful. It is visually a treat, but also draws you in with the intriguing story and excellent acting. It is painfully sad at times and incredibly moving, but the adjective I would choose to use for the film as a whole is 'haunting'. I have a feeling this will stay in my mind for a long time.

The ending was really well done too. This genre of movies can so easily be ruined by an ending that seems too idealistic or twee, but The Orphanage hits just the right note. In a similar way to Pan's Labyrinth, it is open to interpretation, but I was satisfied with the way it ended.

As I haven't yet mentioned it, this is a Spanish film with English subtitles and I know that can put some people off, but don't let it. It only took a few minutes before I was so into the story, I hardly noticed I was reading subtitles. It certainly didn't detract from the experience at all.

I can't wait to watch more of Del Toro's films. He's a genius.
The Orphanage is outstanding. Watch it. Remember it.

Favourite Childhood Toys

Being born in 1969, I enjoyed a 1970s childhood and my teenage years in the 1980s. I was an only child throughout these years. In fact, it was only in 2000 that my half-sister from my Dad’s second marriage was born – a month before my 31st birthday!

Being an only child was a bit of a mixed blessing. I was lucky to have my own bedroom and many of the toys I wanted, as both my parents worked, and we had regular holidays, both abroad and within the UK. I was able to take a friend with me on several family trips, which I enjoyed as well.

But I was occasionally lonely and wished I had a sister (usually) to share my troubles and happiness with. (I believe this is why I always wanted a big family myself and am now mum to four children.) I did have dogs though (Lee-Lee in the 1970s, Lady Olga from 1982 to 1990 – both Cavalier King Charles Spaniels) and these fulfilled a bit of that confidant role.

I credit my status as being an only child with many positive characteristics though, including some which I still appreciate today. I have no problems occupying myself and I am perfectly happy in my own company. As a child, I spent many happy hours reading books and writing (stories, poems, lists, diaries, letters and so on) and these remain two of my favourite hobbies.


So my top toys – in no particular order – would be…


BOOKS

I read many books and collected around eighty Enid Blyton ones. I especially loved the Malory Towers series and read them over and over again. Other favourites included Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (I had the whole set of Narnia books, but only really enjoyed the first one.) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

I inherited my love of Doctor Who from my Dad, who would read me the Target novelisations until I was old enough to read them myself. At the time, the role was played on TV by the great Tom Baker and I was unaware of the earliest incarnations, so as far as I was concerned, all the novelisations starred Tom Baker in my mind. It was only later that I discovered William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton existed!


COMICS AND MAGAZINES

I used to get various comics (and later on magazines) throughout my childhood and teenage years. It would be an exciting trip to our local newsagents to pick up all our orders. Dad would get The Stage and World’s Fair, while I would get a gymnastics magazine and some comics.

I remember getting quite a few over the years – Twinkle, Bunty, Tammy, Misty, Jinty, Penny – where I loved following the comic strip stories and seeing what would happen each week. (Being an only child also meant these were treated well and I later sold all the issues of Misty on eBay, some for up to £7 each!)

Girl was the first of a new kind of magazine I got, aimed at young teens and sporting glossier pages and a colour cover of a smiling child model. I enjoyed the gymnastics column they had in it too, written by Suzanne Dando and the free gifts were a welcome extra too.

As I got older, I remember getting Jackie and Blue Jeans where photo stories amused me and I learnt a lot from problem pages, beauty tips and plastered my walls with Debbie Harry posters. Look-In was another good one for posters of Charlie’s Angels, the Famous Five and other TV series I loved.


LEGO

I spent many hours playing with Lego and it lasted so well, that we still have some of these bricks in our household! As well as the basic bricks in different colours, I had some of those green bases, which I inevitably built houses on. I had other bricks for ‘CINEMA’ and ‘KIOSK’ and ‘GARAGE’ but I always went back to the houses. Sometimes these would last a while, displayed on my desk until I got bored of them.


OUTDOOR TOYS AND ACTIVITIES

I spent many hours outdoors too, amusing myself. When we lived in Lincoln in the 1970s, I had a swing in the back garden and used to spend ages on it, swinging and singing, lost in my own little world.

In the 1980s, we moved to a village seven miles out of Lincoln and had a bigger garden, along with a safer area to grow up in. I would skip, play ball games, play hopscotch and go off cycling alone or with my Dad.

I loved gymnastics from the age of eight and would practice it most days. I eventually bought my own floor beam, which was kept in the garage. I would take it into the garden, put it on the concrete patio and endlessly repeat routines and new movements, trying to copy what I had seen the top Soviet and Romanian gymnasts do on the telly.


EARLY COMPUTER TYPE TOYS

In the 1970s, we had the game of Pong on the big TV set in my parents’ bedroom. It was the height of technology at the time! For those not old enough to remember, it was like a table tennis or tennis game where you had two bats and a ball, which you hit between each other to win points. I don’t remember much else about it, except you could increase the speed to change the level of difficulty and I had great fun playing it!

