Letter From Britain: An EastEnders Fortnight
By Larry Jaffee
My trip to London this past 27 May-10 June started off with few expectations, considering that I received prior to my departure an e-mail from the assistant of EastEnders executive producer Louise Berridge with the news that she was on holiday while I was in town, and therefore a trip to the studio would not be possible. In addition, Mal Young, the BBC's head of drama who oversees the series, sent an e-mail informing me that he was on holiday in Crete. I received further discouragement from the show's publicists that perhaps a visit to the set was not in the cards this time around.
No problem, I thought, for I have an address book full of castmembers, as well as a few I hadn't met yet but with whom I had some correspondence, who were eager for a visit and chat. The timing was perfect to catch one of the last performances of the West End play Rattle of a Simple Man starring Michelle Collins (Cindy Beale). Having met her in London the past January for a chat, I called her to enquire who could arrange tickets. "That would be me," Michelle replied. And sure enough, two tickets were waiting for me and my friend Ann Moneypenny at the box office a few days later. After the performance, Michelle invited Ann and me to join her and her mates at the pub across the street.
Once there, she fluttered back and forth between three groups of friends. One of those groups included Kevin Spacey, who apparently attended Michelle's play. Spacey moved to London in the spring to become artistic director of the respected British theatre group, the Old Vic. Spacey is one of my favourite American actors, and his films American Beauty and The Shipping News are among favourite all-time movies.
I knew from an interview I did last fall with music producer Phil Ramone that Spacey was starring in a forthcoming biopic on the late entertainer Bobby Darin, which the actor also directed. But for the first time in my life, I was too intimidated to talk to a celebrity.
When I rendezvoused with Ann a few days later at her friend's restaurant Rez's near the Strand to meet for a Gazette interview she arranged with Troy Titus-Adams (Queen Vic barmaid Nina Harris, one-time girlfriend of Grant Mitchell), I told her how I was berating myself because of the missed opportunity-not attempting to speak with Spacey. Ann said she was doing the same thing. Troy turned out to be delightful, far sharper than her EastEnders character. For example, she asked rhetorically, "Why is it no one in Albert Square has a washing machine? I understand you have to have a launderette. But Phil Mitchell owns half of Walford, surely he could afford one." It's this kind of insight and common sense from Troy that will be in her interview in the next issue. Earlier that day, I had lunch with Richard Driscoll (Vicar Alex), with whom I share a few acquaintances. We met on the South Bank of the Thames, across from the famous Tower Hill, near where Richard explained he was "refurbing" his flat. We might do a Gazette interview in the future.
Another evening I met up with good mate Deepak Verma (Sanjay Kapoor) at a nearby Soho pub, where he introduced me to some of his mates. And after hearing about her for more than six years, I finally met Deepak's girlfriend Claire, who turned out be every bit as charming and attractive as her build-up. Both Claire and me compared notes on the rock singer Morrissey, who was getting ready to play London and is enjoying a hit comeback CD. Claire loved to hear how I was certain that Morrissey was an EastEnders fan, having seen a photo of him in Albert Square to prove it. The three of us then had dinner at an Indian restaurant which Deepak recommended.
On Saturday while on the tube train out to Richmond to meet John Altman (Nick Cotton), I also had a nice phone chat with Howard Anthony (Alan Jackson), who told me he was going to spend the summer in New Zealand playing the title role of Othello.
Meeting me at the train station at Richmond, which is southwest of London, John showed me around the town, pointing out the local theatre off the square and the nearby house of famous filmmaker Sir Richard Attenborough. After a delightful lunch at a café off the Thames, a ragamuffin almost sideswiped on his bicycle John and me, with John doing his best Nick Cotton impression of "OI!!!!" We then briefly retreated to John's flat, decorated with movie and music memorabilia and posters of some of the shows he's appeared in.
