1788 Timothy Small's Gunrush, Durham Cricket, the Ashes and Sunderland win at Norwich

This was to have been a different kind of day but early on the desk top computer went peculiar and the rest of the day has been spent setting up the laptop with the desktop display unit, the printer, extension sound speakers and the wireless mouse. Only the keyboard remains unattached. I have approached the potentially work record disaster this way rather than immediately send for help for the desk top because I hope the problem is temporary but if not it may be some time before it can be repaired or replaced and the data not transferred to disk can be saved. This will have implications for the work programme, but I had been planning to concentrate or weight reduction and fitness between now and winter.

The process of setting up the lap top as a desk top has not been without its problems. Surprisingly the mouse was the easiest to organise as has been the a better sound quality. The desktop display proved to be a problem when I discovered the possibilities of different displays on the two screen and for a top achieved a desktop screen on screen two and nothing else until I eventually found the way to get back to showing the same display on both screens. I will leave the optional approach until another day, if ever! I then made the mistake of asking the computer via windows to find software for the printer instead of locating the disk, then found the disk which interrupted the download and eventually reached a stalemate until I removed the disk and let the download take its course.

I also put the rubbish out and retrieved, washed up and washed me, completed the ironing, gave the kitchen surfaces a good clean and the over top and commenced on the bathroom with the washbasin which is still in process. I also started the washing washing and drying but forgot how to open the machine door at the end of the process unintentionally restarted so had to complete the cycle before transferring the load to the dryer. The consequence of all this is that I decided to postpone to outing by bus to Sunderland for the replacement glasses.

My original intention was to write about two subjects which are in stark contrast. It has been a joyous few days of sport with Durham’s win against Warwickshire almost making it impossible for another team to win the champions, England won the last Test against all expectations and all three northeast football clubs won their matches over the weekend with Sunderland also winning well against Norwich away from home in the League Cup competition second round. Neither British driver won the Formula 1 Grand Prix and I missed the Athletics World Championships.

Then when I was just about to watch a film, I happened to change through the channels to find Timothy Small in a drama about which I had no advance information. Timothy Small is one of finest British actors of this day and so I stayed and found a major two hour dramatic event which was painful to watch because of the reality it portrayed. The drama is about what happens to a family when one of their children in gunned down.

Timothy Small plays a driving instructor whose approach is to spread kindness, avoid confrontations and unpleasantness. Over their years of marriage his wife has become the one to react to life in a more aggressive way so when two hooded youths push in before them in the local Mini market against her husbands advice she intervenes and the most insecure and disturbed of the young men pulls out a gun and shoots the daughter intending to silence the mother. She dies and the police are unable to move towards finding the culprits with no one coming forward, no witnesses and no clues except the cartridge which can be matched to the gun if it is found.

It is also drama which attempts to explain rather than justify how two young men became involved in the killing. One is weak with ambitions and wanting respect. He sees the killing as an opportunity to become part of the local drug gang network but quickly messes up and is knife cut as a warning. He retaliates by attempting to shoot the person with the gang network who reported his misbehaviour, having retrieved the gun from the canal when his partner in crime was ordered to dispose the weapon.

His partner comes from a family where the father is trying to put the past behind him. He grew up on one of the estates mentioned in the film which have become over run by drugs and associated criminal activity and where knives and guns are available at a price, The father is now a lawyer/counsellor representing and helping his former community, or at least this is the impression I gained of the situation. The son becomes caught up in the situation by having the wrong kind of friend.

The death and the lack of an arrest separates the couple as the wife punishes herself knowing that her failure to keep quiet and move away precipitated the killing of her eldest daughter with whom she had been having problems just before the incident, while the husband knows it is constant avoidance of issues which helped create what happened. They are unable to cope when the police liaison officer intimates the lack of development and trying to be helpful leaves the father alone to take a personal call on her mobile when showing him the available exhibits. Father has removed the cartridge shell and refuses to return it when the loss is discovered saying he wants to try and find out by what happened by going onto the estates and making his own enquiries. He persuades the liaison officer to put him in touch with someone who can help, the lawyer counsellor who in turn puts him in touch with a crack head whose first act is to arrange a meeting with a local supplier of weapons, one of several we are told.

The climax of the film comes when the young partner is advised by the counsellor to give the gun to Small and persuade his friend to say that the killing was an accident and therefore reduce the time they spend in prison, However the young killer will have none of this and together they kidnap the second daughter after fighting with the wife in an attempt to get the gun back from the home of the driving instructor. The first reaction of Timothy on his way to the police to hand over the gun and cartridges is to advise them of the kidnapping when informed of his wife but she encourages to him to take the law in his own hands as he is in possession of the gun.

It is at this point the title of the film becomes more clear. The counsellor has explained the empowerment which the guns brings to weak and inadequate human beings and the film makes the point that in this respect Small as the victim’s father is no different from the perpetrator of the crime. He is tempted to use the gun on his daughter’s killer when given the opportunity but realises that would make him the same as the young killer. At the very point when he decides to use the weapon just to capture the grovelling young man, an immature child at heart, a member of the drug gang fed up with the trouble he has caused for their enterprise, kills him.
The film should have ended at this point but moves to the funeral and the ability of their second daughter to play the cello once more. She had been unable to touch the instrument because the case was stained with the blood of her sister. It is a signal that the family are able to move on however difficult and permanent wounded as beings. The film therefore highlights that the dividing line between good and bad between hero and coward is a narrow and changing one for most human being, but more so for some more than others. It reinforces the unpalatable view that there are no quick fix solutions. The role of government is to provide the policing, judicial and custodial system to punish offenders when they are caught and limit the harm, at least for a time. The problem is that the custodial system is limited in what it cab achieve in terms of reform and rehabilitation and more likely the individual will become more professional and gain a network of associates through the experience. It is important that governments, specialist voluntary organisations, local government authorities and communities in general devote resources and attention to undermining the situations in which these individuals tend to flourish. The problem is a daunting one made worse by the influx of the criminals scum of Europe into the capital city and other cities and towns in the UK because of opportunities provided by an unfettered capitalist culture and membership of the enlarge Europe. This makes policing and intelligence even more difficult than before. There are however three areas where governments and our society in generalise in danger of throwing baby out with the bath water, although there is need to work new arrangements for the new situation.

The first issue is the alleged breaking down of traditional controls and respect for the authority. It is true that the various changes has created a situation in which the respectable middle class is no longer willing to accept the authority of the politicians, churchmen, self appointed moral guides and others simply because of the position they hold, or their existing wealth and power. The behaviour of members of the Royal Family, the near collapse of capitalism through the greed of bankers and speculators, the acquiescence to this situation by politicians many of whom have been revealed to have exploited their expenses beyond anything which the majority considers reasonable, the knowledge of the criminal abusive behaviour of churchmen and others in positions of authority and the increasing availability of education and information through the interned and 24/7 media, the rapid development of large parts of the UK into a multi cultural and racial society which has swamped previous populations, the rapid increase in unemployment levels and loss of homes, has all contributed to a situation where people question and challenged than just accept. However there has always been a large criminal underclass which congregates and infights for individual supremacy. The removal of some individuals into custodial care means that either other members of the criminal community take over or they maintain activities on behalf of those incarcerated for a time. Once crime becomes embedded in an estate or large community the only way to end it is to break up the estate and control and monitor all the individuals who formed the cancerous components. You have to tackle the problem specifically and it has little to do with general changes in the approach to authority and discipline by the majority of our country.

The second myth is that because these individuals misuse the state welfare system we should severely restrict or change the system for everyone else. By all means bear down on those who persistently use the system and a supplementary income to help further their illegal activities. However one has to be aware that the doing will only result in more traditional crime affecting other people more than before. Having mentioned that the USA government is reported to have paid 100000 people in Iraq a monthly sum to prevent them from becoming enemies of the new state, the provision of similar monies to the criminal classes could be viewed in a similar light as the lesser of two evils.

The third area is the desire to monitor and thereby control by gaining access to all the means by which the criminal class can communicate with each other and pass information on a European and world wide basis. It is understandable that governments like the ability to cast the widest net and then discriminate, especially as they now have the technology to do so. However this only creates the types of society which have been the cause of much blood giving over decades and centuries. The threat of terrorism is a priority for governments but it must be placed in perspective, given the situation which occurred because of the abuse of power by the Protestant unionism in Ireland, until the last decade and that which I experienced as a child between 1939 and 1945. The measures have to be commensurate to the situation.

I therefore wish that I had not seen the film as it quickly destroyed the mood I had been in beforehand, arising from some excellent sporting experiences.

I begin with Durham’s victory over Warwickshire. Victory had appeared to be the outcome as soon as Warwickshire elected to bat after winning the toss and Durham dismissed the visitors for 135. The main cause of the collapse was the improvement in the bowling of Graham Thorp who took 5 for 49 in 20 overs. This will make team selection a difficult task when Harmison and Onions return to play for the County as Durham now have Plunket, Davies and Claydon as well as Thorp as front line pace bowlers together with spinners Blackwell and young Bothwick, Breese and part time Blenkenstein. It was Blenkenstein who came on in an attempt to break a mini stand who was the surprise of the innings and match because he took three wickets and appeared to cause the Warwickshire batsmen great trouble. Durham took their innings slowly with Di Venuto 40 followed by Blenkenstein with 73, Blackwell 63 and Mustard and Plunket also getting runs to bring the total to 273 and a lead of 138. There was a possibility of the game being over in two days similar to what happened at Nottingham. At first it looked as if I was right as three wickets fell for 34 runs but then Troughton son and grandson of two actors with the senior the original Dr Who made his intentions clear and continued with a brilliant 111 given the circumstances, taking the game into the third day. This time is was the turn of Mark Davies who has had a difficult time since returning from injury who was the star performer taking 3 wickets for 19 runs from under 15 overs. He was supported by Claydon and Blackwell who each took three wickets and the last five going cheaply for 37 runs. This left Durham to get 102 runs which were achieved by Di Venuto and Chanderpaul each with 41 and the victory was by eight wickets. The arrival of Chanderpaul for Gordon Muchall strengthens the batting further and only Stoneman is at risk of being replaced as his succession of law scores continues. As predicted the three other division one championship games ended in draws so that the table now has Durham on 186 points and 7 wins, Notts on 149 and Somerset on 146 with three wins as has Lancs on 138 but having played one more game, followed by Sussex or 120 and Warwickshire on 119, Yorks 117 and Hants 116 as the also rans and poor Worcestershire on 57.

