'SEE HOW THEY RUN' Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Went to last night's press night. Saw how they ran. Lots of energy, some good performances from the beguiling Laura Rogers as Penelope Toop (who filled out a lovely pair of trousers ), Kate O'Flynn as the gobby maid Ida, Arthur Bostrum as the gormless Bishop Of Lax, and cuddly little Hugh Sachs as the permanently bewildered Humphrey. AND there was only Sir Ian McKellen sitting a few seats away from me!!!! MAGNETO from X-Men!!! He was even wearing a Magneto style long beige coat and black panama hat.

'APPARITIONS' BBC1

Fab series. Scary and thrilling, with a smart script and premise (thanks to the talented Joe Aherne of 'Dr Who', 'Ultraviolet', and 'This Life' fame). I am SHOCKED that the ratings have been awful though!!! falling from a respectable 4 million plus, down to around 2!! Probably due to it being scheduled against ITV's 'I'm A Celebrity...'. It is SO depressing that quality drama has to suffer against utter dross like that. Have we sunk so low, that we prefer to watch Z list 'celebs' eating maggots and cockroaches (in order to give a flagging career a temporary boost, and sell their souls to the bottom-of-the-moral-barrell mags like 'OK!' and 'Hello!') than thought-provoking and entertaining drama???!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and I'm in it next week, playing an Italian V.I.P. witnessing an assassination attempt on The Pope. No maggots on show though!

Bye Bye, Spooks!

Wow! Another fab season of Spooks comes to an end, and we're left with another cliffhanger. This really is the best action/espionage series (UK) for many a year.

Following

I THINK I've added the 'Following Widget' in the right-hand sidebar. So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE click on it, and add me.
I'll try and be entertaining & informative in my posts. Honest!

SOMBRE SWEDES

Been watching 'Wallander', the new BBC detective series starring Kenneth Branagh. Excellent, moody stuff. I just watched an episode of the original Swedish language version on BBC4 - very similar cinematography, style, direction. I first saw Branagh on stage at The Palace Theatre, Manchester around 1988, in 'Hamlet'. Superb. Then I saw him play The Dane again in the early 90s at Stratford, and he was even better. Unfortunately, on film, he's often too O.T.T., but in the hands of a decent director, and when he reigns in the emotions, he's fantastic. Kurt Wallander, a scruffy, overweight, unshaven, depressed, cynical, morose 'everyman', seems the perfect vehicle for his talents. Even A.A. Gill at The Sunday Times agrees.

Watch it!!!!

Oh, and the actor who plays the pathologist (Richard McCabe) actually sat on my knee when he played Touchstone in a production of 'As You Like It' in Wigan (around 1987). I was sitting in an aisle seat, and was bloody mortified!!

'BORDERLINERS' is Pick Of The Month on top indie comics website!!

My comic book, 'BORDERLINERS: Ceremony Of Innocence' has been chosen as Pick Of The Month on the Smallzone website at www.smallzone.co.uk