In the 1980s, our school’s computer room consisted of huge BBC Micros on which I usually did “goto” programs to write “I love gymnastics” on the screen. A few geeky lads in our year had ZX Spectrums, but I persuaded my parents to buy me an Oric 48K. I think the most impressive thing I did on it was create a program where the names of the 1984 Romanian Olympic gymnastics team popped onto the screen, accompanied by a variety of sound effects!


ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

I loved TV in the 1970s and 1980s and was lucky to have my own portable TV set in my bedroom sometime in my teenage years. My parents bought a Betamax video recorder in 1980 and I would record any gymnastics that was shown on TV and rewatched them countless times afterwards.

Dad would tape Carry On films, James Bond, disaster movies (The Poseidon Adventure, Towering Inferno, etc.), St. Trinian’s and Ealing comedies and I would watch this over and over too. I also loved musicals and regularly taped these. Some of my childhood favourites were Calamity Jane, The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz. When I was around ten or eleven, I listed my favourite actresses as Doris Day and Betty Grable!

I also used to listen to cassette tapes a lot and taped the Charts once a week too. Rather a primitive method, I remember literally holding a microphone to the radio speakers and experienced many an annoyed moment when I was taping, only for Mum to come in and ask me something, ruining that particular song!

The first record I bought was Geno by Dexy’s Midnight Runners, followed fairly swiftly by Eighth Day by Hazel O’Connor, Babooshka by Kate Bush and Too Much Too Young by The Specials. Abba and Blondie were big favourites of mine too – and still are.


SINGING AND DANCING

Following on logically from that, I also spent a lot of my childhood singing and dancing to pop music. I remember my friend Anita used to come round to my house and we would sing such songs as Nicole’s A Little Peace (winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982) and I Know Him So Well by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige.

Being a gymnast, I also listened to a lot of instrumental and classical music, making up floor routines to them and tumbling across our living room. I would also dance and do gymnastics to modern music, especially things like Irene Cara’s Fame and Toto Coelo’s I Eat Cannibals.

No wonder I never had any weight problems as a kid. I was always on the go!


GAMES

Playing games was a big family past-time. We had a static caravan on a site in Ingoldmells on the Lincolnshire Coast and we would go there most weekends. We played cards there and a variety of board games, with Chinese Checkers being a big favourite of ours. I also played chess with my Dad on a little travel set we had.

We had lots of big family gatherings over Christmas and New Year, taking it in turns to host parties which included my grandmothers, uncles, aunts and cousins. We would play cards at my Gran’s house, Colditz at my Auntie Christine’s, Scrabble at my Nanna’s and Monopoly at our house. Trivial Pursuit came a bit later, Sorry! And Ludo were good games and we could always fall back on Charades if need be.

I played games on my own too – Solitaire, Round The Clock patience and Frustration (where you had to fit all the shapes in the right holes against the clock or they all popped out!). I had a Rubik’s Cube in the 1980s, of course, which was a huge craze, though I never did any better than finishing two sides.


SINDY DOLLS

Besides from books, my big favourite childhood toy was my collection of Sindy dolls. I received my first one for being brave at the dentists – Ballerina Sindy – and following that, every Christmas and birthday would include a new doll. I always gave my Sindy dolls named which began with S. I seem to recall a Stella, Svetlana, Sally, Susannah, Sherakee, Sharron and Simona.

I ended up with quite an impressive operation going on. I made a set of gymnastics equipment in woodwork classes at school and my Gran made leotards for my dolls. I soon had a regular set of competitions going on with judges, scoreboards and medals. I must have spent hundreds of days of my life doing these gymnastics competitions with my dolls and I loved it all. What a lovely, quiet daughter I was!!


OTHER DOLLS

I had other dolls in my collection too, including a couple of Mary Quant’s Daisy dolls (called Daisy and Dasha), a Princess Leia doll, Bionic Woman, Doctor Who (Tom Baker), Charlie’s Angels and Matchbox dolls (Tia, Britt and Dee). I also had a few Barbies once they became popular and (of course!) these all had names beginning with B – Barbie, Babette and Boriana!

As an adult, I began collecting Charlie’s Angels dolls and have about eight different ones now, I think. I loved Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, they were big childhood idols of mine (Girl power!) and the wonders of eBay have made all these childhood toys accessible again.


TOYS I NEVER HAD

Finally, a section of toys I never managed to own, despite regularly asking my parents for them at Christmas and birthdays. I don’t know why I never had them, but the fact I still remember them must mean something!

I really loved Weebles (Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down!) which were kind of egg-shaped plastic figures. I think they had slides and houses and things they fit in, but it’s all a tad hazy these days. I craved them, but it was not to be.

Similarly, Shaker Makers. This was probably because they could be quite messy, as you put lots of liquidy things into a pot with a mould, shook it all up, left it to set and then I guess you painted it afterwards. They were various themes like cartoon characters. I see these made a brief resurgence a while ago (I was tempted to buy myself one!), but their popularity didn’t seem to rise too much. They were a huge hit in the 1970s.