For the last two days of the game my attention was divided as the last Test of the Ashes series had commenced. From the outset I thought that an English series victory was unlikely although I hoped they would do better than the humiliating whitewash which occurred in Australia two years ago. What happened then has to be put into perspective in that in 2005 England had been on a roll under Duncan Fletcher and Peterson, Flintoff and Harmison were at their peak. The problems was that while Australia immediately planned their revenge, England celebrated their new celebrity status and went on partying with the outcome disaster. There was a new concentrated purpose in the England camp and the emphasis and ongoing performance. For Graham Onions to break through in the side has been a notable achievement and Steve Harmison has worked hard the departure of Freddie Flintoff from Test Cricket has given him an opportunity to perform at international level for the next two years, assuming the selectors do not go for an immediate team rebuild. This is a possibility given that for the fifth test the decided to bring in Warwickshire’s Graham Trott a South African by birth who elected to play for England like Kevin Peterson.

At Cardiff Australia appeared determined to continue as they had left off and only and outstanding batting performance by Durham‘s Paul Collingwood supported by Monty Panesar and James Anderson over two days prevented defeat. Panesar’s lack of form has meant Graham Swann, who can also bat has taken over, he and Collingwood with Anderson means they are held in special regard and will continues to do so. Then came Lords and the outstanding win against Australia after several decades. Captain Strauss with 165 and opener Cook 95, set the scene with a stand of 196 and England finished with a total of 425. With Anderson 4 wickets and onions 3 Australia were reduced to 215 and then a solid all round second innings batting performance with Collingwood and Prior steadying the middle order with 54 and 41, England were able to declare setting Australia 500 hundred runs to win. They got 400 of them with Clark, Haddin and Johnson outstanding. It was Flintoff with 5, his first in a Test at Lords and Swann with 4 that did the damage and England were 1 up in the series instead of 1.1

Rain affected the chances of a result at Birmingham. Anderson and Onions with 5 and four wickets respectively did the damage as Australia were kept to 263 after winning the toss and electing to bat. England with Strauss Flintoff, Bell and Broad getting runs completed their innings over 100 runs ahead at 376. Given the weather stoppages only a collapse in their second innings gave England any chance of a result but stands involving Hussey, Clark and North, the latter making nearly 200 runs for the fifth wicket left a draw.

Headingley has always been a good hunting ground for England and I was there for Botham’s Ashes victory when he turned the game on its head. This time Australia humiliated England winning by an innings and 80 runs. England won the toss and then were skittled out for 100 runs. Australia then noticed 450 with North and Clark once more and pointing scoring highly. While Broad and Swann each got 60 in England’s second innings, the side was out for 263.

It is therefore understandable that hopes were not high for the fifth test. Flintoff made it, but just about as he prepared for surgery on his knee immediately the match was over. Harmison replaced Onions who was nevertheless invited to stay along with Peterson and Panesar. It is not clear if the invitation was extended to Bopara. England won the toss on a dodgy wicket prepared for a result and found scoring runs difficult. There was a good all round contribution to the score of 332 with Straus once more setting the standards with 55, Bell with 77 and new man Trott with 41 run out. Then an amazing thing happened Australia had a good start with over 70 on the board before the first wicket fell and then they were skittled out for 165 with Broad having a brilliant spell taking five wickets 5 for 37 from 12 and Swann 4 for 38 from 14. Then it looked as the wicket which kept some balls low while others exploded was go to be the victor as three wickets fell for 39. Strauss was there again but the outstanding performance was that of Trott with 119 also supported by Swann once more with 60. England declared when Trott was out for nine wickets setting Australia two and more days to get over 500 runs. This is a total which no side in test history anywhere in their world has achieved, although despite the wicket, there was a general nervousness that the lads from down under might do it.

This got off to an excellent start with Watson and Katich putting on 80 runs before they both fell for 40 and 43. Was this the breakthrough? Pointing 66 and Hussey 121 said not adding another 100 runs in their partnership. Nerves commenced show and Collingwood dropped to difficult and one easy chance. Then it was a combination of Australia taking difficult and dangerous runs which was their down fall coupled with a brilliant throw from Flintoff which uprooted a stump for Pointing to be out when going strongly at 66. Again the wickets fell in pairs. Then five balls later a throw from Strauss broke the stumps and the replays showed that although the back foot was on the line it was not over it as required and the batsman was correctly given out. A few rubs later North was brilliantly out stumped by the wicket keeper and it appeared to be only a matter of time before the match went to England, But in cricket nothing is ever certain and Cardiff has become the benchmark for modern day survival. There was another mini stand of close on 100 and the crowd began to think the match would continue into the fifth day. Petersen decided to make an early start for home but got as far as the Vauxhall Bridge Haddin was caught by Strauss off Swann and the Harmison got a wicket as Collingwood held a catch with the score still 327. Then it was boys own stuff as Harmison had the next man caught by Flintoff and the very next ball had Clark caught by Cook, could the match end with a hat trick. It was nearly and five runs later it was over as Hussey was out for his 121. England and won the match by 197 runs and with it the Ashes series 2009. The crowd went wild and celebrations were long with everyone staying for the presentations of medals and awards and brief speeches from the captains.

All three North East Clubs in their respective matches over the weekend. Sunderland went a goal down to Blackburn where previous matches had ended 0.0.I know I was there. This time it was Kenwyn Jones who scored the goals in a hard fought game. The Boo also won at home 2.0 and Newcastle continued to confound expectations by a 2.0 win at Crystal Palace. On Monday evening I enjoyed watching Sunderland have an impressive match at Norwich shown on Sky. Sunderland were ruthless in their finishing which fortunately was not the case for Norwich who as many chances to score during the match. Sunderland fielded only 2 of the those who ha played in the game on the Saturday, Kenwyn Jones and Nosworthy. Scottish goal keeper, Craig Gordon was excellent as was new signing from Hull Frazer Campbell who nearly scored what would have the goal of the season. While Norwich have been leaking goals, the performance confirmed that Sunderland should avoid a struggle to stay in the Premier ship this year and a mid table placement should be the outcome.

1787 The 4400, Il Sahara Segreto, Torchwood, Mike Hammar

It is 10 am Sunday in August. I cannot be immediately precise because the calendar, temperature and other info on the desk top did not appear when I logged on. The computer has been playing up over the past week, shutting everything down and then starting up of its own accord, if left on while I watched TV.

I did not have a good night. I remember the dreams which I broadly understand, full of journeys and situation which did not turn out as they should in normal circumstances. It is in fact 23rd of August as the info became available when later in the day rebooted because the mouse was playing up. Some time ago, over a year and perhaps more than two I bought a wireless mouse but was not wireless organised at the time. I searched found the control unit which I then discovered had inbuilt software after searching for what I believed was a small disk and then changed the batteries and it worked so I can complete writing these notes which cover part of the last three days.

I have watched a lot of TV, and eat more than I should without much exercise, went to bed when tired and had the normal ration of sleep. I have also lost my mobile phone somewhere in the house. I sent a text yesterday morning. I remember checking it once during the day. I have not been out of the house and I feel too physically lazy to go in search at this moment but I am in the mood to write. I also have a vague notion of a theme for today with having commenced watching the 4400, a DVD gift set to mark the 70th birthday, prompted by watching another episode of Torchwood, recognising that the Torchwood time traveller had also appeared in a similar role in several episodes of Dr Who and where a preoccupation with children is of interest, understandable perhaps in view of the target audience, except that it is not the usual theme of Dr Who.

I also watched a strange Spaghetti Arabian on Saturday nights called il segreto del Sahara with Michael York, Ben Kingsley, David Soul and Andy MacDowell.

There was also James Wood as Mayor Rudi Giuliani and Stacey Keach in a Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer. The latter two are out there on their own.

A mobile phone cannot disappear in a house so I will wash and shave and try to find it before getting down to the writing. The idea of where the phone might be came to me while shaving after washing my hair. I was right and it was tucked in under the cover of the settee around the side corner. That has cheered me up a little. Most of yesterday was spent watching sport as I also plan today but first the Mike Hammer, working backwards to paradise, walking backwards reminds Helen Shapiro.

I had seen the Mikey Spillane before but I still got the plot wrong. The child of an actress is kidnapped while protected by Mike Hammer and for most of the film he suspects the child’s father as being implicated, correctly, and then the child’s mother, which was my belief. The child is recovered and the father was implicated because of gambling debt but the mystery focus was on a rogue Vietnam war unit which had originally smuggled Vietnam children into the USA for adoption but later kidnapped children in the USA, with the money used to fund the returning veterans who could not cope with living in the USA again. To enjoy you just have to like Stacey Keach and Mike Hammer for their middle aged angry man act. The story line does not really matter.

I am still not sure what I made the of the Rudy Giuliani story. The film tried to present him in a good light but still managed to reveal that he is a typical American politician, mortgaged to the political bosses and the conflicting interest groups while wrestling with his internal demons as an ordinary male human being.

