Can I ask you about working with another actor?
Who, who did have a reputation for being somewhat difficult
around that time? But he is one of my favorite
actors and it's a film that I've watched fairly recently and
enjoyed it enormously. And it's Peter Sellers in the
Blockhouse. How was, how was Peter Sellers
to work with wonderful? Absolutely.
Wonderful guy. No problem whatsoever with
Peter. As far as I was concerned.
Hmm, we just, we just got on fine.
He was a very, very fine actor. As you said, we just got on with
it purely. Professional relationship, it's
curious, isn't it? I think some actors with with
reputations like that, just turn out to be perfectionists.
Oh yes, absolutely. He was serving was a
perfectionist is no doubt about that but hopefully we were okay.
The Block House of very, very good film.
The problem with it was that it's nobody quite knew who owned
it. So it didn't get repeated very
much or seen. Yeah.
Around the world which he should have been considered a good
film. Hello you lot, it's your
favorite uncle compiled here. Again, with minutes of fun
packed into an hour or so. My guest this week is the writer
and summer. I know Bob Fisher Bob and I were
talking for quite a bit before I press record and we were among
other things. We were talking about that whole
ontology thing and we drop into the conversation where Bob is
talking about Not scarred for life.
So what is scarred for life? Bob, okay.
Scarred for life is, I didn't write the box, but it's there
are two huge books. Now by two guys called Stephen
brother, Stern and day of Lawrence, and they're just a
compendium of absolutely exhaustive, account of kind of
1970s and 80s kids, mainly TV, but other bits and pieces in
there as well, and all the stuff that traumatize the kids of that
generation. So I read the book.
A books. I thought they were fantastic
and I ended up I was working on. I was a local radio presenter on
BBC, t's for 20 years. So I'm 20 2017 when the first
book came out, I got Steve and Dave on my radio show was guests
and we got on like a house on fire and then we've ended up
touring. We do a live scarred for life
show. I host it and basically
interview the pair of them on stage about their memories of
all of this stuff. So that's taken on like a weird
life of its own over the last Couple of years.
Obviously, we had a couple of years off but we've gone back to
Italy, six months and it's been really nice.
So it's kind of really interesting hearing we do the
show and then afterwards we do a Q&A with the audience and it's
really interesting hearing like other people's Recollections of
light strange things that they were traumatized by his kids and
it often is stuff that you wouldn't expect.
Like the stuff that kids were scared off is often not what
what you would expect. It's not obvious stuff.
It is like, you know, an hour. Advert or some kind of weird
cartoon that wasn't intended to be scary at all, but just got
kids in the wrong way or you know, it's just something that
was kind of like, nosy, Bonk nosy, but he's a bit one from
different. Jigsaw that like it.
No. But I know why was that intended
to be scary in the slightest to know, the producers of Jigsaw
and Adrian Headley who was in The Mask?
Just thought it was a Whimsical funny character, but it's one
that comes up again. And again, when we do the show
like we show a The film on the screen and happy people.
You know, there are 50 year old people in the audience that have
to look away. So Christ.
No, it's nosy bog. So.
Yeah. Stuff like that.
It's really interesting. What about the original bungle?
Yeah. Oh God.
Yeah. You just like you.
Look at that and you think you think what what were they
thinking? Whoo-hoo on the production.
Team of rainbow. So that costume and saw those
eyes. Boring into your soul and
thought. Yeah that's it.
That's the one. That's what Kids will love is
this terrifying? Bug-eyed bear.
Have you seen that? If you seen those, you know
there's websites that have like a badly stuffed family pets.
Yeah. So what are those like one of
those? Because we got a lot of British
tell you when I was a kid. And the so think about this the
thing that it didn't scare me but it unnerved, Me, which I
think is probably the common reactions that was what
interests me more actually is that kind of stuff was the, you
know, the Phoenix of the carpet from.
Yeah, absolutely. I watched it reasonably recently
actually. Yeah.
So the actual Phoenix, it's right?
Yeah, yeah. Just unnerved me.
Yeah. And it's and it's not a great
pieces. Not special effect is no, yes,
absolutely yeah. No, yes, it's in.
It's intriguing the things that that just strike a chord with
some kids and I think that's why I kind of I can understand why
some people say no. No, you're wrong these feelings.
Do, you know, you're imagining them because it seems to be so
subjective, you know. It's a different kids were
affected by very different things and often the things that
just weren't intended to scare them at all.
They I find that really interest.
Yeah. The the only really scary thing
I can think of from my childhood was The Count from Sesame
Street. Right.
Okay, I think it was because he had purple skin anyway.
Anyway anyway if we're going to get purple, is it your arm out?
Yeah. You and the haunted generation
radio shows listen to some of the Heart.
Right? Which is what you do and
Mixcloud. Yeah, yes.
And and just a sample quote, just jump down and I wrote it
down. Oh, you played a thick To The
Tomorrow People. And you said, I do this.
This makes me think of Peter Davidson and navy blue
Underpants. Yes, it does.
Because Peter Davison was in the tomorrow people wearing navy
blue and the punch. I'm in time entirely literal
with these things. If you looking for Eddie level
of profundity or hidden depth, you come to the wrong person,
okay? And and right, can you tell me
is this really intrigues? Me people listening to this, you
know? Yes, this is a It's called goon
pod. It's about the Goon show, but
it's more than that. It's about sellers seeking
Milligan even been team, you know, and their solo stuff.
And obviously you've joined me today to talk about a particular
film specifically, but I like these conversations to be to
open up a to be quite Broad and people that listen to this, I
think I generally British comedy fans.
Yeah. Okay.
And and, you know, old go contemporary but also classic
British comedy and the Iron Horse.
Of certainly of BBC sitcoms for 30 years was was, was certainly
Last of the Summer Wine 3077, 70s counter.
Now, can you tell me about your fascination with the show?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean it was a program that I
loved as a kid as I indeed. I love lots of sitcoms as a kid,
though. Very much my thing Last of the
Summer Wine was one the I used to watch.
So what's the? A lot of comedy with my dad,
when I was a kid who is a huge comedy fun?
And I guess, you know, got ties in neatly because my dad was
born in 1939 and was exactly the generation to have grown up with
the goons and indeed that he absolutely adored the goons as a
teenager. So I kind of grew up, you know,
I knew all about Milligan and sellers as a kid.
So I certainly got all of that from my dad and my dad's tastes
kind of evolved in a really nice way.
For a kid of that generation. So my dad's, you know, he's love
of the goons. Possibly predictably transferred
to Monty Python's, I had Monty Python chucked in the mix when I
was a kid and in the 80s, he became really interested in
alternative comedy. Which, you know, it's, I mean, I
saw the young ones as a kid, you know, I was 9 years old when the
first series of the young ones was broadcast and amazingly, I
watched it with my dad because he watched it and he loved it,
which I think was really unusual, you know, most of my
friends. Those who kind of bad shit
robotically. Oh yes.