Finally, the Game of Life. My friend Anita had this and when I went to her house, we played it quite a lot. She had a brother and two sisters (The same amount of kids and genders as my own children!), so there were always plenty of people around to play games with. At my house, it was just the three of us, which was no good if you needed four players!


So, there you have it, a trip through the toys and games of my childhood and teenage years. Admittedly a rather lingering trip, but hopefully one that may have rekindled some of your memories too and I look forward to hearing about them in the comments.

Meeting Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is 43 years old, an American author with seventeen published novels. She is married to Tim and they have three children. They live in Hanover, New Hampshire in the United States.

I first read a Jodi Picoult novel two years ago. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed three of her novels so far – Nineteen Minutes, Perfect Match and Plain Truth - with a couple more of hers on my shelves, waiting to be read. She is definitely up there in my list of favourite authors.

I like how she tackles difficult subjects – euthanasia, child abuse, date rape and so on. She does not shy away from controversy, but faces it head on, encouraging the reader to examine their own beliefs, values and responses to such dilemmas. How would we cope? What would we do?

Her characters are wonderfully written and very believable, so you can always find someone to empathise with in the story. The relationships feel true too – husband and wife, parent and child, ex-lovers are all described in a way which makes you feel you know and understand the characters and their motivations.

I looked on her website a few weeks ago and discovered that not only was she coming to the UK (She’s American), but she was even going to be doing a talk in my hometown of Bristol. So I got tickets for my 17-year-old daughter (also a fan of her books) and myself. They were £12 each and for that, you were allowed entrance into Jodi Picoult’s talk, her Question and Answer session, plus you were given a free copy of her new hardback title House Rules, which she would sign afterwards. Bargain!

I was even more pleased to discover House Rules concentrates on a teenage boy with Aspergers’ Syndrome, as my 14-year-old daughter has Aspergers’ as well. One of the most surprising things about Jodi’s talk was when she asked for a show of hands in the audience as who knew someone with Aspergers’ and at least half the audience did!

Jodi read out an extract from the book and it was great, I could really see the characters and got into the plot very quickly. I was certainly left wanting to read the book myself to find out what happens.

Jodi was very entertaining and the time passed by too quickly, as I was left wanting to hear more from her. She used to be an English teacher and said she couldn’t resist a quick burst of Shakespeare, as she was standing on the stage of the historic Bristol Old Vic!

A fascinating, intelligent and inspirational woman, I was especially interested to hear her talk about how she structures her working day around her responsibilities as a mother. She explained she keeps her work and home life quite separate and leaves behind her characters and their emotions when she leaves her office and comes downstairs to her life as a wife and mother.

She commanded more admiration from the audience when she detailed the research she has done for her novels, which includes spending time talking to prisoners on Death Row and visiting a remote Eskimo village in temperatures I just can’t contemplate existing! I was also pleased she had consulted many teenagers with Aspergers’ Syndrome in researching House Rules and that she was very happy to change things, if the kids believed it sounded wrong.

She also talked about her novel which will be coming out in 2011 – Sing You Home – which deals with gay rights in the US, the opposition from the right wing religious groups over there and who owns the rights to embryos. It sounded another great read and I was very impressed with Jodi’s passion, as she explained the time she spent amongst a group of right-wing religious fundamentalists who try to ‘cure’ gay people. She said it was difficult for her in this case to understand their motivations, but felt she had to, so she could present a balanced view of the argument.

Sing Me Home will also be a different kind of novel, as it will come with a CD of songs that tie in with the story and Jodi explained that when she tours next year, she will be accompanied by a singer. This will be another talk I hope to go to.

After the talk and Question and Answer session, we then queued up onto the next floor of the building and waited to get our books signed. This was efficient, well organised and moved quicker than I had expected. We only had a brief moment with Jodi herself, but we got our books signed to us and had a quick photo taken with her, so I was pleased.

Overall, meeting Jodi Picoult and listening to her talk on stage has certainly made me more enthusiastic about her and her work. I loved her writing style anyway and feel she offers something a bit different to other authors, but now I have become even more of a loyal fan and I would urge everyone to try at least one of her books.

My favourite of hers so far is Nineteen Minutes, which is about a teenage boy who shoots some people in his local school. However, House Rules sounds wonderful, so I am looking forward to starting that today.


Don’t forget to check out her website which is www.jodipicoult.com

FAN FEST - My Review

FAN FEST – London, April 24th-25th, 2010

Fan Fest was a James Bond based convention, held at the National Film Museum in London over two days.

