" CHRISTABEL " 1988 - " OTHELLO " 2001

I am very late with today's blog due to being in Leeds today for another day in the village , filming Emmerdale.
Left home at 5am and arrived at the studio at 7.15am, returned back home, after a seriously delayed journey due to heavy traffic on the M1 , leaving Leeds at 3.30pm and not getting home until 6.45pm. even with it being Motorway for 99% of the journey.
Cannot say what we were doing today because it will be another 6 weeks before this story line is screened.
Previously on 20th February 1988, i had arrived at the old sugar beet factory in Peterborough to be in a scene for a Television programme called " Christabel " starring Elizabeth Hurley.
This was one of Elizabeth Hurley's earlier roles and I was playing the part of a German soldier, sitting in a train outside Berlin while the area was being bombed.
We were actually on a part of the Nene Valley Railway, a preserved steam engine line that has a land scape somewhat similar to the German countryside and the River Nene is very similar to the Rhine.
This was the my first day of two on that programme and the second day was a night shoot, when bomb effects were being exploded at 4 am in the morning, apparently waking unhappy residents in that part of Peterborough just outside the city centre.

On 20th February 2001, I was at the Grosvenor Hotel in London, playing the part of a Toastmaster in an up-dated version of " Othello".
The scene was a banqueting hall filled with High ranking Police officials at a presentation Dinner.
Instead of the character Iago, the character was Jago, Danielle was changed to Dani.
Jago was played by Bill Paterson and he was interested in my Toastmaster's Gavel and gave it a knock on the block. I then demonstrated to him how I use it in real life and the noise that I made resulted in everyone looking up at the top table to see what I had done. I explained that the actor had asked me how to properly use the gavel.
All this happened while the crew were setting up the shot, not while we were actually filming part of the scene.
The main reason the Director had requested a real Toastmaster for the shot was because he wanted to open the scene with a close-up of my Institute of Toastmasters of Great Britain medal which I wear when I am officiating in my non acting capacity as a professional Toastmaster.
I have since been honoured by being made a Fellow of that Institute and am also currently the Junior Vice- President of the London Guild of Toastmasters.