But my dad who was in his 40s at the time loved it and thought it
was wonderful. So, I kind of had that
background. I'd been brought up as a comedy
Farm by my dad, and as a fan of like interest in comedy as well,
I think what Last of the Summer Wine was one of the shows that
he really liked and so inevitably, I watched it with
him and it was a big part of my childhood Which I guess is
curious, you know, it's it's a series that essentially are
certainly for. Its first ten years is centered
around three older men that have been kind of written off by
Society. You know, they're composed,
never really worked. As the name suggests, he's taken
compensation and he's just kind of freaked out his life in
poverty. With we, it's suggested that
he's never worked. Since the second world war,
you've got Claire, who's been made redundant from a job in a
line. Factory and you've got while
initially a character called bleymeyer played by Michael
Bates and then foggy is the one that everybody knows played by
Brian wild. Both of those characters have
been pensioned out of the military and they come back to
their childhood Hometown without any real purpose in life.
So you've got these three Central characters that are just
kind of idling their time away and doing nothing, and they're
bored, and they're frustrated. And, for the first 10 years, at
least, Least it's quite kind of dark and it's about them just
having nothing in their lives and wandering around these
abandoned. There's the countryside in the
first 10 series, although it, you know, shown to be a dilek in
later years for the first ten years.
It's sort of post-industrial Yorkshire, you know, there are
abandoned factories and Old Mills and stuff that they hang
out in. So it's got this sense of
melancholy to it, which is something that I think.
I really only identified with as a kid.
I really like that. You know, my favorite children's
TV programs. Were often things like bag puss,
but I think shared the sense of kind of old-school sepia tinted
Melancholy. That was that was, that was
something that inexplicably appealed to me as a kid.
But I think, what Last of the Summer Wine as well?
The way in, which they coped with that that on, WE a, that
that just their boredom about that sense of having nothing in
their lives. Ives was to revert to being
children which show it later years, that became more and
more, a big aspect of the show, you know, embodied by the idea
of them constantly, looking for things to roll down Hills in,
it's kind of become the, uh, you know, the identifying image of
the show. It's what, it's one of those
things. It's one of those things that
happened once, isn't it? And everyone says that it was a
regular trihard don't get me. Started on the bathroom down
there. Yeah, yeah.
That is one episode is episode called stop that back from 1993
and it's a scene that lasts about 20 seconds after 37 years
of you know, GoPro grabbing out of two hundred and ninety five
episodes of what though. Yeah since the program about old
men going downhill in a bath, I blame Vic and Bob for this
because in the mid-1990s there was it was actually a BBC.
See, promotional film to encourage people to pay their
license fee. So you know these are the
programs at the BBC does and it was it was Vic Reeves Bob
Mortimer. And Matt Lucas spoofing a load
of TV programs and one of them was three blokes in the bath and
it was Vic Bob and Matt Lucas dressed as Campo Clegg and foggy
rolling downhill in a bath. I think that's what people are
thinking of more than masters of a wine design.
Yeah, the BBC never afraid to try something new.
There's power Police drama with Detective in a wheelbarrow I'm a
little worried about this time. It passed a note.
We go up hill and down Dale with the adventures of three blokes
in a bar and as live and uninterrupted coverage of
international Anvil, throwing And the long-awaited title Clash
live from cleethorpes World Championship and fighting the
BBC's leaves, the great comedy. But anyway, so yeah you've got
these. These kind of slightly
Melancholy older men reverting to being children talking about
their childhood getting involved into quite childish scrapes.
Something about that. Really, really appeal to me as a
kid and it always stuck with me. I mean, I drifted away a little
bit from As the series rolled to a close.
But then I met the guy called Andrew Smith and rooty Smith to
give him his full professional title, or Drew to me and his
friends. And we just discovered that we
both loved Last of the Summer Wine.
He's quite a bit younger than me.
He's in. He's in his mid-30s now.
So he was kind of you know you did his late teens early 20s
when I became mates with him. Just through, kind of archive TV
forums. Yeah.
But we discovered we have this
mutual love of Last of the Summer Wine that we've both
grown up loving the show in different eras.
For me it was about the 70s and 80s for Drew.
It was about the 90s and the naughties because that was when
he'd grown up with it and we decided when the final episode
of lost the Summer, Wine was broadcast.
We thought, oh, we'll watch it together.
That would be a nice thing to do.
So he came round Sunday night August 2010 and we watch the
last episode together. And at the end of it, he turned
to me. And he said, jokingly what we
should do now is put the first episode on and keep going and as
the week's World by that seemed like more and more of quite a
nice thing to do. So we did start doing that and
we turned it into a Blog which is still there.
Some of Winos .co.uk Cheese Log and the blog became inexplicably
became a live show that we took to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2018.
All about our love Vlasta Summer Wine, why?
It meant so much to us, and a little bit of a potted history
of the series as well. And then we toured it in 2019
and there's now a book and it's gonna take it over our lives.
But in a really nice way. Absolutely.
Yeah. I mean I I've seen a few of the
earlier ones with bleymeyer. I mean, I've seen obviously, if
you don't, you can't be the age that I am.
That you are not of watched at least, or at least seen, at
least a dozen episodes. Even Even by accident you know
you can't have gone through life without doing that.
I didn't I never consciously sat down and watched it, I never
regret. I mean I used to record lots of
Comedy. Lots of sitcoms and and that
wasn't a show that I that I would record but it, right.
Yeah, you know and I think it's because You're certainly right?
That it was that there was more of, it was what it was slightly
grittier at the beginning than it seemed to become.
So it's really dark. Click seem to be a lot more
cynical than that he became. Yeah.
Absolutely. This is, this is one of our pet
theories that, I mean, Clegg. There's a kind of gentrification
of Clegg that occurs throughout the 1970s, but in the earlier
series clegg's quite a bitter character We kind of make a
case. For I like Clegg is suffering
from depression in the first couple of years because a, he's
he has been made redundant from his job quite reluctantly and
he's quite bitter about the coop that have made him redundant,
but he's also which is something that's not really mentioned
after the first couple of years but he's lost his wife shortly
before the series starts, the pilot episode of funerals and
fish. We see Clegg visiting his wife's
grave. She's Quite recently deceased
and he has a very wistful conversation with the vicar
about about death and about mortality.
So our pet theory is that Clegg is essentially quite depressed
and the first few series and it's about the other two
characters, dragging him out of that a little bit.
But yeah, he's quite is that there's an episode when he kind
of threatens kids heard the expression suffer little
children. You think blimey you just
wouldn't expect you know that's not Nothing.
But Clegg would have said in later series when he became much
more of a gentle Whimsical character, but there's
definitely a dark Edge to Clegg so dark Edge to the whole
series. We always we always say the the
early years I kind of like Alan Bennett directed by Ken Loach.
Shit, there's a rat you know it's it's it's not beautiful
rolling Yorkshire Vistas and and happy old man rolling down
Hills. There's a lot of bitterness in
there and a lot of darkness and it's everything is so Rai me and
grotty as well. You know all the buildings in
home further, just black with sort and so it's it's wonderful.
I love the darkness. Love it, mr.
Go see the copy that many of them left.
I suppose really? Now in terms of the might, great
might not to get more worried about my grading system.