My main interest as always is how far the film followed his recent image due to the 9/11 horror or provided an account of his life in the round. It attempted to do both through flashbacks to the past and to indicate something of the man behind the political mask through aspects of his private life. Born in 1944, he married after graduating from law school a second cousin Catholic. A fact which he used to gain an annulment having not obtained the required dispensation from the church prior to the marriage. My understanding is that obtaining an annulment depends on who you know and how much to are able to fund the church in different countries and at different times, so I am not in a position on how far that Rudi as an influential lawyer working in the office of the Attorney General in Washington helped his cause to marry the new love, a television personality, in 1982. The relationship lasted a dozen years during which two children were born.

He then became involved with his communications director with the relationship he attempted to keep secret until the story broke in Vanity Fair in 1997. Two years later he became involved with a fourth individual which he kept secret for over a year but then for some extraordinary reason announced the end of his marriage on Television before advising his legal wife of the decision. Understandably his wife was not impressed with his actions and disagreed with his belief that she also wanted the marriage to end.

The debate about how far the behaviour of a politician in his private life should affect his public will remain ongoing and I suspect depends on how the media respond to disclosure and the relationship which the individual has with his local community. Labour lost the by election at Norwich after the sitting member was told he would not be allowed to sit, following a National executive inquisition held in response to media criticism for a few of the Members because of the use of public money as expenses and which to his local community and the rest of us appeared to have been without rhyme or reason given that he did no differently from a significant number of members of the Cabinet and government notably the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The film presented Giuliani has having an exceptionally poor public political popularity rating shortly before the events of 9/11. He then divorced his wife and married the person who had help him overcome treatment for a prostate cancer from which his father had died at the age of 73. He is reported to have become estranged from his children.

What is without question among political interests on both sides of the Atlantic is that Rudy responded to the events of 9/11 in such a way which united the city and which behind the scenes organised the recovery in an exceptionally efficient way. Whereas the American President went to ground acting on advice, Giuliani was on the scene from the outset. He received an honorary knighthood from the Queen of England and Time Magazine named him person of the year. Since leaving the Mayoralty he ran for President last year, dropping out at the beginning of 2008 after having done well in the previous year. He has become a partner in a law firm which immediately changed their name to incorporate his.

I watched the first of the new X Factor competition last night which although allocated a 90 minute peak evening session was full of long advertisement breaks. The new series of TV auditions has been changed in that instead of singing without a backing tape before judges, each artist has a backing tape and sings not just to the judges but to a live audience of several thousand. During the week I heard a short radio contribution from someone who arrived at the 02 arena at 9am, and was given his audition at 11pm. The thousands who attended, an estimated 20000 were shown together on the outside concourse. This is presumably because the programme organisers did not want us to see that in fact while everyone has an audition it was in wooden cubicles before two judges. There is no information on the numbers excluded or on those who are allowed to by pass the first stage because of their proven singing experience and who may even be put through to the third stage of the new public audience auditions.

There was one aspect of the radio caller which also caught my attention in that the impression obtained was the 99.99 percent of those attending were serious competitors which only the occasional fancy dressed individual who could not sing. This could indicate that such individuals are trawled separately from those who in general attend the auditions. It is evident that the programme creating are looking for an unknown they can make into a start, for a dozen outstanding individuals who will creating a series of engaging finals and conduct a commercially successful tour following the final, and for other acts who will entertain the TV public during the audition series. They are interested in individuals having a good popular TV image, a commanding and engaging presence before a large live audience and who can go on to hack it as a recording star. Few have gone to make it longer that a year. Will Young and Leona Lewis are the exceptions although a few have continued to entertain through live appearances.

One aspect which I noted last year is that many of those who are selected for the boot camp are showed briefly without the opportunity for the TV audience to hear them sing. I suspect that the audition series is not edited until after boot camp and the selection of those to be managed by the four judges has been made. Therefore we are shown these individuals in the auditions and it is rare for those highlighted in the audition programmes not make the final selections. To counter this suggestion, this year selected individuals are being shown with their family support which in the instance of a young pop star male singer from South Shields, included his whole family. I shall buy the local papers tomorrow where I expect there will be further information about them.

I described earlier Il Segreto del Sahara as a Spaghetti Arabian because it has the format of the Spaghetti western, a traditional film story with twists, an epic quality, in terms of scenery, cast and film length together with an all start cast. Their full Italian edition is six hours with this TV English language over two. The music signals the emotions in a heavy handed manner. There is nothing subtle. Michael York is an archaeologist seeking a lost city which reminds of Petra in Jordan, in this instance a mountain where there is said to be treasure. The treasure attracts the attention of a vicious Foreign Legionnaire, Lieutenant Ryker(David Soul) who at the end close of finding out the secret but is killed by Michael York in a sword dual. It also attracts the attention of the local bigwig in the walled city who captures York during the film after he has become blind and after failing to reveal that he knows anything about the secret mountain is employed as a medicine man.

York has become blind after getting to the Secret having encountered Ben Kingsley as a local Sheik in control of a community around an Oasis. This is the first surprise because Kingsley plays a Polish Jew married to a Muslim with a daughter brought up in the two faiths and someone who provides the moral philosophy of the film. He had is wife and community are slaughtered by Ryker and other mercenaries even though his wife has revealed the way to the Secret Mountain.

Early in the film York rescues the beautiful Queen guardian of the Secret Mountain (played by Andy McDowell) from the clutches of Ryker, and she rewards his action later when he reaches the mountain and should be put to death. He is however blinded by the light which dominates the secret although the sight is recovered through the tears of the Queen later. Although they have become lovers their destiny does not appear together as she is duty bound to marry the custodian of the Secret, but when he is killed in a fight with Ryker the two are free. York also has a son although I am not clear if this a biological or adopted son, of the circumstances of the relationship. I believe he is brought up by Ben Kingsley’s family.

And now we come to the Secret. This follows on a long tradition of science fiction belief that human progress occurred because of the intervention of superior beings who inhabit distant places in the galaxy. The blinding light is in fact nuclear energy which at the end of the film is able to power the space vehicle back to its origins, however leaving an enlightened York with his Arabian Queen with supernatural powers, and his son, to live a happy ever after human existence.

I also mentioned earlier that by excellent programme planning a Sky Channel featured an episode of Dr Who which included the Time traveller of Torchwood. In the Torchwood the earth, and London in particular was threatened by the younger brother of the Time Traveller who he had to leave but for which he had never been forgiven. In the prior episode of Dr Who the Time Traveller had been involved in the serial which involved children being used.

This bring me to the 4400 and Sky 1 project where the first disk contain the double episode starter pilot and first of the subsequent series. Something unexpected enters the earth atmosphere at great speed slows up and bring 4400 people who have disappeared over the past century to one spot where in the USA where the majority decide to remain. After testing and observation over several months the families successfully petition the USA Supreme Court for their relatives to be released on the community. The pilot concentrates on a Korean War veteran who had a relationship with a white girl for which he was beaten up by his white comrades. He now found a country where inter racial relationships have become common place, but his home has been developed into a road underpass and he finds himself alone. While in quarantine he meets a girl who likes his former love and finds that she is the grand daughter although they are now of the same age. She is married with a baby daughter now a young girl and her husband has had her declared dead so he could remarry someone who the daughter believes to be her mother. These two displaced individuals strike up a relationship after she finds she has been returned diagnosed pregnant by her husband a decade before and no longer wants to have contact with her, One of the men finds his aged wife in a squalid institution and cannot cope when she dies and on finding that he has been bought out in his absence from the business cofounder and in his anger about not been given a position is able to use the anger to in effect blows out the man’s brains at a distance. Later it is discovered that the killed man was defrauding customers on the grand scale and the investigating team suspect that the 4400 have been returned for some purpose.

This appears to the so in the first of series proper in which one the returnees who works in the fish department of the of the local supermarket finds that the park has become over run by drug addicts and criminals and starts a clean up campaign so eh can return to place where he proposed to his wife and enjoyed picnics. He goes out at night to commence the clean up and prevents a girl being gang raped but in a later instance is killed by a knife. This appears to knock on the head the theory about being returned for a purpose until the local residents take it upon themselves to clean up the park.

There are two investigators appointed to try and find out why the 4400 were returned to earth, a mist unlikely scenario in reality and but one of the major flaws arising from the opening episodes. The continuity between the opening and next episode is a young girl who is able to predict aspects of the future and cannot help blurt out the truth despite advice that to do so will make her position difficult. Her parents are long since dead and she is unsuccessfully placed with foster parents who cannot cope with her predictions. She goes to live with the female investigator as an alternative to the girl becoming the subject of intensive and prolonged physical investigation and social observation in confined conditions. One feels she may well pose the answer to question where have the 4400 been and what is the collective as well as individual purpose of their return. I look forward to experiencing the next disk

1786 New Tricks

I believe the sixth episode of the sixth series of new Tricks is the last. I could probably find out if this is so before completing these notes, but I am confident that that not just the present series of six episodes has been rounded to a nice end, but the entire project. The concept was at the outset a great one, the solving of crimes which have lain unsolved in police station around the UK or which come to the attention because of a contemporary event . Instead of creating a new team of bright young things full of courage and passion you bring together three retired individualists from the police force, reflecting the changes in policing attitudes and behaviour since the 1950’s. And more over you bring together three outstanding, familiar and much love TV actors. who have also performed in distributed films and on the theatrical stage. You also commission other well known talented actors to participate in the self contained episodes and you have all the ingredients of something that will stand the test of time. The six series may not be of the ranking of Morse, or Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister but they are close to them and will be shown repeatedly on the different channels for generations to come.