The celebs present were Alkis Kritikos, Andreas Wisniewski, Bettine LeBeau, Bill Pearson, Blanche Ravalec, Bob Keen, Brian Johnson, Britt Ekland, Burt Kwouk, Carole Ashby, Caroline Bliss, Caroline Munro, Caron Gardner, Christopher Muncke, Deborah Moore, Edward De Souza, Eunice Gayson, George Lazenby, Harry Myers, Helene Hunt, Honor Blackman, Jack Klaff, Jenny Hanley, Jeremy Bulloch, Jesper Christensen, John Wyman, Ken Wallis, Lewis Gilbert, Madeline Smith, Maryam D’Abo, Martine Beswick, Maud Adams, The Meyer Twins, Ray Harryhausen, Richard Kiel, Richard LeParmentier, Sir Roger Moore, Sebastian Foucan, Shane Rimmer, Shirley Eaton, Stephen Lang, Steve Begg, Sylvana Henriques, Tania Mallet, Terry English and Valerie Leon.


SATURDAY

When we arrived at Fan Fest, we had a look round first of all. There were two signing rooms with tables around the sides, where the celebs sat, with their photos to sell.

My main interests in coming to Fan Fest were to meet Margaret Nolan (who I love from the Carry On films) and Madeline Smith – both of whom I have never managed to get an autograph from. I also wanted to meet Valerie Leon (another Carry On beauty) and Albert Moses (from Mind Your Language and many other roles). I have autographs from these two already, but hadn’t met them.

Sadly, I was disappointed to discover that Margaret Nolan and Albert Moses were unable to attend. In fact, Margaret had injured her back so badly, she had been in hospital a week!

My other favourite Madeline Smith was our first port of call and we were her first customer of the day. As her steward wasn’t there yet, she had to give us the change from a £20 from her own purse! Almost all the celebs were charging £15 for one 10x8 signed photo and this usually included being able to get a photo of yourself with the celeb too. (George Lazenby and Richard Kiel were charging £20.)

Madeline was lovely; she has a great personality and a wonderful strength about her. When I asked if I could pose for a photo with her, she crawled under the table to stand alongside me, commenting that she was “still quite spry” and she certainly is! While admittedly not looking exactly how she did in her prime, she has aged well and is naturally pretty.

I asked if she had received the letter I sent her last year and she said she hadn’t had any fan mail for about a year. She was angry not to have got it and asked which address I had used. The inference was certainly that if she’d received it, she would have replied.

So I got a 10x8 signed by her, had two photos taken with her and found her a real delight – warm, friendly, candid and definitely someone I would love to meet again.



After that, I decided to meet Britt Ekland, who was on the opposite side of the same room. There were hardly any queues for the signings all weekend (though Honor Blackman, George Lazenby, Richard Kiel and Valerie Leon seemed particularly popular), so we had quite a bit of time with everyone and never felt rushed.

I took some time choosing which photo of Britt I wanted to buy and she was suggesting I might like the ones of her with Roger Moore, as he was there that weekend too. I knew Roger wasn’t signing though, so chose a 10x8 b/w photo of her and she signed it to me, asking how to spell ‘Karen’ and when I told her, she commented it was the Swedish spelling.

She happily posed for a photo with me too and was friendly enough, but I felt she was a bit more pushy than the others with selling her photos and I felt she wasn’t as warm or genuine as many of the other girls. Still, she was nice enough.

She was the only actress there that had really obvious cosmetic surgery done though and I felt that detracted from her natural looks a bit.



After Britt, we went over to meet Jenny Hanley. I told her I knew Francoise Pascal through Facebook and we talked about that a bit and she said for me to send Francoise her love. She said she didn’t understand Facebook, Twitter and the like and checked I wouldn’t be putting her photo up on there, which I said was fine. Apparently, she’d been at a party recently and someone had put her photo up on Facebook and she wasn’t happy with it.

We talked about her photos and I picked one from Scars of Dracula. I told her I loved the film and that I had mentioned how good it was (and Jenny) on my Facebook status, which was how Francoise and I had come to talk about her.

I also said I loved her presenting Magpie during my childhood. At this point, we were standing together for a photo and I commented how tall she is. (Almost all the girls were way taller than me, except little Blanche Ravalec!) She said in Magpie, this was an issue as Mick Robertson was very tall too, but Douglas Rae was small.

She was very nice, chatty, friendly and I liked her. I got the impression she didn’t suffer fools gladly and would tell you if she didn’t like something, but she came across very well and someone else I’d like to see again.

Well, after spending £45 in the first twenty minutes or something, we decided to go and listen to some of the Question and Answer sessions – especially as these were included in the ticket price! They were held in the impressive Debating Chamber, where the Greater London Council had held meetings up to 1990 or so. Huge ceilings, big high-backed chairs - and bad lighting to take photos!

We first saw Bill Pearson’s Q&A. He works in visual effects and had a hand in many films and TV series, including Alien vs. Predator, Thunderbirds, Moon, Demons, Alien, Red Dwarf and Die Another Day.