This and like Grady's around, Sarah Thomas who played Glenda
is still. No, this guy for the later
series. I think there are there, but
quite a, quite a few still around the marina have recently
passed, and I think didn't She Jean Ferguson, she did, yeah,
and she was wonderful as well. I met Jane a couple of times and
interviewed her and she was fantastic.
She did a one-woman show about Hilda Baker.
She knows, you know, not on your Nelly is is required viewing in
this house. I was absolutely, yeah, all of
that. Have you seen?
There's at right? This was shown on BBC for a
couple hours, a few years ago. Now, BBC four.
I went through a period of showing the good old days on a
Friday night. Did I straight straight after
their top of the pops repeats, there was an episode of that
Shone with Hilda Baker and kind of false in fact, but Hearst
because she had his stooge. Didn't she called sin?
Yes. That's right.
Yeah. And and and her Cynthia for a
few years was it was a pre Fame, Matthew Kelly.
Oh, so yeah, absolutely. And he's on one of the episodes.
Odds of the good old days with Hilda Baker.
So yeah, there you go. I just read.
But how many times all over the? Although that's fine.
I'll cut all the look at this bed out but no, no, I'm about to
say. And she was always being.
She was being very, she was always very offhand.
The cast of, she felt that she was being upstaged being quite,
she could poke. But in her absence so that the
fourth series or whatever it was of not on your Nelly, they
bought in Jack. Douglas who was hurt that
character was her cousin. Yeah.
And because Hilda Baker wasn't there?
Because she was in hospital, they needed another character so
they decided that Jack Douglas has character whatever identical
twin brother. Okay?
Right. Obviously played by Jack
Douglas. Yes.
But they didn't have the inclination, or the money, or
the technology to do split screen or anything like that.
So so you never see them together ever, see them
together? Well well you do see them
together, there's an exterior shot of Jack and his brother
walking out of the pub, right shot from behind Jack.
Douglas is walking out. He can see Jack diapers You can
see his brother but his brothers walking backwards, next to him
by a bloke who's five foot three.
Yeah, and twenty. So they've addressed before we
get to stand it anyway. Anyway, as a complete aside to
that, so I know you're a bit of a Beatles fan.
Yes, this is kind of possibly Testament to how small my mind
was in the 1980s. I was small.
I thought the world was gonna be getting when I first got a copy
of John Lennon's album Double Fantasy becomes completely
Beatles obsessed throughout the 1980s.
And you know, some point I do what I do by all of the solo
stuff so at some point got hold of a copy of Double Fantasy and
I was always one for pouring over the It's on record sleeves
so that they're on the sleeve of John Lennon's, Double Fantasy
album produced by John Lennon Yoko Ono, Jack Douglas adult.
Hindsight was quite a Hotshot American record.
Yes yes. And so my mind is a teenager 499
who's Jack. Douglas of the carry on Films
was there out who produced John Lennon's.
Final album. Alpha potato mousse.
Hey, Hey, what a mental image that brings about, tell you much
of the studio sessions for that. All right.
We're gonna try one more take, if that's all I jack.
Anyway, look, we can have to start.
Sorry, yes, we actually talk. Yeah, this is turning into this
book about Peter Sellers. This is turning into the Roy
Clark Summer Wine, Jack, Douglas.
It's fine. Chuck it all in there.
Yeah, I told you Go off on one. That's fine.
That's I see. I like that.
I don't like to said to you at the beginning, I don't like to,
I don't want this to be a podcast, you know?
Like if you took yet you'd hear film podcasts or TV podcast with
it is and they just break down scene-by-scene.
Otherwise? Yeah, no, no.
That's what do that? Just watch the film, don't cut
it. Be with that.
Level of expertise, for got nobody in trouble, but when you
and I were in contact originally, you said, yeah,
you'd be happy to come on and you said, you get You said
you're either like to talk about the optimists of nine elms.young
or the Blockhouse. Yeah.
And I thought, hey, the block house is literally just came out
on Blu-ray. Yes, it has.
I'd never seen it. I'll be honest because it's
well, as will become apparent shortly.
I'll give the reasons but I've never seen it.
So I thought great off great opportunity for me to get the
Blu-ray to watch this lost classic.
And, and I did, and I'm really glad I did, but it's Not, it's
it's not buffer laughs as if it's not really a date movie.
No, no. So the Blockhouse and and I
suppose, most people listening to this podcast, probably
haven't seen it either because it was never actually, right?
So we're recording this in July 2022.
Yes, this was filmed in June 1972, so almost exactly 50 years
ago on, Guernsey, okay, yeah, it never had.
It was real, Least in early 73 but it never had a proper
cinematic release and it it was shown at the Berlin Film
Festival once. Yeah.
Never got a cinema release in Britain and it did play in
Florida for a week in 1974, right?
And then it just kind of got forgotten about and never and
it's one of those there's one or two sellers films that kind of a
bit like ghosts, the Noonday sun and other one that never really
got us in a proper release or got a release and, and a on the
beach. I think the style is he was a
dab hand but lost films in the early 1970s would 97.
Yeah because he had he had a run of I mean girl and my suit.
There's a girl in my soup was fairly successful.
But yeah, they were films from 70 to support till the return of
the Pink Panther and 75 which were films.
Like where does it hurt? Which I, which I maintain is the
worst Peter Sellers film. There is one touch of Genius. -
in way, does it hurt? Which is the counter with the,
like the fees going up in the corner?
The medical fees go. I think that's right, isn't it?
I haven't seen it for you. I haven't seen it that I
haven't, I haven't seen it for years.
Did the thing that sticks in my mind, is that at the climax of
the film? He's sellers character calls,
the slightly officious sassy nurse character.
A witch, right? And she responds by calling him
a wested. As an insult.
I'm not that familiar. So don't know what's going on
there. Being soft beds had battles your
head. I mean, The Optimist, as a good
film, it's great. It didn't, it didn't make much
money. And, and this this from now,
what was the reason that you that you wanted to talk about
this film, in particular, had you seen it before?
I had seen it before. Yeah, I find this period of
Peter Sellers Korea. Really interesting.
I like, I can't tell you how I came by, it really, I'd, I mean,
like I've said, I grew up with a dad who was very much, a fan of
the goons and of Milligan and sellers in particular.
So I was very much aware of sellers work and I guess I grew
up in that era when the Pink Panther films were constantly on
TV and they were the subject of conversation in the school
playground the day after. And I also think, actually when
you talk about Peter Sellers influence on on my Ation.
You know, I born in 1972. I think you've got to Chuck in.
It'll be all right. On the night as well.
Yes, which here Dennis Norton's clip show of outtakes which was
massive event television in the 70s and 80s and sellers always
seem to be on it because he was just an inveterate.
Giggler and Corp sir. So he was on virtually every
episode of it'll be all right on the night.
So cell is it always been part of my upbringing and of that
kind of General cultural. And what got me, much more
interested in his work was the arena documentary in 1995.
Yes. On BBC One.