I begin with James Bolam because he is my favourite of the three old codgers who comprise the Unsolved Crimes Team U.C.O.S headed by Angela Redman as a semi independent unit in a constantly battle to tackle historical crimes which interest then versus those senior officialdom wants sorted.

James Bolam has played a major part throughout my TV watching life and is special in addition to his work for being a local lad from Sunderland, born a year before me which makes him 71. While he appeared in such shows as Z Cars and films such as The Loneliness of the Long Distance runner and A Kind of Loving, it was the series the Likely Lads, a Jack the lad with the ultra serious Rodney Bewes 1964-to 1966 and then the follow up series in 1973 and 1974 which brought him to public attention.

For me it was the series When the Boat comes In, produced first in 1976, soon after my arrival in the North East, and which ran for 5 years which suggested that that James would graduate beyond the likeable rogue with a natural sense of humour who could be given scripts full of intelligent wit.

When the boat comes also starred Susan Jameson who was or became Bola’s wife and she too features in New Tricks as the wife of one of the trio, played by Alun Armstrong who has worked with James throughout his career. In When the Boat comes in a third major actor which I will mention now in case the opportunity o do so again does not arise, is the late Edward Wilson.

Edward plays Bill the Brothers of Susan in When the Boat comes In, part of the Seaton Family around which the series is built. Edward was born in South Shields and became the renowned Director of the National Youth Theatre for sixteen years until 2003. Left to take up a similar post in California, persuaded by Michael York who was a graduate of the N.Y.T. Sadly Edward developed and died from cancer at the comparative young age of sixty one. As with Susan he also appeared in an episode or two of the Likely lads.

The role which David Bolam played in When the Boat Comes in remains an important one for depicting with considerable accuracy the rise to power and a middle class of young ambitious young men from the North East and Tyneside before between the two World Wars who also possessed a strong working class social conscious. In the instance of Jack Ford, he survived World War 1 and became a major trade union figure political figure with he Labour movement who then goes into business for himself, goes to the U.S.A and to London. However he retains his knowledge and identification with the underdogs of his roots and dies not at Dunkirk or a Far East prisoner of War camp, but fighting the fascists on behalf of the Left in Spain. The series which is available on both DVD and Tape should be view before Our Friends in the North which covers the dark years of the fifties to seventies, also on DVD and Tape and followed by the Film Get Carter. There is a fourth chapter of the story yet to be written

James then starred with Barbara Flynn in the series I love the most, The Beiderbeck Affair, the Beiderbecke Tapes and the Beiderbecke Connection 1986-1988, off beat comedy adventure mystery series involving two teachers working in Leeds, He also appeared in two major characterizations, as Harold Wilson, in the Plot against the former Prime Minister and the murderer, Harold Shipman

In New tricks he plays Ex Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Halford, a widower whose wife was killed in a hit and run by a local psychopathic gangster played by Patrick Troughton, Rickey Hansen. The gangster confesses this to Jack at the end of the third series. Jack then attempts to murder Hansen but is stopped by his colleagues and then Hansen tries to murder Jack. In the last series the team have sufficient evidence to prosecute Hansen for murder and in the process of the investigation uses his son who in an early series discovered that it was his father who had him sent to prison which the father had committee because he lusted after the son’s girl friend. In this episode it is the son who eventually provides the information which brings his father down when he learns that father had slept with his illegitimate daughter and he therefore with his sister, although both were in ignorance at he time. His father had discovered the truth that the girl was he daughter of a stripper he had known and since the discovery career criminal had been financing the life of the girl abroad. The financially supporting the girl was not from concern or guilt but simple self protection, just as the informant which the third member of the trio, played by Denis waterman had used throughout his career was able to survive because he had information about the relationship safely stored which kept him alive

Dennis Waterman plays Ex detective Gerry Standing, a ladies man with three ex wives and several children with whom he meets from time to time for a meal, drink and a laugh. He is an old school copper who still thinks funny jokes against women and mother in laws or which are racist that as the one told in the last episodes of the man from Pakistan who says to his neighbour I am better off that you because I dont live next door to a Paki. The significance of this plays a major part in bringing the career criminal to justice through an existing member of the force coming up to retirement who is also of old school but straight, who fraternised with the criminals and at a throw back comedian who continue to practice their perverted craft on the Spanish Costa’s to this day.

Born in Clapham, South London, Dennis became a child star but it was into TV series which brought him national Stardom, The Detective series, The Sweeney in which he starred with John Thaw and, Minder in which he starred with George Cole. He also had a major role in the film Up the Junction and in several Plays for Today including two by Dennis Potter. It was during the 1980 that he appeared with Angela Redman with whom is recorded he had an affair which lasted close on two years.

I mention this because as with the character in the series Denis has been married three times for 9,10 and 11 years. He had two daughters by his second wife, one of whom also appeared in an episode of New Tricks, as someone who believes she is daughter but where a par entity tests reveals that she is not, but nevertheless Dennis tells her that she is. His third wife is the actress Rula Lenska. She was also part of a trio, in the famous series the Rock Follies in the mid 1970’s with Dont Cry for Me Argentina Julie Covington and Charlotte Cornwall, the half sister of John Le Carre. The marriage between “ Cockney “playing Dennis Polish Countess Rula was a stormy one of great interest to tabloid Readers. Of particular interest to me is that her father a Major, was in charge of the Polish mission to Gibraltar in World War 2, from where he was responsible for sending Radio Fee Poland. Rula is English born.

In this last episode it is the activities of Dennis which leads to not only to uncovering what happened to two antifascists activists but to the situation where the son is prepared to give evidence that he was in the car which his father drove mowing down the fictional wife of James Bolam.

The third member of the trio is Brian played by Alun Armstrong also an actor born in the North East, A Durham man from Annfield Plain, Stanley from where he attended the Grammar School at Consett. He is younger of the trio born after the war in 1946. He has had the greater dramatic career, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and in a starring role in Les Miserables as well as some forty TV shows. series and Films. He has been nominated for he Laurence Oliver acting award half a dozen times which he won in 1994. He played the character based on the Life of T Dam Smith in Our Friends in the North and Get Carter, and he also appeared with James Bolam in the Likely lads as well as the original production of Get Lost with James Bolam which inspired the Beiderbecke series.

In New Tricks, Alun has played Ex detective Inspector Brian Lane and Obsessive compulsive personality disorder recovering alcoholic, who has instant recall and a mind which digests considerable quantities of detail but is then able to see patterns and connections which others do not. He is forever getting in trouble with extremely poor social skills and his long suffering wife nearly gives up from time to time on managing him. It will be evident that I considerable sympathy with predicament of the character played by Brian

The team si led by Angela Redman from Brighton Sussex, the youngster at 52 and has only come to national attention during the past decade. She is Principal and co founder of the Artists Theatre School and one of her interests is the creation of work opportunities for the older female actor.

The career villain of the series is played by David Troughton, the son of Dr Who Patrick Troughton and I have been watching his son play cricket for Warwickshire over the past three day.

Among the other names who have appeared in the series are Jenny Agutter. Jane Asher, Stephanie Beacham, Honor Blackman, Isla Blair, Claire Bloom, Richard Briars, George Cole, Frances Le Tour, Hugh Fraser. John Fortune, James Fox, Roy Hudd, Cherie Lunghi Patrick Malahide, Bill Moody, Nadia Sawalha, John Sessions, Eric Sykes, Timothy West and June Whitfield, indicating eh influence of Angela Redman me thinks. The theme Tune- Its alright - is sung by Dennis who ahs had some success as a singer. The series is being shown internationally.

1784 Generations, Wallander, Shadows in the Sun and a Western

After watching an episode of the original Wallander series last night between 9 and 10.30pm I decided to look in on the first of the three programmes about people who were bringing up or had close relationships with their grandchildren. Despite knowing that I could watch the programmes on the i player at a more convenient time I stayed engaged with the programmes until 1.30am. Although clearly staged and strongly edited the three one hour programmes about three different family situations were outstanding.

The focus of the first programme was Ian Batten who took his seven wide age range grandchildren on a day out at the seaside. Ian was presented as a successful clothes designer for men and women in the USA, Italy and Japan as well as the UK who became a parent in the sixties and who admitted as did his children as having a laid back liberal approach to parenthood as he has had to life. Now in his sixties, he lives with a girl a third of his age in a small flat and appears to only see his grandchildren from time to time, bringing them presents from his travels abroad. While aspects of his lifestyle do not fit in with the contemporary attitudes, the programme was noteworthy for the warm good feelings and relaxed approach of the children towards their father, although they admitted they had become stronger disciplinarians, setting clear boundaries for their children, who nevertheless appeared to have become creative individualists.

My reaction to the programme was that no one was harmed by the exposure and everyone came out well although I felt we were getting one slice of the story of Mt Batten. It is interesting that Mr Batten does not yet have a Wikipedia entry. However his children and grand children communicated themselves as intelligent, loving individuals whatever experience they had had to undergo in the past.

There were aspects of second programme which alarmed me considerably in terms of the impact upon the two grandchildren in question although it is to be hoped that the programme enabled the grandparents and grand children to sort out the understandable problems which have arisen from the great tragedy that had beset them. Val and Ron Little were required to take on the care of two of their seven grandchildren, after their mother was killed by their father, a paranoid schizophrenic, who was committed to a psychiatric institution, but is now released and seeking to have contact with his children.