He was charming, honest and interesting. He had a show reel of some of the props and effects he had been involved in and did a commentary over it, which was fascinating. He was openly critical of some of the projects he had been involved in, but obviously proud of his achievements too and he was great to listen to, with a wonderful Scottish accent and witty sense of humour.

After this, it was the Q&A with Britt Ekland and Maud Adams. This was interesting and they said they had a bond (pun intended!) with each other, both being Swedish. They came across well and discussed working together on The Man with the Golden Gun amongst other things.

After this, there were three Q&As we weren’t interested in (Harry Myers, Steve Begg, Terry English) so we went back to the signing rooms and met Valerie Leon. She had a special deal on her photos (one for £15, two for £20 or if you spent £30, you got three 10x8 signed photos and a signed photo book), so we chose the £30 deal and she warmly signed them for me, each with different inscriptions.

I talked to her about being a fan of the Carry Ons and the Hammer films and how I had recently bought The Hammer Collection and seen Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb. I told her I hoped to see her one-woman show sometime and she asked where we were from, so I said Bristol. She said she was going to be doing her show at the Jermyn Street theatre in London on November 7th and I said I would try to get to see it. She said details would be up on her website – www.valerieleon.com – and she said to keep an eye on it for more info about the show.

She happily posed for a photo with me and is another tall lady and naturally beautiful. She is glamorous and obviously takes care to dress well, to do her hair and make up carefully and really makes the best of herself. I had thought she might be slightly intimidating, but she wasn’t at all. She was lovely and I hope to meet her again in November.



We went back to the Debating Chamber just in time to catch the end of Terry English’s Q&A. (He creates film armour.)

Then it was Bob Keen, who immediately endeared himself to me by unveiling a stunning werewolf head, which sat next to him throughout! He is a special effects and make up expert and has worked on many projects. He showed clips from them, including Dog Soldiers (which the werewolf head was from), Hellraiser, Candyman, Event Horizon and the Star Wars films.

He was another fascinating man, witty, endearing and very interesting to listen to. He explained how some of the effects were achieved and talked about the bee effect in Candyman, Pinhead’s ‘birth’ in Hellraiser and other classic horror moments. (Not that I have seen either film!)

This was followed by a Q&A by George Lazenby. What a character! He was frank and self-critical of his younger self, explaining how he was arrogant at the time and happy to bed a string of women, simply because he could! (Leading to the vocal disapproval of his co-star Diana Rigg!)

He explained how he pretty much blagged his way into the film On His Majesty’s Secret Service, despite never having acted before. He was full of interesting anecdotes and his Australian accent was nice too, but there was something about him I disliked a bit. I didn’t like him swearing (which he did quite a lot) and I guess I didn’t “approve of” a lot of the behaviour he talked about doing in his past, but he was fascinating to listen to.

I had planned to meet him, but the £20 put me off a bit and he obviously didn’t charm me, or I would have thought he was worth the extra £5 to meet – yet I didn’t. He is still good looking (and aged 70 too!), although I suspect he might have had some work done there. I wasn’t sure the flat cap was very flattering though.

After this, it was back to the signing rooms and this time, I met Caroline Munro. She is another glamorous lady who dresses beautifully and looks much younger than she is. She was very sweet – gracious, friendly, just lovely in every way.

Once again, I had problems picking which photo to buy and she was saying which films some of them were from. I said I especially loved the Hammer films, but the one of her from that was with her throat dropping with blood, so I didn’t like that one. Instead, I picked one of her which she said was from the Sinbad film.

She asked where we were from and how our journey had been. She posed for a photo with me too and generally, I felt I had “connected” with her and that we got on well. She didn’t seem to be putting up any front, she came across as genuine and warm and another I would try to meet again.



Having pretty much spent up for the day (Hubby gave me a daily limit, very wisely!), we spent the rest of the time in the Debating Chamber. We caught the end of the For Your Eyes Only panel (John Wyman, Alkis Kritikos and Jack Klaff), then it was the Ray Harryhausen Q&A. We had to leave the Debating Chamber and queue for this, as priority was given to the Press and it was very popular, but we got in okay.

I am an admirer of Ray’s work, as I loved the films he made like Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. I loved those skeletons with the swords and shields – and he had one of those models in front of him!

Ray will be 90 in June and the National Film Museum is opening a special exhibition of his work to celebrate this, which was why he was over here and it explained the press interest. He is a fascinating man too, though he had his biographer with him to prompt him when he forgot something.

After he had finished talking, one of the audience went up and asked if he would sign something. The organisers had a quick discussion and announced that as he was tired, he would only sign for five people. I was second in the queue! I only had a lined notebook with me, so he signed that and the steward took a photo of us together. So a wonderful autograph for my collection – and for free too!!



The evening had originally been due to end with an appearance by Sir Christopher Lee, but sadly, he had been unable to make it. Instead, we had Sir Roger Moore (who was there with most of his family) and although he didn’t meet the public, he was an amazing speaker and we really enjoyed this section, which lasted about an hour. He was very funny and witty, charming, engaging and just full of hilarious anecdotes. A wonderful way to end the evening!