Yep. And I watched that and thought,
wow, now that he's a much more interesting actor than I've ever
given him credit for. And then I think off the back of
that I read Roger Lewis has biography life and death of
Peter Sellers which you know, it's the size of a house brick
is this extraordinary? A dissection of his life and
work. I reread that on holiday few
months ago. Really?
Yeah, I haven't, I haven't read it for a few years.
Is it still as fascinating as a? Yeah, it's not.
What has been it is fascinating. It's very, it's entertaining.
Lee written it's not entirely accurate.
So yeah. Anyway, I read that.
And in reading, that realized, there were lots of sellers films
that I not only never seen, but never actually heard of.
And, and some of those Is actually considered to be lost
films which those something about my psyche.
That's always going to be intrigued by that the idea of a
film or a TV or an album or whatever, just something that
somebody poured their heart into at the time being lost and
unavailable. I don't know why that appeals to
me, but it does and it always has.
So when I, when I read, Roger, Lewis is book.
I kind of instantly wanted to see things like, you know,
films, like Hoffman films like the optimists of nine elms.young
films, like the block house. So I kind of I, I started trying
to seek out some of the lesser-known sellers films in
the late 1990s, which, you know, you tell this to the kids today,
it's it was it was virtually impossible to find some of the
really well-known sellers films in the late 1990s.
He's your very much restricted to what you could find on the
Shelf of an HMV or whatever your local shop was.
So I kind of did all right, but films like this just seemed to
be completely unobtainable. So I think in my head babe, they
built up an air of Mystique. Somebody gave me a very crackly,
like bootleg VHS of Hoffman in the late 1990s, I managed to see
that, but I don't think I saw the block house until It did get
a DVD release didn't it possibly about ended 10 15 years ago so I
didn't see it until then but I'd always been intrigued by it a
cuz I mean, Roger Louis just I think he describes it as one of
sellers finest performances in that book.
Yeah. And I was intrigued by the fact,
it was such a dark film as well for sellers to of made.
Yeah. Roger, Lewis thinks it's a
cracker. Yeah.
And you sometimes think, is that just Roger In deliberately
contrary to received wisdom, you know what I mean?
But but now he seems to think it's an absolute lost classic.
No pulse rate is normally 72 beats per minute.
If you multiply that by 60 will give you 4320 bits per hour.
Now we have been down here about 24 hours before we came to this
room. It makes three days, you know
exactly. Is a pretty reliable way to get
time. Riding.
We have candles. My heart doesn't stuff.
It's not as was very keen to do this film and I gather was on
his best behavior as well. Yeah, this is what because I,
you know, again from Roger Lewis is booksellers was not in a good
place in the early 1970s and his behavior on Films kind of went
before him a little bit, to the extent where, you know, he'd be
he'd been a million dollar film star in the 1960s.
He'd been arguably one of the biggest film stars in the world.
And it's you know, but by the early 1970s, obviously you had
health problems, which I think could cause issues with getting
insurance for him on Films. Is that right?
Yeah. So that had gone against him a
little bit, but his behavior as well was becoming notorious.
And I think, you know, I'm guessing a combination of all of
those things meant that, by the time he made the Blockhouse, he
got paid 10,000 pounds for the block house, which is tabular.
Somebody came to me now and said, I'll give you ten thousand
quid for a few weeks work. I'll stop there, eun's off and
in 1972 even more. So but for sellers, it was, I
guess something of a Comedown. But I think because of that
because he wasn't doing like the massive Hollywood films because
he had to do these strange. Low budget British films that
didn't necessarily get widespread distribution.
I think they're some of the most interesting films of his career
because you see sides of him that you don't, otherwise, see,
and I kind of wonder if that's almost part of the fact that he
was apparently very well-behaved on the set of the Blockhouse.
The fact that he isn't doing, he's not the star, he's not the
comedy star, you know, not having to steal every scene.
It's a very very dark drama. I mean, do we need to explain a
little bit about the premise of the Blockhouse here.
Yeah, so it's set in a, it's France, it's D-Day.
Yeah. But we're not on the beach.
On the beaches, it's a rundown. Forced labor camp run by Germans
and you have these desperate bunch of Misfits.
I suppose is the best way of describing them of different
nationalities. It's not a you know it's not a
concentration camp anything like that.
It's just a labor camp and they're living in extreme
squalor and terrible conditions and so the film begins and the
getting up for a for the day and Work detail is dispatched from
the cab and almost immediately. There's enemy bombing in a
Spitfire attack and it looks like, I mean it's very well done
because you got demand sort of scattering everywhere on this
desolate landscape. And it looks like I'm I think
the technical term the budget was staffed on this sequence
beautifully put. Yes because it's quite a quite
as It's a, it's a very well film.
Well choreographed sequence. It is when I first saw it.
I thought, oh, that's stock footage, but it's not at all.
It's a. No.
And I gather there was there, it was the, the devil's own work.
Try to get that Spitfire and Rise.
Someone who would flat because they didn't want to fly because
it's in Guernsey. Yeah, they didn't want to fly it
over too much of a stretch of water in case it went down, you
know? Right.
Okay. So I gather it was a logistical
nightmare but anyway, the I think it's about seven or eight
men or maybe more That's seven, it's seven League.
They have a couple died and they immediately but they get into
this. What we will call the block
house, which is this. It's kind of like a concrete
underground Storehouse. Yeah.
But it was actually a concrete underground Hospital in real
life. Okay.
Because it is it's not a set its if it was an actual structure.
Yeah. And they actually filmed In this
disused concrete Hospital which that obviously dressed it to
look like a large. Cavernous store app store.
Yes. And they were using natural.
They were using candle, they're using lights limited lighting
show. It's one of the darkest looking
films I've ever seen. Yeah, yeah.
But essentially what happens is that there's more bombing and
they the the entrance is blocked, they can't get out.
Doubt, they have to sort of go down into this, climb, down some
ladders into this storeroom, and then there's more bombing and,
and essentially their entombed in this, in this large concrete
block house. Yeah.
Now, the thing is that they very quickly discovered that they
have Limitless supplies of Wine and Food.
Yeah. And and candles up to a point.
So a lot of Comforts and cigars and cigarettes and guys, and but
they also realize that You know, there's no way out and so you
just have this gradual disintegration of morale and and
and we could go through that in a minute.
But that's that is the scent and the film just becomes Grimmer
and Grimmer and Bleaker and Bleaker as it goes on.
And that's what I wonder whether that's behind the fact that
sellers was apparently very, very professional and very
well-behaved on this film because I get the impression In
this period of his life. If he was expected to be funny
if he was in a comedy, then that would make him incredibly
competitive. I remember seeing a wonderful
actor Dudley Sutton. Yeah, he's in it's one of the
70s Pink Panther films and I remember seeing him doing a Q&A
about this and he was asked, you know, how was Peter Sellers to
work with Dudley certain said, essentially completely paranoid
that anybody would upstage him that, anybody might get a laugh.
Mod of his scenes, you know, he was the star, he was the comedy
star, he had to get the laughs and if anybody else got a laugh,
that would upset him greatly. That's a very good point.