Like John, I also have a Beatles trivia book in my bathroom. He gave me a programme of the 18-24 May production at The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton of American Patrol, in which he starred playing Glenn Miller, the American big-band leader. It was a role John clearly cherished playing because it was so different from everything else he's been in. And his physical resemblance to Miller is uncanny, an example of the producer's casting genius. We then took to John's car, and we drove around Richmond, where he pointed out the homes of Mick Jagger and Pete Townshend.
After driving through Richmond Park, where deer and other animals were quite close, John came up with the idea of proceeding to Hampton Court, where King Henry VIII lived and built the majestic gardens that still exist today. A mate of John's gave us a brief horse and buggy tour around the grounds, pointing out such landmarks as the oldest tree in England. It was totally unexpected to spend the entire afternoon with John-what a terrific host. I can't wait until Nasty Nick makes his way back to U.S. public TV screens any day now.
The next day I set aside to visit Gretchen Franklin (Ethel Skinner) at Queen Mary's Hospital in Roehampton, just south of Barnes, where Gretchen's home is being minded from someone from the council, who gave me tube/bus directions on how to get to the hospital. When I arrived, Queen Mary's seemed abandoned. Besides the attendant stationed at the entrance-who prepared me for a 10-minute walk on the other side of the facility-I didn't see a soul, walking down hall after hall, turn after turn. I finally found Gretchen's ward, which she shared with several other elderly women, two of whom also had visitors during my visit. Gretchen had been recently moved to Queen Mary's after being at another hospital recovering from a fall.
Gretchen, in her 90s but as sharp as ever, was glad to see me. We reminisced about our other times together at her home, and caught up on what we've been doing since our last visit in October. Gretchen also hasn't lost any of her sense of humour. I mentioned to her it would be somewhat difficult for us to continue our tradition of sharing a bottle of champagne, and she said there was no reason I couldn't have snuck it in, no matter if the nurses would object. She also told me how she once swiped one of those small bottles of liquor that was left over from a hospital reception. We talked of current events.
The top news that morning was Ronald Reagan's death, and she said they knew. We also talked about the next day's 60th anniversary of D-Day invasion of Normandy, which the British newspapers called "Britain's Finest Hour." In any case, it certainly cemented the special relationship between Britain and her former colonies. She told me how several months earlier she had a reunion with some of her EastEnders colleagues at a birthday party in honour of June Brown (Dot Cotton), which was also attended by John Altman, who told me that he saw Gretchen there in a wheelchair. It was a little tough to carry on our conversation when I could hear in the background the EastEnders theme music, with the telly on in the nurses' station. Our visit coincided with the Sunday omnibus repeat of the previous week's four episodes. Gretchen said she hardly watched EastEnders any more, and I didn't even mention to her that I could hear it playing in the background. I wish Gretchen a speedy recovery.
After all, she's the British gran I never had.
(My friend in Kensington was taping the omnibus for for me, although I ended up with only the first hour because BBC1 decided to move the second hour to BBC2 for a D-Day anniversary preemption without alerting the television guides.
By the way, I watched the previous week's omnibus in Brighton with Lorraine Jones and her daughter Sarah, whose photo was in the last Gazette.)
In the tube station, I noticed a poster for Journey's End, reviewed in the last issue and co-starring Paul Bradley (Nigel Bates). The play moved to a new theatre, and was ironically replaced by Michelle's play. For my final free night, I had dinner with Leonard Fenton (Dr Legg) at the Chelsea Arts Club. Len also shared with me some photos of him acting with Orson Welles and American actor David Soul (of Starsky & Hutch fame). He also told me of a friend's teenage son who recently caught the acting bug, and is in some scenes of Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban. Most of the Chelsea Arts Club's members were artists, Len explained, although upon leaving an actress with whom he once appeared in a play greeted him warmly.
Walking our way back to the South Kensington tube station, Len and I then shared the Groucho Marx joke that "I'd never be a member of a club that would have me as a member." It was a fitting end to an EastEnders-filled fortnight, and I never laid eyes on Albert Square.
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