SUNDAY

The second day of Fan Fest saw another combination of signings alongside the (free) Question and Answer sessions. By now, we were quite short of money, so I had to make some tough decisions as to who I wanted to meet. With Margaret Nolan and Albert Moses absent, I had a couple of spaces to fill…

Due to a complicated train journey from Wembley to Central London (The whole of Bakerloo line was down!), we got to the London Film Museum a bit late, so we didn’t manage to catch the whole of Honor Blackman’s talk, but what we heard was interesting.

I have enjoyed watching Honor in lots of things over the years and Hubby and I were both interested to hear her say that she comes across hardly anyone who remembers the title of The Upper Hand, so they usually have to describe the set up to her instead!

This Q&A was followed by the Goldfinger panel with Shirley Eaton and Tania Mallet. Both are intelligent, articulate and well-spoken women. I wasn’t very aware of Tania Mallet before this weekend, but have loved Shirley Eaton for years, through her performances in the Carry On films.

Therefore, the most interesting part for me was when Shirley was asked about working with the Carry On team. She said her favourite was Kenneth Connor, that Kenneth Williams was “a scream” and she loved ‘Joanie’ (Sims) as well.

After this, we returned to the signings rooms and met Maud Adams. Though beautiful, tall and agreeable, I found she was slightly cold like Britt Ekland and I didn’t warm to her as much as some of the others. She was pleasant enough though and happy to sign for me, then pose for a photo.



We then met Honor Blackman, who was friendly and happy to talk. She noticed the Hollywood T-shirt I was wearing and asked if it came from Universal Studios. I said it did, but I hadn’t been there, it had been a gift. We also talked about The Upper Hand, telling her that we did actually remember the title! (She realised we were referring to her talk, as she said something like “Oh, you were there then?”)

I chose a photo of her and she commented that it was only taken at Pinewood, yet the sky behind her looks a stunning blue! She signed it and posed for a photo with me, sitting on the table so we could be together for the picture.

She seemed lovely, very gracious and ladylike, though she did seem quite small and frail – though she is looking amazing for her age and still very pretty.



We had intentionally missed the Q&A of Wing Commander Ken Wallis, but returned to the Debating Chamber to see Lewis Gilbert, the director of three James Bond films, plus other excellent movies – Alfie, Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita and Stepping Out amongst others! Wow! Some pedigree.

He is 90 now and did need some help with hearing things, but what a personality and what a life he has led! Fascinating man and very witty too. He came across as pretty sharp for his age and when he said at the end that the saddest thing about ageing was that he “may not ever” do another movie and we both thought it was great that he hadn’t completely ruled it out, despite being 90. We could happily have listened to him for another hour!

He’s just had his autobiography published, but sadly we couldn’t afford to buy it. He did stay to sign copies of it though and amongst those queuing to get his autograph was Blanche Ravalec, who had worked with him in Moonraker. I loved her demeanour when she met him and took some photos of them together. She came across as very sweet, so I decided I would probably try to meet her afterwards, if I had the money left.

I went back to the signing room then and almost literally bumped into Caroline Munro, who was wearing a lovely sparkly green scarf and looked lovely – which I told her. We were chatting (I think she remembered me from Saturday) and I told her that I’d been trying to get Margaret Nolan’s autograph for twenty years, to no avail. I said how I had recently tried writing to her c/o Equity, but the letter had come back ‘Return To Sender’ but I had it with me and had been planning to give it to Margaret personally over the weekend.

Caroline said she thought she knew someone who could help and took me over to a woman called Jane, who was near Caroline and Valerie Leon’s signing tables. As it was, Jane wasn’t sure if she could help, but Valerie said she knew a way to get the letter to Margaret and would be happy to help. She said Margaret was in hospital with her back, so she couldn’t promise I’d get a response, but she would try. I thanked Valerie and gave her the letter, but explained that I didn’t have a stamp on me, but she was fine about that too! How kind of her!

Then I saw Blanche Ravalec and asked her how long she would be signing. (I’d left the money with Hubby, but had noticed quite a few of the celebs had already gone home, including Maryam D’Abo, who I had been planning to meet.) She was very nice, has a beautiful smile and was pleased when I spoke a few words of French to her.

So I went back to Hubby to collect the money, then went back to meet Blanche. We chatted more – including quite a lot in French. Despite feeling my French was rather rusty (I studied it at school for seven years, but haven’t used it much since the late 1980s!), she insisted it was good and asked if I had much opportunity to use it. I said no and explained I had learnt it at school, but it was a long time ago now.

She signed a photo of herself from Moonraker and the steward took two photos of me with her. I commented that it was nice to find another small woman like me (I’m about 5’ 4”) as all the other actresses were very tall. Anyway, she was wonderful, very sweet and pretty and easy to chat to.