That's an excellent point, which I never thought of.
Yeah, well, I just I wondered if that was behind the fact that,
you know, sellers is not a, you know, it's by no stretch of the
imagination, the comedy film and he's not expected to be funny at
all. And neither is anybody else?
It's without a doubt for a, you know, from the films I've seen
the straightest performance of sellers Korea There's absolutely
nothing in there that you could possibly play for laughs and I
kind of wonder if the fact that he was in there with, you know,
you got actors like Peter Vaughn in the cast.
You despite the fact he done comedy, as well, as lots of
people will know him from porridge, he's genial Harry
grout in porridge citizen Smith. Yeah, completely.
But also a brilliant straight actor as well.
A Powerhouse of a straight actor.
And a guy who'd been, you know, Peter Vaughan had been acting
since before the second world war.
He indeed, 35 years of dramatic acting.
By the time the Blockhouse came around and I wondered if there
was an element of sellers you know you're not going to mess
with those guys. Frankly you're not going to try
and upstage them because they're straight actors.
They're they're heavy weight. At least here in there and done
it. Maybe that's it.
Maybe because he doesn't have anything to prove.
He doesn't have. Yeah he's working with people
like Jeremy Kemp who I don't know, a huge amount about Jeremy
Kemp, but I've seen a lot of his films or me.
He's been, he's never a star as he's never the leading man, but
he's been very, he's a very strong supporting.
Yeah. Yeah.
And he would appear in Prisoner of Zenda with sellers a few
years later. But he's extremely method and
there's that. There's a scene in this where
his character who's called group in ski.
Yeah, I've been skiing. It's SpaceTime somehow sellers
character, which is a character called, is it?
What is it? Roque rocket?
Okay. Yeah.
Who's a schoolteacher Schoolmaster?
He has worked out a system of measuring time, yes, in candles
and things like that. And so at some point I'm not
sure how long they were talking. It might be a year, might be
more than a year. It's Christmas time.
They've decided and Jeremy. Jeremy Kemp.
His character is singing A Hymn. Him, and he's crying.
And he's genuinely crying, and he's working himself into a,
almost a lather of emotions. And just reading up about this
scene. Would he would, he had requested
a doctor to be present for that scene, because he was concerned,
that he was going to become ill. I'm from, from filming it.
I was reading apparently, Jeremy Camp had quite a tough time on
this film. You know, it was, it was not an
easy experience for him at all, he kind of, on the verge of a
breakdown. I'm not filming.
Omelette. And I think from what I could
gather in a Clive reefs, that director worked, very hard to
get them into character. So it seems like is his approach
to. This was that they would keep
gather them all together in the morning and they'd have a few
hours. I in the open air in the
sunshine, in the morning, and then 11 a.m., or whatever, they
would descend into the actual block house and they would be
down there in Virtual pitch Darkness for the next, you know,
And 12 hours of filming and and, you know if if if you're a
method actor, in particular, that's gonna get you a little
bit. I think I can totally understand
how that would start to to weigh on your mind a little bit and to
affect your mental health. So yeah, I did read that Jeremy
Kemp. I do know this, this really got
to him it, really affected him, you know, someone who is working
on the film said that because it was that you actually filmed in
this disused underground Hospital.
Yeah. Which was damp.
And it was, you know, the are circulations fairly limited.
He said that if you left something down there like a
script, or whatever overnight, you come back in the next
morning and they'd be mold opens applied, you know, that's
unrelentingly grimming, quite downbeat.
And the thing is that they apparently they filmed six weeks
in this place. Hmm.
And And I want to just very briefly because I want to talk
to you about Peter Vaughan more detail, but I want to talk about
Peter Sellers beard. I know what you're going to say
here. I'll go on then, what am I going
to say? It's not the same, be a, but he
had on the Michael Parkinson show it is.
Well, the thing is right. We know that he was totally
clean shaven on the last day of April 1972.
Why do we know that? Because of the last game show is
the last go. Good show of all.
Yes, of course. Yeah.
So he was totally clean. Shaven last day of April.
Yeah, filming begins in June, so he's got to have grown a full
beard. From during May into June, and
then the six weeks six or seven weeks filming this.
Yeah, and then he turns up in October 72, it was broadcast but
obviously it was recorded before then the pockets and meets the
goons. Yeah appearance.
So it's a fascinating little, what is that?
It five six, five, six months, Jeff capsule.
There is a beard Rightly is the kind of mom that could grow a
beard in about 48 hours. He's facial hair.
Has that look about it? I Robin Williams was the same
carry-back very exactly. Yes.
Yeah, yeah. Like if you left, Peter Sellers
in a room for 48 hours, without a razor blade, he'd come out
looking like Robinson Crusoe. I don't imagine.
That was a problem. Always looked like a body of my
aftershave three times a day. You seen the episode, The Sea
Simpsons where home is shaving and he loses his Muzzle, you
know, the muzzle for about 2 seconds and then it just comes
back again. Stop Fred Flintstone?
Yeah, I've o'clock shadow. Yeah, no, I don't imagine
sellers had a problem with that at all.
I do. I love the fact that we could
trace the evolution of sellers facial hair by watching.
Instant TV and film appearances. I find job land and fascinating
to do the same thing with yes. Okay.
I loved. I mean, I assume you've seen Get
back. Yeah again with you know Pizza
amazing amazing, yeah, seed with me to Sellers and then I always
loved there's there's a I think it's day three or four in.
Get back. John Lennon is very noticeably
washed his hair. But guys I can't do a thing with
it. It's just all over the place and
then you sell the next few days. You see it gradually, greasier
and Christianity. I love stuff like that.
I'll absolutely it's the mini mini.
A shy but it's people like you and I love.
Yeah, yeah, there's sellers in the Blockhouse, the look.
I mean, the look of all of them, obviously that they're not meant
to look healthy, but sellers, in particular, he's later scenes in
the block house. And I assumed it was kind of
filmed roughly in order just because of the growth of all of
that facial hair throughout the later scenes, oh my God sellers
looks Dreadful in it. He looks he looks like a very
very unwell man. Well, they all do like Sittin
and with that very quickly, just run through the cars because
there's a very small cast. We've got, we've got sellers,
he's above the title. Although, although you can argue
his not really the lead character, it's not because, and
I think we could do sport is here, can we?
Oh, I think so. Yeah, it's a 50 year old film?
Because because I don't was lost.
Yeah, he doesn't, he doesn't see the film out.
You've got bizarrely, you've got Charles aznavour, she may be,
but I don't understand why Charles is was Charles aznavour
notable for his acting roles. Or as far as I can see, I was
trying to work this out. I got mean, I don't know if
maybe Charles aznavour has seen as this extraordinary Powerhouse
actor in France. Spring in the Telly, we just do
it for got yes, hearts, a curious bit of casting, isn't
it? Yeah, yeah.
He's very good in it. Are, you know, it's absolutely
completely holds his own alongside Sellers, and Peter
Vaughan, and Jeremy Kemp, I think performance.
Have you ever seen kangan? He's not really a tangent.
