6th June 2016

Philip and I went over to Manchester last night to watch Bernadette Peters in concert at the Manchester Opera House. She really has got a fabulous voice and is still looking great. It was a wonderful evening with a fantastic 11 piece orchestra. Sadly we didn't get Time heals everything

from Mack and Mabel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHxPuWld5o

but you can't have (Time heals) everything :-)

I find it remarkable though someone can go to a concert and spend the entire thing flicking through their smartphone!

3rd June 2016

Two blogs in one day! but there is more news, the job I mentioned that I couldn't talk about I now can!

I've just been given the all clear from the Chief Dalek himself Nicholas Briggs to say that I can talk about a play we've just recorded. (No Spoilers!) I've played a part in a Big Finish Dr Who! (pause for applause and whoops of joy) We recorded my bits a couple of days ago it's called The Transcendence of Ephros and its due for release in November. I got to work with Katy Manning (Jo Grant, Jon Pertwee's Assistant in the early 1970's for the non Whovians amongst you) and the reincarnation of Jon Pertwee in the form of Tim Treloar whose performance is fantastic! We can't have Jon Pertwee himself sadly but Tim's performance is so accurate that we can hear Jon again to perfection in new adventures. I mean that wholeheartedly, he was amazing to listen too! The fans will love him. and to work with Katy was a dream and a joy. Incredibly warm and lively. I had a fantastic day. Thank you Big Finish Team and David Richardson Producer for making an old actor's/big kid at heart's dream come true.

All the info about it can be found at the Big Finish site here The Transcendence of Ephros

3rd June 2016

Well its been a busy few days with some voluntary work over the bank holiday weekend with the Manchester Regiment 1914-1918 in Sherwood Forest informing/entertaining the visitors, I'm no good with the facts and figures yet. I need to do a lot more studying! So I do what I do best and go into children's entertainer mode and use my miniature uniform to keep the kids and the parents happy by letting them have their photographs taken as a first world war soldier.

Manchester Regiment - Living History

Wednesday was a brilliant day but we can't talk about that yet (winky face)

Yesterday was another course for the FEU (that's the Federation of Entertainment Unions, Equity, Musicians Union, Writers Guild and Jounalists) It was about Blogging for Creatives and here I am Blogging. So now I know I should be putting this on my website. The problem is I need to sort out a new website, it was all hosted by Castnet but they stopped doing that a short while ago and I'm now without a website. With so much online presence on spotlight, CCP etc I'm not sure how much anyone needs to look at any more of me, but in this day and age everyone should have a website so I'd better get onto that and now know to put my blog on the front page.

The course was run by William Gallagher, whom I'd met before a few years ago on another course with the FEU. William is a writer and has done several Dr Who audios with Big Finish.
 

here's one of them 

Doctor Who - Scavenger starring Colin Baker- by Big Finish

So we were able to chat a bit about Dr Who in the gaps and found other life long fans were on our table too including Stephen Aintree an actor from Liverpool who attended the first ever DWAS convention and Longleat 20th anniversary 

Stephen Aintree- Profile at Castingcallpro

so all in all a good day until

Disaster

I returned on the right train, but I was bit sleepy having had a very long day the previous day and missed a night's sleep, however I was sat by some fairly noisy guys, I'd checked with them that I wasn't sitting in their booked seat as one of the seats was reserved from Crewe to London, I even mentioned that I'd be getting off in Crewe. I helped them get the cap off their beer bottle with the belt clip on my keys and all was fine except as we were pulling into Crewe I must have zonked out for a very crucial couple of minutes and the guys either didn't notice or didn't think to nudge me, I woke with a start, saw my station ran to the door it wouldn't open! I hurtled down the carriage like I was running for my life to the other door still nothing! Then the train pulled out! 

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The Guard was fine about it and signed my ticket so that I could get back without paying but there was nothing else he could do, The next stop I could turn around at was London, nearly 200 miles away. Fortunately they were fast trains and so it could have been worse but instead of getting back to Crewe at 17:30 it was 21:30. 

I chatted to the guy opposite and had told him what had happened, he was very pleasant and got off at Lichfield, Then he too hurtled back to the seat in a similar mad panic to me as he'd left his Laptop on the luggage rack. I must have been a bad influence.