Hello from a Life Long Fan

[Peripheral]

Peri ,

Chris's memories are a wonderful insight into showbusiness and I hope he continues as they are a great read but quoting the worst film in the series "Carry on Chris [ clearly in reference to Columbus] " isn't much of an inspiration

What's wrong with Columbus? He was a bloody good detective and he had the same tailor as Compo, . OH, one more thing....??? ......Sod it, I forgot what it is.

 

[ChrisM]

Another perhaps more boring memory was when they were filming at Tunnel End, doing the Episode "The heavily reinforced bottom" I think it was called. The one with the mini submarine, piloted by Compo, well not really, as he never went anywhere near the damn thing. At the point where it rolls away from Wesley & Barry and into the water, it took some time to get that right, as the flippin thing kept rolling into the water when they didnt want it to, and then it would not roll when they actually wanted it to. All very frustrating. Then when Wesley was operating the crane it took hours to get Gordon to get the hang of the controls, and that took up most of the day, and what was supposed to be a few hours filming turned into 2 days overall.

 

[Peripheral]

Something that was a very personal memory for both myself and my wife, was the first time I met Jean Ferguson. We were there to help out on a Scouts Open Day, which was very dear to Bill's heart, and a lot of the cast were selling Autographs for Charity. I hadn't met Jean before, and I bumped into her in one of the tents, and when she turned round, a big beaming smile came over her face, and she started playing with her hair, and going all sort of coy, I then said "oh hello Jean, I'm Chris from the Agency and this is my wife", and as soon as she saw my good lady her face dropped, as my wife is a 14 out of 10, and absolute stunner, and it certainly wiped the smile off Jeans face.

Linda, my wife, has often talked about it, and she says that it was obvious that Jean fancied me, (Linda's words not mine) and when she saw my stunning wife, she was gutted, for want of a better word. So funny looking back on it, as Jean seemed just like Marina, and her reaction was classic. It was just like a scene from the show. If anyone wonders whether Jean could pull me away from my good lady, here is a pic of Linda to prove my point. Its one of her modelling pics.

Oh where are my blood pressure tablets?

Something that was a very personal memory for both myself and my wife, was the first time I met Jean Ferguson. We were there to help out on a Scouts Open Day, which was very dear to Bill's heart, and a lot of the cast were selling Autographs for Charity. I hadn't met Jean before, and I bumped into her in one of the tents, and when she turned round, a big beaming smile came over her face, and she started playing with her hair, and going all sort of coy, I then said "oh hello Jean, I'm Chris from the Agency and this is my wife", and as soon as she saw my good lady her face dropped, as my wife is a 14 out of 10, and absolute stunner, and it certainly wiped the smile off Jeans face.

Linda, my wife, has often talked about it, and she says that it was obvious that Jean fancied me, (Linda's words not mine) and when she saw my stunning wife, she was gutted, for want of a better word. So funny looking back on it, as Jean seemed just like Marina, and her reaction was classic. It was just like a scene from the show. If anyone wonders whether Jean could pull me away from my good lady, here is a pic of Linda to prove my point. Its one of her modelling pics.

And this is mine....

 

[ChrisM]

She is a Stunner too!

 

[captain clutterbuck]

What's wrong with Columbus?

In Carry on films it was the most Rotten of Rotten Tomatoes its just appalling and should never have been made . If the world was indeed flat that "ship and cast" should have sailed off into the sunset and fallen off the end of the earth .

 

[Peripheral]

Chris let your good lady cast here mince pies over my latest photo and she'll leave you like a shot.

 

[ChrisM]

Thats it, I'm worried now, lol.

 

[ChrisM]

One enduring memory which always brings a smile to my face was sitting and talking, well listening, to Thora for hours on end, because in between takes she used to thrill us all with her stories of her past career. One thing she mentioned that she felt was a highlight in her career, and something she was proud of was the monologue she did for Alan Bennett called "A Cream Cracker under the Settee", she won a Best Actress Bafta for that, if you have seen it you will know why, absolutely amazing acting. She had an amazing memory, and could remember the minutest of details, but always seemed to go off at a tangent, and end up talking about 3 different things at once, but she was a sharp as a razor and she knew exactly what she was talking about and you really had to concentrate to keep up with her, she was an extraordinary lady, and I miss her a lot. She would start one story, then in the middle of that, start something else that came to mind, that was connected to the first story, then start another with "and another thing" and then go back to the original story by saying "anyway where was I" She was just wonderful to listen to. I miss them all really, it only seems like 2 minutes ago that I was chatting with them, but all too quickly they have mostly gone, a few exceptions, but the main characters are no more and I cant quite believe it really.