The programme highlighted the strong emotions which the grand parents and grand children have about their predicament. The grand parents had been looking forward to developing their own lives in retirement as well a enjoying relationships with all their children and grand children and there was resentment at having to give this up to concentrate on the two children, especially when the eldest became a Bolshie teenager, particularly towards her grandmother, who was able to give as much as she got. However never far away from the day to day experience was the fact that the girl has lost her mother in such dreadful circumstances and grandmother her daughter. The daughter appeared to accept that her father had been ill and wanted to have a relationship with him while understandably the grandparents remained concerned about the extent of his recovery. I would have been surprised if the girl had not exhibited problems arising from her situation and my concern remains as to how she will view the exposure in later life. I would be surprised if the programme makers had not gone to great lengths to be certain that good and not harm came out for the two generations of participants. It was great TB+V but my reservations about this programme being shown remain.

The star performance of the evening, after that of Wallander and his daughter, was from Avril Pengilly a 78 year old who had given up her home to help look after two grandchildren of the daughter from her second marriage after her husband died several years before. While not hiding the sense of loss after the death of the love of her life and losing the independence of her own home Avril demonstrated the ability to become a valued member of her daughter‘s family and retained a separate life both within house and the local community where she had been a teacher and continued to play an active role. There were several great moments but for me it was that which occurred during the return to Clovelly where she had gone with her three children after her first marriage ended. She nearly fell flat on her face stumbling on the cobbled roadway. She had already fallen in the house and broken her arm. This time she managed to regain her balance. Having fallen over four times during the past two years and had a couple of near misses, I understand only too well that even with taking extra care most of the time it only takes one moment’s lack of attention and a fall can create major problems, especially as in my case, I live on my own. Yet as her daughter stated in the film, it is this refusing to accept that one has become old which prevents one from getting old old, or least that is what I keep telling myself

The Wallander episode was also excellent, in major part because of the development of the relationship between father and daughter after her relationship with a colleague at the station ends. The story involved an American World Food Organisation volunteer who is murdered after coming to the country to visit a photographer with whom she had has had contact Afghanistan or was it Iraq, after she has been expelled for alleging being involved in the disappearance of small national treasures. She is also found to be pregnant and the photographer who has a police record is the obvious suspect. The husband, an academic comes to identify the body and strikes up a relationship with Wallander. As a consequence of good work by his daughter in particular and information from the wrongly accused photographer the mystery is resolved with the husband the culprit having killed his wife when she found out he was behind the theft of the national artefacts.

I also viewed the previous episode shown while I was in London called the Tricksters which was about blackmail (what we do and who we do it with lives with us and for eternity) In this instance the culprit is the husband of one of the blackmail victims. It is during this episode that Wallander has an affair with a Doctor whose husband and adult children are away. He wants the relationship to continue but she sees it more as interlude. In the most recent episode he attempts to progress the relationship but she refuses. He and his daughters settle for each other‘s company one evening

I have also watched a western, the Dragoon Wells Massacre 1957. Dennis O’Keefe is an army captain who survives an Indian attack along with an Indian Trader and who then encounters a Sheriff transporting two gunmen being taken for trial and a stage coach on which his young girl friend has decided to go back East with someone else. They join forces in an attempt to get to a staging post to summon help, without realising that the Indians are friends of the Indian Trader who has 25 of the famous Winchester 45 repeating riffles and ammunition for them, as well as Whisky. While the group discover this treachery, they face increasing dangers as first the trading post has been destroyed and then the nearest fort and where the sole survivor is a child. The core of the film is the relationship which develops between the military officer captain and a worldly saloon entertainer and between his former girl friend and one of the gunmen, played by Barry Sullivan. Because of heroic actions and an understanding of the background and nature of the gunman’s killing the Sheriff lets him go as the end of the film and he rides off into the sunset with the girl. In the final words of the films the girl offers to accompany the gun man, “ for as long as you want me,” which in my book gives the film that touch of reality which made it of interest despite the familiarity of the story line.

A very different film is Shadows of the Sun 2009, not to be confused with another film with the same name set in Tuscany. This film also has some splendid photography and tells of the last days of a grandmother, played by Jean Simmons, with James Wilby, her son and his two children. The plot, in so far as the film needs a plot, because it is a story of old age, and relationships between generations in the mode of Merchant Ivory, is that the son has come to persuade his mother to sell the family home, a home in which his father’s ashes have been buried in the grounds and where his mother hopes that hers will lay alongside. His mother has already sold a collection of first editions in order to keep the property going and the son wants to sell the property so he can be closer to her ans she and he to his children who live separately with their mother..

The sub plot is the relationship between his mother and a young male traveller who earns his keep helping with the local fishing and doing odd jobs around the house. He also establishes a relationship with the son and then seduces the daughter. He saves the life of the son from drowning who has reacted on finding out that the closeness of his relationship with the young man has been overtaken by that with his older sister, During the film the son has encountered a group of Shakespearean actors rehearsing on the beach having taken a nearby property for the summer and they come and perform scenes for the grandmother before her death. The level of writing, characterization and acting is at a fine level and I liked the way the family appreciate what has happened between his daughter and the traveller advising her that she does not need to tell her mother unless she wants to. He respects and understands the importance of the event to his daughter and that she needs to work out her feelings
I am not surprised the film has been shown on TV and to DVD without a cinema release. It would not fit into the taste of the summer holiday thrill seeking young people or the weekend teenagers and dating young men and women. I was unclear if at the end if father remained at the home after the children returned to live with their mother in order to try and save it for the family or for it to be sold.

In the last of the three films about Grandparents what struck me most was the sense of continuity and looking out for each other that exists in the village. While the sad reality is that in all marriage one partner dies before the other, too often the choice is between living in isolation in the family hope and giving up independence and possessions to share a home with children, or to be restricted to the loss of most things and live in residential care among strangers. Growing old can be a sad and challenging experience

1783 World War 1 Survivors, Harry Potter, The Explorers and Cricket

On Sunday evening, 9th August 2009, a week ago, a BBC documentary tribute was paid to five men who were members of British armed forces and had survived the first world war, the war to end all wars and lived for over one hundred years. Shortly before the programme the last man to have seen action in the Western front, Harry Patch, died, July 25th, aged 111. He had become the third oldest man alive, the oldest man living in Europe and one of the oldest 70 oldest men recorded.

The others featured in the programme were Claude Choules who died at the age of 108, a man who served for forty years in the Navy from 1916 and went to Australia after the second World war with his wife of 80 years, the 8th longest marriage recorded. Arthur Halestrap also served in both World Wars, serving in the Special Operations Executive and lived to 106. William, Sandy Young who served in the First World War was captured by the Japanese in Borneo and survived a P.O.W camp and learnt only at thee end of the war that his wife and son had escaped to Australia. He lived for 107 years. Bill Stone was a seaman who served in both wars and lived to 109.

Henry John “Harry” Patch was born on 17th June 1898. Harry was born in Somerset, His father was a stone mason and he left school at in 1913 and started work as an apprentice plumber in Bath. In 1916 he was conscripted as a private in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. He fought in the battle of Passendale (third battle of Ypres) and was injured in the groin when a shell exploded above his head killing three of his friends and comrades. The incident occurred on 22nd September 1917 when he was nineteen years. He was recovering on the Isle of Wight when the armistice was declared.

Harry continued as a plumber after the war and eventually ran his own company until his retirement at the age of 65. He married first in 1918 and his wife died in 1976. He married again at the age of 81 but his second wife also died in 184. He established a relationship for the third time at the nursing home where he lived in his later years and she also died in 2007. His two sons by his first a marriage in 1984 and 2002. Harry declared that if any man said they were not afraid to go up and out of a trench to face the enemy they were lying and as with the other veterans they mourned their lost comrades, the honoured the sacrifice of the young lives and they hated war. He has confessed that when confronted by an individual member of the enemy he could not kill him but aimed to bring him down injured which he did. In 2004 aged 106 he met a German survivor of the same battle, then aged 107 and they exchanged gifts commenting that they were both in favour of a united Europe and peace. After writing his story he used the proceeds to fund a new inshore Lifeboat and then in September 2008 he provide funds for a plaque and stone at the point where he and his comrades crossed the river Steinbeck in memory of fallen comrades and also marks his having become the last surviving veteran of the trenches. He died seven days after Henry Allingham.

Although Allingham did not feature in the BBC documentary who died at the age of 113 years and 13 days. For one month he had become the oldest man in the world. He was the oldest ever surviving member of the war and the 14th oldest man of all time. From 2001 he was the worldwide known face of the First World War Veteran’s association. He was born in 1896 at Clapton in London and his father died of TB when he was only 14 months of age and was brought up by his mother and grandmother at Clapham in South London. He commenced work as a surgical instrument maker and then worked for a coach builder of car bodies. He remembers watching W G Grace playing cricket and seeing men returning from fighting in the Boer War. He did not join up until 1915 as his mother had become critically ill. He went onto serve as an air craft mechanic for the Naval Air Service. He served on the Western front as part of a training squadron and was involved in preparing the first aircraft with cameras for recognisance purposes. He became part of the RAF in 1918 and became the oldest surviving member of the service. He was married with two daughters one of whom survived him together with seven grandchildren, 14 great grand children and one great great grandchild. During the second world war he was involved with providing counter measures against German magnetic mines. He attended the cenotaph with three other veterans to mark the 90th anniversary of the start the Great War.

Claude Choules was the last seaman to, He was born in Worcestershire on 3rd March 1901 have served in World War 1 and the last veteran to have served in both World Wars. He is 108 years of ages and lives in Australia. He Joined the Royal Navy in 1916 and while serving on board HMS Revenge he witnessed the surrender of the German Imperial Navy and he also witnessed the scuttling of the German Fleet. In 1926 he travelled to Australia as an Instructor and transferred to the Australian Navy in 1931. He became involved with Acting Torpedo Work and Demolition and was given responsibilities to sabotage Fremantle harbours in the event of a Japanese invasion. Claude was married for a total of eighty years and until the death of his wife in 2006 had the 28th longest recorded marriage. He has three children, 11 grand children and twenty two great grand children. He became blind and death from old age but retained high spirits and a love of life.