You understand? My God, Have You Ever Seen The
it's held up as being among what?
Yeah. Among The worst British sitcoms
of all time. Although certainly been God dead
Earnest. Oh, I saw it when it was on
Andrew Sachs as yeah, I'm in heaven.
I've never seen it since. Yeah.
Andrew sex is he's got a beard in that, right?
Yeah. As this drama is the doghouse
goes on. Yeah.
Charles aznavour. Who's got a beard?
Yes more and more resembles. Andrew Sachs and dead honest.
It's quite unnerving your memories of dead.
The far more Vivid than molony watched a couple of weeks ago.
Is that he's on YouTube? It's don't think.
Since I've seen it, we could be organized some shady Backstreet
in 1982, isn't it? So might that I do remember
watching it at the time and kind of enjoying it.
But I was nine years old and my critical faculties were not why
I some would argue that my critical faculties haven't
improved one bit since 1982 and they may well be right but I bet
I should maybe I should rephrase it at some point and that.
Yeah, I wouldn't bother if I was you okay.
Now, you got me intrigued now. Nothing else.
I want to see how much like Charles aznavour, Andrew Sachs
looks and just running off. The rest of the cast is there's
supposed Jeremy Kemp, who plays gribbin ski and then we have
Leon lisiek or less SEC. Not quite sure.
Hoping, is that the he I just found out.
He's one of those faces that you recognize from tons of things.
Yeah, and he plays toshack. Who's that?
How did you describe that character?
I'm not sure. It's easy, Spanish or the cement
to. I'm not quite sure what
nationality is meant to be. No me neither.
It's quite vague. Isn't it saying their fitzco
shake? It must be Eastern European
Jewish people. Yeah, yeah, the actor died last
month. Literally less than we don't
know that. Yeah, yeah, I'm here and he was
in. I saw him recently watching the
Alan Arkin. The film Inspector Clouseau,
right? Okay.
And he was also a regular character in Roberts robots,
robots robots as the desperate character who's
trying to knock a hole in the concrete to escape.
It's quite obsessed with out, doesn't it?
Yes. He's going nowhere.
To doomed Venture it completely. Yes.
And then we have Nicholas Jones as Kramer.
Who is the younger man that gribben, ski takes a shine to.
Yeah, as we get through the film, there's a says that
there's a sort of a homoerotic scene, isn't it?
Yes, there are some and then, yeah, and then the
aforementioned Peter Vaughn, who who Begins the film is, kind of
the, I suppose you'd call him. The the quote villain of the
piece in the sense that he is a prisoner functionaries.
Henry, he's quite officious, they call him a collaborator.
Yeah, and he plays oh Fray. Yes.
And so he said when they find the wine and they start
celebrating and drinking and eating cheese and all sorts of
he's telling them to stop because you know, it's the
Germans the job. Absolutely.
Yeah. And and and in the end he
becomes ostracized essentially a from their group and goes mad.
Now you yourself have interviewed beautiful.
I dared I was really lucky. I used to, I used to work for
BBC, T's Northeastern radio station and for a couple of
years, I did the afternoon show the main afternoon show.
So I was very lucky and I got to interview, lots of people whose
work, I absolutely love during that period and Peter.
Vaughn's autobiography was published in 2016 on the
Publishers contacted me because I've done stuff too.
Tie in with their Publications previously.
And they said would you be interested in interviewing Peter
Vaughan who I guess at that stage?
I mean it's not that long before before he actually died.
I think he died at the end of 2016.
So it was only a few months before he died.
He was well into his 90s. I think at this stage in his
life but he lost look the same. This a look at this.
What he was still kind of acting really when I spoke to him in
2016 because he'd been in Game of Thrones for a few Goes that
point. So obviously I jumped at the
chance. I mean, a lie, excuse for me to
call call an actor and talk about their films and TV career.
So I had I think from memory about half an hour as a
pre-recorded interview with Peter warm, and he was just
fascinating, he was absolutely Charming.
A complete old-school gentleman and I just used it as an excuse
essentially to throw Oh, loads of TV and film titles at him and
say what are your memories of being in this?
And I always kind of, I never paid any heed to the fact that I
was meant to be doing this for a block of Main Street in general
radio audience. You want to know about trouty?
Yeah, obviously, we'll talk a bit about porridge, but Peter,
I've got to ask you about the film, you made in 1972, called
The Block house. So yeah.
I this lovely. How far with Peter Vaughan who's
Just absolutely happy to chat about any aspect of his career.
So yeah, I know me being me, I did ask him about the block
house which was a film. Don't think I've not long seen
it for the first time I think in 2016 somewhere around there.
So as a film that was fresh in my mind and I was Keen in
particular to ask about sellers, knowing what sellers reputation
was like for bad behavior in the early 1970s.
And he said he was fine. So there you go.
From the horse's mouth from a man who spent six weeks with
Peter Sellers in an underground bunker.
Great God like a house on fire. A bloody mess.
This place. Getting out of control,
sometimes cleaner country. Okay, yes, afraid.
You're right. But why can you not ask?
I'm still sick because your daddy up.
I've got a riddle for you. Is it already knows the brain.
Teaser. Anyway, I've got a question for
you. Yeah.
Okay. So Peter Vaughn appeared in this
film of Peter Sellers. He never appeared in another
film with Peter Sellers, but he did appear in a Peter, Sellers
film, why me? So, can you tell me what, stuff
like this? Let me write me brains.
So you say, but he never, he never acted face-to-face with
Peter Sellers again, but he does in some capacity, make an
appearance in a Peter Sellers film know he, okay, he appeared
in Peter Sellers film. That, Peter Sellers himself did
not appear in. What?
Oh no, this is film that. Peter Sellers didn't.
I'm being a little bit pixie as year.
Bill mom, impish out with. Okay, give me a clue.
All right, Louis Now God, tell me otherwise you'd be over here
all day. I'm quite frankly, I've got
better things to do than this. Okay, thanks a lot.
Are you aware of the you aware of the film?
Based on the book, The Roger Lewis book called the life and
death of Peter Sellers. That came out course.
Yeah. It's beautiful.
And as Peter Van make an appearance in that, yes, he
plays Bill sellers, he plays Peter's.
Father. Course it does.
Yeah, I'm seeing it for a long time.
Yeah, the Geoffrey Rush film. Yes, a jerk.
Rush at one point dresses up as Bill salus.
He's so Geoffrey Rush is dressing up as Peter Vaughn as
Bill sellers wish. I thought about what I
interviewed Peter Vaughan, of course you later went on to play
Peter Sellers. Dad, gives why me, God, I
forgotten all about that and Peter Sellers dead bill.
Yeah, it's partly inspired the character that cell has played
in the optimists of nine elms.young.
And Legend has it. That bill sellers obscure.
This isn't true, but the sellers used to put it about the bill
sellers had taught George Formby.
The ukulele are right. Okay, well, it run in the
family, didn't it? Hmm, interesting.
No, I'd completely forgotten about that.
So yeah, thank you very much for that.