It was then back to the Q&As, as I caught the end of the talk with Brian Johnson, who has worked on Alien, Hammer films, Bladerunner, Empire Strikes Back and many more. He was a bit dull though, so I went off for another wander round the museum with my camera.

As I walked past the signing rooms, I saw an American man talking to Shirley Eaton, so I waited round until they had finished talking and I told her I had enjoyed her talk and had admired her work for many years. She seemed very happy and thanked me for waiting to talk to her. I had always thought she would be a little scary in person, but she wasn’t, she was very nice and I hope to meet her for longer sometime.

Then it was the Q&A with Stephen Lang. He arrived early and sat in the back row wearing a flat cap and a few people (maybe five) went up to him to ask for autographs, which he happily gave. I didn’t ask, because I wasn’t sure who he was, but in hindsight, I wish I had done! I haven’t seen Avatar (in which he plays the Marine Chief) but he was over in the UK to promote the DVD release (and subsequently turned up on the BBC Breakfast News and Loose Women on Monday!). I have seen him in Manhunter though and probably several other things over the years.

He’s another interesting bloke, good looking and great to listen to. He has a nice American accent and I was impressed with how much thought he gave to the characters he played and their motivations, how he sees the ‘human’ side of villains and so on.

This was followed by the Moonraker panel with Richard Kiel and Blanche Ravalec, who played Jaws and Dolly in the film. Richard is in a mobility scooter all the time now, so he came in the room via the back doors so as to avoid the stairs.

He had a lot of interesting stories to tell, including how he first got into acting and how they filmed two endings to his first film as Jaws, as he hoped to return. He said at the time, he was 7’2” and weighed over 300 pounds. They had tried to cast a 7’ 7” actress as his girlfriend in Moonraker, but he insisted she should be small, commenting that his wife in real life was only 5’ 1” tall, so that is how Blanche got the part.

I would have liked to hear more from Blanche, but the attention was on Richard most of the time. She did explain how she had blagged her way in to be seen for her first part though and her perseverance had paid off. (This was a recurring theme. Quite a few cast and crew said they had turned up at studios or lied to get into auditions and so on!)

Richard said his next project is voicing the character of Vlad in a modern day interpretation of Rapunzel called Tangle, which will be out towards the end of the year.

The final Q&A of the day was Eunice Gayson (one of the oldest Bond girls in her eighties) and Madeline Smith. This was also one of the most entertaining, as both ladies are brilliant at telling stories and held my interest throughout. They both have strong personalities and are not afraid of being candid or critical, so it was a fascinating panel.

Eunice is very funny, a bit eccentric in that wonderfully British way. She was dressed quite flamboyantly too, with a sparkly black hat and glamorous outfit. She was great to listen to.

There was a lovely story about the red dress she wore in James Bond. She originally had a specially made brown and gold dress, but once they were on set, it blended in too much, so Eunice was hard to see in it, so they needed to find a different outfit. They went down to the village and the only thing they could find was a size 20 red dress, when Eunice was a “size 7 or 8” at the time. So they bought it and it was so big on her, she had to be clothes-pegged into it! But she said it looked great and was very flattering, although she could only walk stiffly sideways in it or the pegs would come off!

Madeline Smith was probably my favourite guest and I took quite a few notes about what she said. She admitted to “not being thrilled” about her look in The Vampire Lovers, believing it “borders on the obscene” though she doesn’t mind it so much now. She prefers her look in the Bond film (though hates the blue dress!) as she believes that leaving something unseen is sexy and therefore, Bond girls look sexier than in The Vampire Lovers.

Maddy said her favourite Bond was Roger Moore, who she described as a “genuine lovely guy” (I don’t think we heard a bad word said about him all weekend!). We had a show of hands in the room, which showed support for every Bond and no clear winner. (I voted for Roger too.)

She criticised her outfit in the Bond film, saying it was the wrong colour (a blue dress for her green eyes), it was unflattering, made of heavy fabric and was a “trick dress” picked for its unzipping. She also emphasised her part in the film was only a small one.

Asked for her career highlights, she said she loved The Amazing Mr. Blunden with Lionel Jeffries and recommended we try to see it. (Apparently, it’s hard to get hold of, but the interviewer said it is being reissued soon.) She said she loved the film and Lionel and that Diana Dors was her “favourite”.

She then listed her other highlights as working with Arthur Lowe (in Doctor At Large and the “wonderful cult film” Theatre of Blood) and working with Ronnie Barker in Hampton Wick.

After the talk, Maddy stayed behind to talk a bit and pose for photos, so I took one of her, which came out very nicely.



On our way out, I had a last walk around the signings rooms and saw Richard Kiel was still there. As I hadn’t been able to take a good photo of him during his Q&A session, I asked the stewards if it would be possible to take a photo of him at the table. They said it would probably be okay, but to wait, so I queued to ask him politely if I could take a quick photo of him (not with him even, just of him) but he said no. I had to pay £20 for a signed photo and only then would he let me take a photo. So sod that! I was out of money anyway, but he won’t get any of my money at future events. I thought it was rather rude to charge just for a quick snap like that!