Arthur Halstrap was born in Southampton in in 1898 and was first refused enlistment because of his age but in 1916 he became a signal man and sent to France in 1918 He worked for Marconi after the war and during the second was appointed to the Special Operations Executive where he provided radio training for those who went into enemy territory, He continued to serve as a member of the Allied Control Commission in Germany and then as a member of the Diplomatic Wireless service, He was married and lost his only child, a son in World War 2. He died at Kings Sutton in 2004 where he had lived since the 1960’s.

William Alexander Smillie Young, Sandy, was born in 1900 and lived for 107 years. He also emigrated to Australia but after the second world war. He was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, the eldest of six children. But moved to Hayes in Middlesex when he father became the manager of a Jam making factory. On his eighteen birthday he signed up with the Royal signals and became a wireless operator providing gunners with information for targets. After the War he was one of those who contracted the deadly Spanish Flu Virus which killed over a million people world wide. He recovered was assigned to the army of occupation near Cologne.

After the war he married and worked in the then colonies, sending his family to Australia after the Japanese attacked Pearly Harbour. He was captured and became a Japanese Prisoner of War as a civilian internee. After the war he was reunited with his wife and son returning for a while to Borneo and then emigrating to Australia..

The passing of these men brings to a close the survivors of one of the worst example of the slaughter for young men in the name of a cause which few of them understood or respected.

The First World is still regarded by some as a conflict between good and evil but for those who spent the final part of their young lives in cold, wet and mud of the trenches it was a Gothic horror in which were victims. On the middle day of the my three day visit I went to see the sixth Harry Potter film- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. A Gothic film if ever there is one.

Without reading the book(or any of the books for the matter), or immediately remembering the great themes of the series and feeling tired from the outset I failed to understand let alone enjoy the film, falling asleep at one point and missing a crucial explanation. I therefore read what is available on return home and was able to put the film is some perspective.

The World of Harry is a world divided into Muggles, that is you and me and Wizards although not having read the books I am not clear if wizards do more than interact with each other. The series of seven books is centred on a Wizard Voldemort who has become the most evil anyone can remember and has killed Harry’s parents who were good wizards. Again I do not know if we have been told why they were killed and why Voldemort disappeared after attempting to kill the baby Harry and this has given Harry a status as the instrument of ending the reign of terror of Voldemort. I have found out that one aspect of the Voldemort reign was the importance he attached to racial purity that is that wizard should be children of Wizard and not of mixed unions or unions of Muggles Wizards can be born to Muggles and this is the position of Hermoine. Emily Watson, the close friend of Harry Potter(Daniel Radcliffe, along with Ron (Rupert Grint)

In the first book Harry aged eleven is in the care of non magical relatives who treat him abominably, favouring their own child and it is only at the age of 11 does he become aware of his powers and that he is to go to national school of Wizards for seven years, called Hogwarts,. The school is residential and the head Professor Dumbledore takes a special interest in Harry who is quickly marked out as the chosen one .

I feature of the series of six films to date is the continuity of characters, except for Professor Albus Dumbledore

Where the role has been taken over by Sir Michael Gabon after the death of Richard Harris. Alan Rickman plays Severus Snape a leading member of the staff who is a dark character, hostile to Harry, but is someone I suspect of having another side and purpose.

The school is divided into houses who compete against each other and from the outset a rival to Harry is Draco Malfroy whose activities are promoted and protected by Severus. Harry finds life at Hogwarts difficult having lived in the Muggle world and is befriended by the game keeper who is also the Teacher about the Care of Magical Creatures played is played by Robbie Coltrane. Dame Maggie Smith is another teacher Minerva McGonagall the teacher of Transfiguration and Julie Walters plays the mother of Ron and treats Harry like a son. Helena Bonham Carter plays one of Lord Voldemort’s principal agents called a Death Eater and she is the sister of Draco’s mother.

Each film has a similar pattern and ingredients. The young people, or at least a majority of them take a train which commences from London, departing became from a platform with a secret entrance (a platform at Kings Cross was used and became very popular when the first book was made into a film). The train and other places are in different dimensions so cannot be seen or experienced by Muggles in normal circumstances.

There is an aerial game or aerial games where Harry first became proficient and a leader, called Quiddich and in the most recent film, it is Ron who is the star although he needs support when his confidence is shaken by a new rival challenger. Most of the action occurs in and around Hogwarts which has the appearance of an old large castle with moving staircase and pictures on the walls which in effect video screens. Originally when the first film came out but now available on every High Street to display favoured photos and short films of families and. friends Every film also has scenes at a Dickensian Street of Wizard stores which appears to be located in London.

Each book and story is self contained within the overall theme of Harry Potter having a destiny which will involve confrontation and final defeat of the killer of his parents or will it?

A major feature of the films which last an average of two and half hours is their strict adherence to the story and events of each book. The author J K Rowling has sold more books than anyone before, in their hundreds of millions and these have been translated into 67 languages and are a world wide phenomenon as are the films. One reason for the success is the attention to creative detail and the development of the relationships between the three friends and over the last three years their romantic interests and the problems associated with first love and becoming adults. The stories also encompass many of the traditional themes of fairy tales and more contemporary adventures with those of Enid Blyton coming to mind with the Five and Sevens, Tom Browns School days, Alice in Wonderland, Somewhere over the Rainbow Jack and the Beanstalk and such like. Because of the development of screen trickery and the precision of the writing, the wizardry is always credible and the films are therefore not suitable for young children. The most recent film is the darkest of the six to date.

In the first book Harry Potter and Philosophers Stone, Harry discovers an attempt to steal the stone by an agent of Lord Voldemort so as to enable his return to power. The villain is thought to be Severus but is in fact another Professor.

In The second book Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets Lord Voldemort attempts to come back to power through a diary and Harry’s intervention is needed to save Ron’s sister. Whereas the first film is an exposition of the current Wizard world, the second goes into the history and background, .

Lord Voldemort does not feature directly in the third book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but the story concerns the threat to Harry as someone who is believed to have assisted in the murder of his parents has escaped from captivity but in Harry’s world nothing is ever as simple or straightforward as it appears to seem.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry finds himself forced to take part in a tournament with young wizards from other countries. The book and films opens with Harry invited to join Ron and his family and Hermione at the Quiddich World games, the aerial game played at Hogwarts and the trio are confronted by the Death Eaters, the agents of Voldemort. Harry success in winning the international tournament despite the Voldemort plot for him to fail and the books also marks the entry of the three into adolescence and all that goes with it.

In the fifth volume Harry has to confront the reappearance of Lord Voldemort and to help him Dumbledore, summons the Order of the Phoenix. A major problem arises when the Ministry of Magic refuses to accept that Voldemort has returned and appoints a strict adherent to the rule book to effectively take over the school putting the school and the rest of the world into great peril.

In the sixth story Dumbledore enlists Harry’s help to gain the trust of a retired Professor Horace Slughorn, played by Jim Broadbent, and entice him back to the school to become Professor of Potions (with Severus switching to Magic) as a means of finding out about the early life of Voldemort who Slughorn tutored when he was at Hogwarts. Voldemort is using the Death Eaters in such a way that the Muggles are noticing that strange things are happening. He arranges for Draco to assassinate Dumbledore before the truth of the background can be found out. Severus Snape offers to help Draco but his help is rejected. Meanwhile there are complication as the trio fall in love with people who do not love them and there is much use of love potions which brings me to the Shakespeare influence and A Midsummer’s Nights Dream.

I slept through the vital moment when Slughorn reveals that through him Voldemort was able to divide and hide his soul into seven parts and that if these are destroyed he cannot return. Meanwhile the first two attempts of Draco to kill Dumbledore misfire and in the third Severus takes over and destroys the head of the school having entered into a pact with Draco’s mother. The implication behind the development is that Severus is related to Draco and his mother and to Lord Voldemort. Dumbledore appears to know what is going to happen and advises Harry to lay low as does Severus because his main role is to come. I have read a summary of the seventh and final volume, so all is a lot more clear.

I also watched another film about adventuring children, designed more for a family audience. The 1958 film, the Explorers, is also about three young friends, one of whom designs a small DIY craft capable of flying into space from parts of a washing machine, a television and fairground ride. Their craft is swept into an alien craft where they are examine and find the aliens preoccupied with TV and a perception gained of earth planet from the television. When this space craft is swept up into a much larger vessel the earth trio discovers that their encounter is with alien young people who have gone for a ride in effect one of their father’s cars. The alien children are told off and the earth trio sent home but with a present. The present is in effect a contemporary today state of the art phone which provides the youngsters with information on how to build an even more advance space craft and joined by a would be girl friend, the four contemplate new adventures together. The films starred River Phoenix who died from a drug overdose when 23. Four brothers and sisters are all actors including award winning Joaquin Phoenix. Another of the trio Ethan Hawke developed into a fine film and theatre actor who has also become a film Director. The Explorers attempts to show that although those living on other planets may look different from human beings they probably have more similarities than differences, although I am not sure if this is a good thing!

The Monday evening moral tale this week was The Street where the subject is alcoholism and the inability of the character to break the addiction although he has tried. He is then confronted by his former wife because their unknown to him mentally disabled son wants to meet his father. The programme shows just how difficult to impossible it is to break the addiction despite the incentive of a relationship with a loving affectionate son and the possibility of friendship with his former wife. The film ends on an optimistic note after the character joins Alcoholics Anonymous and is rewarded with further contact after being clear for six months.