Now, Peter Van was eight. I don't think terrific actor,
Peter Vaughan and it was it was really interesting to hear
because I think I said to him, you know what, what are your
memories of Came with Peter Sellers expecting a kind of
slightly guarded answer. And he just said, wonderful, ah,
this film as well. It's based on a true story
although quite quite heavily altered.
Yeah, I was trying to find out a little bit more about that and
it does seem to be there are differing stories.
I think are they as to how accurate it is?
I have semi or not obey when you know the story like that's what
But what seems to have become established as the story?
The actual film suddenly looks like not quite as Bleak as it
could mean over there. Well, so the film.
It's should we just quickly run through them?
What happens in the film because it has to give you the real
story. It spoiler alert.
So you have these seven men, one by one day, turn up their toes.
So you have you have Peter Peter Vaughn's character who he goes
mad and he cuts her throat with a serrated.
Can't. Yes.
And they They realize that they can have to do something with
the body. Obviously, they're quite the
very shocked by it despite the fact that no one seemed to like
him. But they have some bags or
barrels of flour and they decide that what they will do is
they'll just bury him in a big, big sort of mountain of flour.
Yeah. And then One by one.
They each of them is becoming more pale, more drawn, the
getting the drinking a lot, they're dead, they're washing
with, why not? They like cleaning themselves
with wind. You have Jeremy Kemp character
as I say, he kind of hooks up with the younger Kramer and and
then grab in ski at one point. I'm not quite sure what happens.
I think he it does. He suffer.
He flies into a rage and is he sort of suffer a heart attack or
something like that? He, you don't, because that way,
doesn't it? Yeah.
Kramer is very affected by that and essentially removed himself
and goes off and although, don't let me see it.
He kind of, it's accepted that he's died.
And then Koscheck dies. He just dies in his sleep and
they, and then Roque cut his wrists and plunges his hands
into a bag of flour. It's one of the most affecting
and just horrible death scenes, I've seen on screen I think and
I think it's Affecting almost because of its ordinariness and
that he just there is no dramatic build up to it that.
You know, that either one of one of the most affecting things
about the film I think, is that it isn't particularly played for
drama. There are no huge beats in their
huge dramatic sequences. The whole thing is just this
very downbeat deterioration of these men's physical, and mental
health. And like you say, some of the
deaths we don't even It's just suggested that they've wandered
off into another room and kind of lost the will to live.
Yeah. She's sort of faded away but
Rocky's death sellers is death is just so heartbreaking lie.
I don't want to use them the word mundane about a person's
death but he just does it. He just better effect.
It's completely, matter of fact, he just puts his hands into a
bag of flour. We don't even see the ACT, it's
just Jested that he's slashed one of his wrists and he just
lies there and waits to die with a completely resigned, look upon
his face. And that's it, we don't even see
it. I think it's suggested in the
next scene that the, you know, he's God, they just say, as a
matter of fact, Rock has gone rock, he's dead.
He's not, he's not, he's quite a wistful character, but he's not.
He seems among the most sort of grounded or level-headed of all
the, of all the men he does. Like you say, he's he's a
teacher, isn't he? And I think he tries to he's the
one that tries to both intellectualize and to
rationalize the experience of being stuck in this this block
house. So he's the one who works out
how to measure time using candles and the regularity of
his heartbeat. I think he's the one that
attempt to find things for them to do.
There's a scene early on in the film, where he's writing poetry
on the walls, which I think in Roger Lewis is book.
It's established that sellers did that off his own bat, you
know, stuff that sellers remembered from school, one of
the Rhymes. He puts on the wall is one that
has no other source apparently bought.
What was in Peter Sellers his head.
He just learned it at school and wish I wish I'd written one of
spikes poems. Oh, that would have been quite
something with it, or maybe that would have taken as out of it to
him. Yeah, too much of an inch.
It's not a film for in jokes, possibly, but he's there's a
scene where sellers character tries to encourage them to play
dominoes. And I thought I swear, it's one
of the longest bits of dialogue in the film.
It's not a film. It's heavy on dialogue at all.
But it's this scene which apparently sellers improvised.
Yeah, he tries to explain Domino's to these varying
nationalities that have never really heard of the game.
He tries to explain where the name dominoes comes from, which
apparently was completely improvised by Sellers, and it's
a beautiful scene. Again, he just under plays it
wonderfully. But yeah, the together room,
Jeremy Kemp wasn't that? I wasn't that Keen on that
because he his heart, right? He hated ad-libbing are.
Well, aware is a yes. Yes, I can see that.
Yeah, if he was completely method and yes, so he was he was
uneasy about that whole scene. I think it's the point in the
film that comes. Closest to seeing kind of
Sellers as a. But it's not played for Laughs
obviously, but you could see how it could have been.
I think that scene I'm good here and English game.
Anyone like to play? I bet you cousin is like to play
this game with me. But is it is called Dominos
Greek to me? Yes, it does not agree, but
nevertheless, it is English. Possibly, I don't know the name
of the inventor possibly was great during an even narrower
and of course, ability in English.
I want to bring some profit that we really expand what, how to
play this game and they one thing is much too simple For
You. Vince, and I will explain why
you were in England. I discovered this game from
outside of England. Yeah, this is just the sort of
resigned wistfulness to sellers throughout, he never panics.
He does try to make the best of the situation.
You just tried to rationalize the situation and the scene.
I mean, the the scene before he dies, where he takes out, what
we assume is a black and white photo of the school where he
taught and his there's wistfully at that.
And you think there's there. There's a man having one final
look at the life that he knows he will never be able to retain
its Heartbreaking. Mmm.
And then we have the two, we have two surviving characters,
which is Charles, as the Vols character and a oscarsson Lund,
and the sitting there and the candles run out.
Yeah. And they're plunged into pitch
Blackness and and that's it. The film ends and there's a
caption at the end that says essentially says that in 1951.
The block house was opened by workmen and two survivors
emerged. Yeah.
Having spent the past four years, in complete darkness.
Yeah, I've got it, I've got a news report from the time, okay.
I'll just read a little bit of if you don't mind because
absolutely. So it's based on this true
story, a news item newspaper item from 18th of June 1951.
And it's entitled buried alive for six years.
It's says Warsaw Poland, a 32 year.
Old German Soldier who said, he'd been buried alive for six
years. In a Nazi Supply Depot was given
a good chance by Hospital. Authorities, Monday to regain
his health and eyesight. Okay, he said he and five
companions were trapped in an underground, German Army Food,
and Supply Warehouse by retreating Nazi troops, who
Dynamite at the entrance, early in 1945 the soldier and one
other survivor of the internment, Baited blinded and
blubbering from the bunker about a month ago, when polish workers
cleared, wreckage from the entrance to the Depo, the second
Survivor dropped dead of shock on emerging into the daylight
and it gets it goes on to say it's other his other companions
have committed suicide previously.
And then it says the trapped. Men had no tools with which to
dig their way out of the concrete bunker.
He said they washed in Rhine wine and incased their dead in
huge flower. Ice axe.
The bodies were almost perfectly mummified.
So there you go. Yeah, so essentially, but the
ending of the film remarkably is quite sugar-coated, isn't it?