That did slightly tinge the end of what had been a great weekend, but hopefully I will forget that soon and just remember all the happy bits. I especially loved Madeline Smith, Caroline Munro, Jenny Hanley, Blanche Ravalec and Valerie Leon and hope to see them again.

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult - BOOK REVIEW

I first read a Jodi Picoult book back in 2008, when I devoured the brilliant Nineteen Minutes in not much longer! Following that excellent read, I began buying her other novels and quickly finished Plain Truth straight after I had read Nineteen Minutes. But then I had a long gap and it was around eighteen months until I read another of her novels, though I’m not sure why!

But after reading a disappointing novel by my beloved Tess Gerritsen (Bloodstream), I wanted to have a great book to compensate – so I turned once again to Jodi Picoult and picked out a book from my collection – Perfect Match. I picked it up to begin reading – and only stopped some 200 pages later! Wow!

How reassuring to find another book I want to engross myself in for hours, to carry around with me, to creep off to bed early to read… Being the Easter holidays, I was happily offering computer time to my surprised children, as I disappeared off somewhere with my next hundred pages calling me…

So, what’s Perfect Match all about then? As any fans of Jodi Picoult will know, there’s bound to be some legal trial coming up and yes, you’re right, that’s central to this one too.

We meet our leading lady early on – Nina Frost, assistant district attorney in Maine, USA. (Incidentally, Gerritsen’s Bloodstream was set in Maine too.) She’s professional, efficient, confident and competent – what you might expect from her choice of career. But there’s another side to her too, her home life and here, we meet her husband Caleb and her son Nathaniel.

Caleb is self-employed and works outdoors, building walls and other stonework. He comes across as nice enough, but a bit uncharismatic. However, Nina loves him and they’re happily married, both successful and living a pretty good life really.

They both love little Nathaniel, who’s just five years old. A real sweetheart, he seems to have a great life too and everything seems fine. Then one day, he just stops talking. They take him for some medical tests, culminating in a meeting with Dr. Robichaud, who is a psychiatrist. While he’s there, Nathaniel’s actions lead the psychiatrist to believe the little boy has been sexually abused.

Further physical examinations prove an assault has taken place, which sends Nina and Caleb’s life into instant turmoil. Of course, any parent in that situation must feel awful, we can all sympathise with that. But for Nina, it is arguably even worse. Part of her job is working with abused children whose parents are hoping for a conviction. She knows how traumatic it can be for young children to face a scary courtroom and tell strangers there all about the abuse they have suffered. There is no way she wants Nathaniel to go through that – but how can she prevent it?

I don’t want to go into too much of the plot from here, as it is full of twists and turns, shocks and surprises. The novel does start with a brief court scene, then the story goes back in time to explain how the first scene took place.

There are many themes covered in Perfect Match and the main one is – How far would a parent go to protect their child? And how far SHOULD they go? As a mother myself, it is something I have thought of before and I’m sure we have all considered similar topics. I see myself as quite a calm, peaceful and non-aggressive woman, yet I know I would fight to protect my kids, if I really had to.

We’ve all watched the News and heard about the nursery school teacher sexually abusing young children in her care, or the Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse, or the care home workers. It’s all around us. Each time, we feel anger. We understand when people shout at the accused in the dock or if they break the windows of their homes. But no-one really knows how you would react, until it happens to you – and hopefully, it won’t.

But it happens to the Frosts - and Nina’s actions have a big affect on both Caleb and Nathaniel. This is fascinating to watch how their relationships change and it seems very realistic and believable. It is easy to picture the characters and you get to know them well.

Although some reviewers have suggested Nina is rather a cold character, I found her easy to relate to, simply as a mother and I did like her. Nathaniel seems very accurate too. It is hard to write a voice for a five year old, but Picoult does a great job.

The slight problem I had was with Caleb, who never seemed to develop into anything more than a grey shadow. It might just be because I didn’t like him. I really wanted Nina to leave him and go off with Patrick Ducharme, the policeman who has loved her for years. He comes across as much warmer than Caleb and I felt I knew Patrick better and liked him much more too.

But this is only a slight criticism and didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the novel. It really is a great read. It is well-paced and exciting, but also quite deep, as it throws up lots of issues and situations that make you think and wonder what you would do in that position.

It is definitely the sort of book that could be read in a couple of hours – or a couple of days in my case, as real life kept getting in the way! The novel itself is around 400 pages long, but each page seemed to fly by and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole story. I rated it 9 out of 10 and would definitely recommend it.

The paperback edition of Perfect Match is currently selling for £4.97 on Amazon UK, but I was lucky enough to pick my copy up for 50p from the local charity shop.


The Jodi Picoult books I have read, with my ratings -

Nineteen Minutes, 9.5/10
Plain Truth, 9/10
Perfect Match, 9/10

POLITICS!