This reminds of an episode of series about a five star Hotel Babylon which reveals the interacting lives of owners, managers and staff at the hotel as well as guests who have the money to get what they want. At one point the concierge attempts to help a drug addict determined to kick his habit to have contact with his two children, but then finds the experience too much and persuades the concierge to get a fix from his dealer. When he does this the concierge finds himself the subject of a raid from the drug squad accused of being a dealer, only to find that this is a wind up from his colleagues in other hotels, The drug addict is another colleague who had been an actor. In the same episode a woman played by Michelle Collins formerly of Eastenders, has the role of divorcee conning her way into a lonely hearts club for the wealthy and well connected and in her distress and anger at being found out reveals to the owner of the hotel who is about to get back with his divorced wife that she aborted their child when the relationship broke up. As is usual with this excellent series there are a dozen sub plots continuing with the main one uncovering the writer of erotic novels which the barman, who finds the manuscript, thinks is written by a female staff member with the hots for him. He is shocked when the author is a male colleague with a profitable contract to write the stuff. The theme of the episode is that everyone has secrets, some darker than others and that no one is a saint or without a past they would prefer to remain uncovered.

I watched part of the second half of the International friendly between England and Holland when James Milner made the goal which enabled a 2.2 draw after Holland had delighted their home crowd by taking a 2.O first half lead. I kept in touch with Durham’s game against Lancashire in which Durham twice looked as if they were able to put Lancashire on the rack, with Ian Blackwell destroying the heart of Lancashire batting after Durham had toiled to a score in the 260’s. Lancs recovered to give Durham only five run first innings lead. Durham then batted throughout the third day into the morning of the fourth to set Lancs the challenge of over 300 runs to win. At one point it looked as if Durham would win as Lancs lost their first three wickets when the score was only 4 and a fourth at 56. However Chilton and Du Plessis had a partnership of over 100 before and bad light stopped play. The two teams were awarded 9 points each for the match, four for the draw and five bonus. Lancs needed a win to have a chance of taking the championship title and now have 130 points from 12 matches, one more than the rest of the Division with Somerset 136, and Notts 139 behind Durham’s 167 and which makes Durham two home games against these two sides championship deciders. First they need to beat Warwickshire this week who are fifth with 116 points. Yorkshire had their first home win for two years beating Hampshire and ending their title hopes while Sussex had an expected win against Worcestershire. Kent look likely to get promotion but my hopes of a match at the Oval and Lords are as remote, as they have been for the last couple of years as Surrey

1778 Saturday and Sunday with TV

This morning, Sunday August 9th, I had one of the moments of confusion when I awoke before getting up when dreams and reality become merged and one is not sure what is which or which is what.

Saturday was a good day, relaxed without the pressure which I generate upon myself before a trip.

The highlight of the day was a performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, perhaps one of the most popular classical pieces in the world for its romanticism and exhibitionistic artistry, played by the National Youth orchestra, whose 160 members aged 14 to 19 have completed a summer school rehearsals for this performance and the rest of the evening programme as Henry Wood Promenade Concert number 31. This was the first concert by the N.Y.O‘s new young Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko aged 33, having been educated at St Petersburg and rose to prominence in 1994 when he became chief conductor for the State Academy and resident conductor for the Petersburg Opera and Ballet Theatre. He came to Britain in 2004 to conduct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and was one of the directors to sign a manifesto proposing that school children should be given free entry to a classical music concert to encourage their interest and participation in the music. It was therefore not surprising that he became an ideal choice for the National Youth Orchestra. My prediction is that he will become a long term star on the world’s concert platforms long after I am writing!

The soloist was Stephen Hough born at Hoylake in Cheshire bringing back my time in the county and living at Bromborough in the Wirral, just as the Proms also brings back my first year at work at the age of sixteen when I bought a season ticket for the first 20 concerts of the Proms. Aged 48 he is a Professor of Music at the Royal Academy as well as a Composer, Transcriber and Soloist.
The Proms Internet site continues to improve year upon year with the ability to download the full programme for seven days. Although now hearing the concerto again on the i player while writing this afternoon I did not linger to hear again the two other works by Lutostawski and Resphighi, although they did provide opportunity for all 160 members of the orchestra to play at the same time.

I half watched two films. One in the morning with a mixture of disbelief and amazement was called Treasure Island in Space, closely followed the original story with the same names except that it was Long John Silver and the Space Pirates. This was an Italian production with some arty modern music. It was a hoot.

One of my favourite films is The African Queen with Humphrey Bogart as the drunk making a living in Africa and Katherine Hepburn as the sister of a missionary who gets caught up in the first World War and who together successfully blow up a German gun boat which patrols a large lake after a series of great adventures and hardships which brings the unlikely two together.

Thinking that the late night showing on a free film Channel called Shout the Devil meant a Satanic horror I then discovered that it is a pale version of the African Queen with Lee Marvin as the drunk adventurer with a an attractive daughter, Barbara Perkins, who takes a shine for Roger Moore, an English remittance man who jumps ship on his way to sheep farm in Australia and after an elephant shoot, well the film was made in 1976, gets caught up in the German British conflict in Africa as part of the first World War. The film has a serious side as the local German commander kills the baby daughter of Roger and Barbara in an attempt to find the two men and what they are up to. Lee Marvin gives up his life at the end of the film in order to enable Roger to rescue his daughter who has been taken on board the German gunboat which is in hiding being repaired and where Roger has previously boarded in disguise and laid a time bomb at the request of the British government, and which goes off seconds after the couple escape from the ship.. The German local commander also escapes but Roger is able to kill him before he kills them and all ends happy ever afters.

The weekend was full of sport with claps of one minute before every game for the life of Bobby Robson. I cannot help thinking that the Football authorities are using Bobby to cover up the shortcoming of the wages and life style of professional footballers in these times when hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs or been unable to obtain a first job on graduating from first degrees and professional training courses.

The County Cricket championship has reached the crucial part of the season when the outcome can be determined by the next couple of games. Somerset have now played one more game than Durham who still have a lead margin of 22 and have to play them at the Riverside. All the others except Hampshire who Durham play at the Rose bowl in penultimate match have played the same number of games as Durham. Hampshire 66 points behind the leaders so even if they take maximum points from their extra game and win against Durham twice, Durham still have an overall winning margin. Lancashire who Durham play next need to win to keep the possibility open but even if they do Durham will still lead by some 30 points. Notts are also still there with 30 points to make up. Notts visit to Durham in September will settle the outcome between them and Notts will want to avenge their humiliation at Trent Bridge. All in all Durham remain in a strong position

England will want to do more than avenge their innings drubbing at Headingley within there days. The opening and middle order failed for the second time in three days. Nottingham pair Chris Broad and Swann hit a spectacular 120 partnership before lunch to day to give the crowd something to shout about. Ian Botham suggested that for the next match the bowlers should open the innings, given that they have to score a third more runs in this series than the recognised batsmen.

I must admit I went to sleep at the interval of the game between Newcastle and West Bromwich at the Hawthorns. The Hawthorns suggests a rural or countryside atmosphere location but having passed the ground my memory is of a stadium located within a poor area of an economic struggling West Midlands. I cannot remember why I was passing the stadium at the time. Newcastle started well enough and overall and command of much of the play. However they only managed one good shot on goal which is not surprising given that they have sold off their main striking power of Owens, Viduka and Martens and the Spanish young man brought in against Keegan was rightly dropped after poor showing in his first games. This leaves well intention local lad Carroll a good man but at lower level and Ameobi was Ameobi, unpredictable and more likely to squander any chances than take the opportunity. Joey Barton was brought on for Carroll in the last 20 minuets which says everything. At least they did manage to equalise the opening goal by West Brom who always looked dangerous when they countered Newcastle moves which always failed to reach someone in the box or then came quickly to nothing. They are likely to survive but on this showing mid table is the best they can hope for.

I had a peek on Ipswich under Roy Keane playing at Coventry who beat them 2.1 which confirms my suspicion that Roy has a long way to go before he achieves his ambition of being a top flight manager. On Saturday Norwich were smashed 7.1 at home which caused mayhem in the East Anglian community and the former English team captain Spen who has become Director of Football at lowly Notts City saw his team win 5.1 in their first match and where he has told the coach manager and the football world only promotion into division 1 is acceptable. I suspect that the Championship and the lower divisions are going to be more interesting this year than the Premiership which Chelsea and Manchester United look on paper a cut above Arsenal and Liverpool. The interest will be to see if Manchester City who have bought well for £100000 but could not lure John Terry, have bought their way unto the top four. For the rest including Sunderland their is Premiership survival and the cups to play for.

This appeared to be the confirmed position when Chelsea as FA Cup Winners played Manchester United as Premiership winners in the Charity Shield at Wembley. This was a good match with Man U scoring first and then Chelsea equalising and then taking the lead until the dying seconds of extra time when Wayne Rooney got the equaliser. I had switch off by then and only found out when I decided to find out what was on and later and discovered the penalty shoot out had commenced. Chelsea won this and will take heart under their latest new manager, an Italian.

I took the car to buy rolls for the trip and a cake and some fruit. Shirts were ironed and there was much playing of games with the best effort on Spider patience so that 888 games have been won out of 910, some 97% with the latest run 62 and 241 the best. There was also some telephone calls and emails.

1278 The Shaftsbury Family and memories.

Last night I exercised a good choice in deciding to watch a programme on Chanel Four about the life and death of 10th Earl of Shaftesbury which revealed a kind loving gentleman who decided to give himself to hedonistic pleasure just after his sixtieth year squandering the greater part of his fortune and meeting untimely death a long away from his family and those who loved him as long term friends.