Because all we're told at the end of the film is and it's done
via captions, was that two men survived?
Yeah into men emerged. Yeah, we're not told that
neither of them survive, very long afterwards, which would
have made her an incredibly downbeat film even more
downbeat. Yeah, it's an amazing story to
be able to live in Pitch. Blackness.
Yeah. For four years.
Yeah. It you would be absolutely if
you weren't if you didn't die of well, what would you die?
I'll figure if you didn't kill yourself, you do your mental.
Health would be stretched to Breaking Point.
Absolutely. Yeah.
No. It's such an extraordinary and
touching story and I think I'm kind of sorry.
I wonder why. I wonder what Drew settlers to
the part. Was it simply the fact that he
had no other offers on the table but that work was essentially
drying up for him. Or was there something about
this story that really attracted him to it?
It's so unlike anything that he did in his career anywhere else?
Well I'm I've looked for reasons as to what why he gave me, he
used to hit a bit of a knack for choosing for not choosing good
films. A lot of the time I think it's
one of those That just couldn't tell the quality of a script
when he saw it, ye turned down films that he should have taken
that. Exactly.
But he seems, he seems to have been quite proud of this film,
despite the fact, and I think, the reason it didn't get a
proper released, by the way. Was because Studio execs thought
that, you know, the beginning was so good, right?
And then, it just becomes darker and darker darker.
So it was deliberately buried by that if you'll pardon the pun,
it was deliberately buried by by the Studio's.
You just thought it was on commercial.
Angel because iPad Peter Vaughan.
I think suggested, when I spoke to him there was some sort of
quarrel over ownership and nobody knew where the right
sleigh, but it sounds like it was a little bit more than that.
Mmm. Yeah, well, there's as well, it
didn't help that sellers character had a French accent
about the fact that some people thought of Clouseau.
Yeah. Okay.
This was before Return of the Pink Panther, but obviously.
Yeah. So he was still quite closely
associated with. Yeah.
Please say. But he sink Celestine quite
proud of the film, and he He gave an interview in 1973 around
the time that I guess it's Phil would have come out but it
didn't, he said, he described the director he said, Clive Ruiz
who directed the film is every bit as good as Stanley Kubrick,
which is quite the compliment, isn't it?
And, and kinda curious, that Clive restart me.
I was looking at his IMDb entry today.
There's not an awful lot on there.
No, he was, used to make a lot of adverts.
He began to like, who was it? Yeah.
Ridley Scott, Denise Ridley, Scott made lots of arguments.
Yes, he did. Yeah.
So climb trees came through the same training if you like.
And yeah, but he got on very well with as he said at the
beginning of the conversation Roger Lewis, Roger Lewis when he
was writing the Peter Sellers book.
He struggled to to get a copy of the yes.
And so he was put in contact with Clay frese who Advise them
to private screening, and it by all accounts.
The two men got on very well. And there's a bit in little
sequence in Roger Lewis's book. I just want to read where clove
Ruiz talks about filming and he said, we had a special technique
for shooting 70 feet underground, very quiet.
And so I'd say Stand By and they'd be silenced.
I'd wait sometimes a minute then return the camera on.
Then wait a bit more and I'd say action.
There was a terrific feeling that got to the actors and it
made it easier for them to be emotional.
When sellers begins to weep because he's moved by aznavour
giving him a drink during the party sequence.
He just did that he didn't need any help with the makeup or
chemicals in his eyes. He could just do it a wonderful
actor. Peter did get so involved in the
part and he went through periods of depression and worried as he
always did but that was used and was embodied in the character he
played He was also smoking a lot of dope.
He was on macrobiotic diets, still on his head a lot.
So he was he was at maybe he was kind of at one with himself at
that point. You know.
It sounds like it doesn't it. And again, possibly the nature
of the part of the nature of the film meant that he took it.
Seriously. I think it's is there also a bit
where Ike life or he says basically if even though sellers
was well, behaved on this film, the kind of the fear that he
might not be kind of hung over it.
Hmm, kind of constantly on edge thinking like do right, it's
gonna be tomorrow. Tomorrow begins with R.
Or a phone turns up in a pair of lime green drainpipe, trousers
and sellers loses his shit. Because it can't have anybody
wearing green on? That was a, that was a thing,
wasn't it? Yeah.
There's one day isn't there,
when sellers turns up in like a caftan and a hippie wig, and
Clive Reese does exactly the right thing which is basically
to ignore it because if you'd if you got along with it, if you if
you laugh. Sellers big.
You know, try to be funny and coming up with ridiculous
antics. You did encourage him and he do
it more and it would just spiral out of control.
Yeah. And if you told him off for it,
he'd throw a 20 and storm off set and try to get the director
fired. So I've reached appears to have
chosen that the absolute perfect tactic was just kind of a key
role his eyes to the yes. Very nice.
Peter that's get on with today's filming.
Yeah. Now they say so, You know, it's
not a film that I will rush to watch again.
I will watch, I've been at some point, which is not the quality
of, it's a beautifully made and performed and directed film, but
it's not want us to stick on. It's not want to stick on after
a stressful day when you want to unwind.
I mean, the blu-ray releases very nice.
It's a nice transfer, and I can't imagine what you get on,
for example, VHS or something like that because it's so dumb.
Yeah, actually dark. It is you Best quality version
to really, to really enjoy it. If that's the right word.
Yeah. Okay.
So Bob, thank you for, for thank you for bringing this along for
us to talk about and and have enjoyed.
It will have talked about quite a bit today and way and we've
gone round the houses a little bit and I'm probably taking some
responsibility for that, but not all of it.
It's on you, Tyler, thank you. Okay, well, what have you got
coming up? What are you working on at the
moment. Oh blimey, there's always
something I mean my My stock in trade really at the moment is,
I'm a feature writer for magazine, so I write for the 40
and times where I do a thing called The Haunted generation,
which is all about bout that music and art movement that's
been inspired by the creepy 1970s childhood, I write for
electronic sound magazine, I write for the official Doctor
Who magazine which I'm very proud of because I'm a huge
Doctor Who fan. I'm touring with the scarred for
life show about again. Gary 1970s and 80s TV and I
think we might do some more Summer Wine o stuff reasonably
soon because it is the 50th anniversary of Last of the
Summer Wine next year. It launched in 1973.
So watch the watch this space as they say.
And it's the 50th anniversary of.
Are you being served in September?
They say are we doing anything for that?
What should we do? I used to do, but That's both
dress up and come out of a lift at different times.
We'll both put on those browncoats that mr.
Harmon, mr. Nash used to wear and wailing
wailing, the central display unit which is like this or
tomete on lifts up mrs. Slocum's dress shows a niggers.
That's exactly what we'll do you and I will get together on the
50th anniversary of, are you being served and do exactly
that? Oh, Bob, thank you so much for
Speaking to today, it's been a blast.
Absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me.
And maybe one day you can come back and talk about Hoffman or
something like that. So now the Cheery another Cherry
says, Phil. Thanks again to Bob.
Thank you for listening. Please rate and review And
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