One of my heroes was the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury who biography by Georgina Battiscombe I acquired in 1974. The Earl is said by Georgina to be among the few where it can be said they contributed substantially to the reduction of human misery and added to the sum of human happiness. He experience an unhappy childhood and was prone to melancholy. He was an aristocrat of the highest order with his mother was a daughter of the 4th Duke of Marlborough. One of his interests was the protection of young children and around 1848 he spoke in Parliament about how 10000 Artful dodgers had been taken off the streets and he was responsible for legislation which restricted the hours which a child could work and in stopping the use of children in climbing inside chimneys to clean them a cause taken up by Charles Kingsley in the Water Babies

As he grew into old age he suffered the loss of his wife and then the death of several of his children. Most men would have retreated into self pity and preparation for their own demise but at the age of 76 he took up new causes and filled his day with sufficient work to exhaust younger men. He supported anti vivisection, the suppression of child prostitution, the improvement of the conditions of workers in India and as a consequence he struggled to maintain the family house on its estate in Dorset.

In yesterday's programme which concentrated on the last five years of the life of the 10th Earl a close friend described how he was shown the vault where the long line of Earls are buried and he pointed to the space prepared for himself. The former friend described the space as dark, scary and lonely and it is evident that loneliness, the loss of physical abilities, the entering of the state when you become aware of the reality of death, together with a combination of economic and social changes which had escalated the declined of his position, and I suspect awareness of the legacy of the Seventh Earl and the expectation of a dynasty of public service all contribution to abandoning his former sense of duty and concentrating on hedonism which appears to have always been a part of his life and which also appears to have been inherited from his father. He appears to have moved fulltime to his home in Paris using his wealth to purchase the time and affection of young women, and then in the South of France where is acquired another property, leaving his estate and homes on the South coast and in London.
Anthony Ashley-Cooper was born a year before me and it can be argued that apart from this similarity the differences in our educational and cultural backgrounds could not have been more different. He went to Eton while I went as subsidised pupil to a denominational preparatory school and then to a school with ambitions to become a public school so that we had an Olympic team coach as games master. I did not know who my mother was for several years and grew up without a father, or knowing of him, Anthony's father died in 1948 when he was eight years of age and therefore may not have known much about his father's lifestyle until later or that there had been a social scandal when he married a model of lingerie and Cochran chorus girl, similar to the Ziegfield Follies. She became and actress and went on to have five husbands including Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable and the racing driver Prince Dimitri Djordjadze.
I believe he had graduated and left Oxford as I was about to go to Ruskin College, in 1961 the year his grandfather died and he became the 10th Earl at the age of 22. His grandfather had married a daughter of the Grosvenor family and in addition to management of the family estate and properties he was Lord Chamberlain to the Prince fo Wales and subsequently Queen Mary and the Lord Steward 1922-1936 as well as being the Lord Lieutenant of Belfast 1904-1911; Antrim 1910-1916 and Dorset 1916-1952, with the function of accompanying Members of the Royal family and other dignitaries when they visited the counties.

There is no information when the Earl's inclination to waywardness commenced although a BBC profile sates that his interest in exotic women had commenced when he was at Eton and that had written an adverse comment about the pink champagne drinking debutantes. One source suggested the family had been crippled by death duties but another stats that provision had been made to protect the family from the impact of death duties and that the 10th Earl had been a good financial manager h in the lower millions still by 1990. My interest in the part the aristocracy played in creating social reform commenced while first studying social and economic history on the politics and economics diploma and then with an early Criminology tutorial, assignment after switching to the post graduate diploma in Public and Social Administration and asked to read about the impact of the churches and others on penal reform. I had had some marginal contact with members of the House of Lords arising from my campaigning activities, but it was not until over Christmas 1961 that I had my first direct encounter with the self confidence, outlook and influence of those of inherited nobility and when a few days earlier it could all have been very different.

I had published an article in Isis, the student weekly magazine, just before Christmas which contained aspects about prison and a young man of birth and public school education at one of the great colleges who I had never met telephoned me on either Christmas Day or Boxing day for advice about some of the issues I had raised in the article, having obtained my home telephone number from the then editor, who presumably he had also contacted over the holiday. During the conversation he mentioned to having also spoken with the then Home Secretary. It was an important lesson which I learnt that if you are going to do something set no boundaries yourself until others set them for you.

It could have all been very different if a couple of weeks before I was at the point of going back to prison again when I changed my mind. The Committee of 100 of which I had resigned as member, had initiated a number of separately organised marches and demonstrations on the same weekend and one was t taking place in Oxfordshire at the then USA airbase at Brize Norton and I had decided to act as a march steward but had still not made up my mind about participating in the sit down although I had taken the precaution of preparing a detailed statement about what I was doing and why in the event that joined the sit down and was arrested.

The march assembled on the Green at Witney and the police asked for a meeting with stewards although all approval for the march and the details of its stewarding had been agreed beforehand. The police, no doubt guided by government and political interests, then adopted a clever but dubious tactic of unearthing an ancient law which enabled them to arrest all the marshals and require us to agree on a good behaviour undertaking or go to prison over Christmas. The police station and the magistrates court were located at one end of the Green so we just had to walk over. I was arrested by a polite young officer who allowed me to make my long statement which was of a political nature. When it was my turn as we all appeared individually before the bench of magistrates, the clerk asked if I had said anything on being charged, the young man produced his notebook and commenced to read out what I had said word for word. It was a long speech and part way the Chairman of the bench drew attention that it was a political statement but the young constable forcefully pointed out that it was what I had said and therefore was required by law to be reported. He put some enthusiasm into the speech and it was evident he was sympathetic to cause. Having gone this far it seemed inappropriate to do anything other than refuse the recognisance and I was held at the station pending transfer to a prison. However all the horrors of my previous experience flooded back as I waited and the obvious concern that even if the college accepted my return, the County Council funders of the further education grant might take a different view and after that first term I knew that I had made the right decision to take up the place and not become the first paid organiser of the London region Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. I contacted the court to say that I would accept the recognisance and because I had not been involved in illegal activity that was the end of the matter officially and in fact there was such an outcry about the use of this ancient law which undermined the right to participate in protest marches, that it was never used again.

There was a further twist in this experience which had I not accepted the recognisance would have put in question everything else including that phone call over Christmas, in that half a year later I decided that I did not want to study economics but wanted to study criminology and psychology and through the understanding support of the college principal I was given an interview which led to being accepted on the post graduate diploma certificate in public and social administration course at Barnett House and to my return to work for Oxfordshire as a qualified child care officer, Several of us joined the Children's department that autumn for completed training course and I was allocated to a small team which covered Witney and Burford when I was also appointed as the representative of the County at the Juvenile courts, and if required adult court in the area, including the court at Witney, where over the three years I got to know the local area police and magistrates, and where the Marquis of Blanford, a son of the Duke of Marlborough presided over the court at Burford and his wife the Juvenile Court at Witney. I was reminded of the prison governor of Drake Hall in Staffordshire who had put me on an outside working party demolishing a World War II armaments factory complex and that within a couple of years of my appointment I was being escorted to the office of British Commanding officer of the base to interview an officer who had declined the request I had made on behalf of a court in family proceedings.

There were many inside out turnings during the five years studying, working and living in the city and county of Oxford but a great lesson was to look beyond the appearance of people and their education, cultural and denominational backgrounds and recognise what was common, especially that we are all human mixtures, a point which the 10th Earl made himself during the film on camera as others were also to made and that if one is going to be so bold as to make a judgement about the life of another human being, account should be the totality of their being,

Anthony Ashley-Cooper was married three times, in 1976 to a woman ten years his senior of Italian background which lasted for ten years and then to the daughter of a diplomat who bore him two sons. The eldest, the 11th Earl died with a short time of the discovery of his father's body when only in his mid twenties, to be succeeded by his younger brother in 2005. My understanding is that the 10th Earl always led two lives. He continues to this day to have been loved by those who worked or lived as part of the family estate in Dorset with one person saying that whatever he had done and whatever his condition he would have been welcomed back into the community had he chosen to do so. He had been an active conservationist.

The break up of his second marriage where his former wife was given the family seat as part of the divorce settlement may have bee one factor in his decision to abandon his role as an aristocrat although there is some evidence that he also reacted strongly to the Labour Government decision to abolish the right of heredity and other Peers to sit and speak in the House of Lords. This prompted the Earl to make his only speech and which according to the extract in the TV programme was intellectual, whimsical and embarrassing, and with this he departed to Paris where he changed his image and took to wearing black, I like it I like it, and was soon seen escorting one of the most beautiful of photographic models of the day with whom he is said to have developed into a serious relationship becoming engaged and where he subsequently confirmed he spent over £1million in presents and monetary gifts. She was said to be member of an Italian Royal house but their relationship ended in 2002 after it was revealed that she was a French nude model, a Penthouse Pet with silicone enhancements of pneumatic proportions.

He remained desperate for female sexual company and used an established Parisian Madam to provide girls, willing to pay whatever price was asked. He drank heavily and used other recreational substances and then came the under influence of two exotic sisters well known to the rich and famous in Paris and the Rivera and to the disapproval of family and friends married one, a Tunisian divorcee with two children although it appears he saw himself with a hareem. The disturbed brother of the sisters also joined the household but the marriage failed and he was soon frequenting the bars in search of picks ups. He then met a Morrocan hostess and they set up home together wanting to make her his fourth wife but his third wife wanted a divorce settlement beyond his means. According to programme his third wife and her brother was subsequently convicted of planning his murder for which the brother was said to have been given 150000 euros but his sister and they were imprisoned for life. It was six months before his body was found on a rubbish dump, ravaged from wild boar. It is recorded that an ancestor the third Earl gave the following counsel to his wayward son "The extending of a single passion too far, or the continuance of it too long is able to bring irrevocable ruin and misery."