From Heartbeat to The Goon Show

… via Black Beauty and Corrie: the career of actress, poet and dramatist Charlotte Mitchell (Hertford 35-42), who has died aged 85, ranged widely, as the Guardian relates.

Ouch!

483 viewers complain about the antics of Leo Gregory (MdA 90-95) in Silent Witness.

Roll up, roll up

MATTHEW KIMBERLEY (PeB 91-98) urges us all to buy his take-no-prisoners self-help book How To Get A Grip (3 mins):



Click on the book's title to see most of the links he mentions. Hat tip: Great Plum

Welcome, plus…

RED PEPPER magazine examines the City of Sanctuary refugee-support movement, and speaks to Sarah Eldridge (8's 66-71) who co-ordinates it in Sheffield, where it began.

Situation desperate

REPEATED thefts of lead from the roof of his church may cause the loss of insurance cover, laments Fr Peter Homewood (LaB 70-76). More here.

In Blunden's footsteps

BELATEDLY we hear that Pascal Porcheron (MdB, GrW 99-06) toured Japan last year as the male lead in a Cambridge production of Much Ado About Nothing. Here's a glamorous photo of him with the leading lady; scroll down for his disarming self-portrait.

Prelude to murder

TEN minutes from Verdi's Otello, with the Frankfurt Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Rhodri Britton (ColA 71-78):

A lifetime of listening

CONGRATULATIONS to Elisabeth Salisbury (Jones, 5's, 6's 48-56) on receiving a Certificate of Honour from the City of Oxford for her dedication as a Samaritan volunteer for nearly fifty years (as well as making and delivering food to Asylum Welcome and the Gatehouse, a drop-in centre for the homeless).

And all the trumpets sounded for him

SAD to hear of the death at 85 of much-loved trumpeter David Mason (BaA 36-42, Governor), who talked about his Beatles connection in this video I embedded two years ago. (Above: an illustration by Alan Gregory (MaB 17-23) from Philharmonic (1942) by Thomas Russell.)

Our first TV personality

OLIVE STEPHENS (Voysey-Martin, 1's 30-35) enjoyed modest celebrity in the Fifties and Sixties.

Vivid past

MODELLING in Florence, facing civil unrest in South Korea, riding the Trans-Siberian Express, lecturing in philosophy, acting on Italian radio, running exhibitions at Tate Liverpool, curating the Turner Prize… When he became director of modern and contemporary art at the National Galleries of Scotland, Simon Groom (LaA 77-84) had an exotic backstory.

The value of Stirling

CONTROVERSIAL architect James Stirling is showcased this summer at Tate Britain. Andrew Saint (LaA 58-64) weighs up the achievement of this "charismatic monster".

At the Millennium

THIRTY-SEVEN years after leaving CH, Peter Hiner (ColA 55-63) explores the transformed school (12 mins):



In this video (15 mins, but worth it) he looks back on his schooldays.

Nothing to declare except my frostbite

IN 1937, Richmond Temple (PeB 1903-09) went to the Arctic with the son of Oscar Wilde.

Gollum (MaA 81-83, LaA 83-86)

BEEN lent a copy of a recent Private Eye, in which "The New Coalition Academy" contains this item:


And Steve's not the sole Old Blue in the pillory, as "Pseuds Corner" includes this from Nick Foulkes (ThB 76-83):

And while it may be pushing it a little to suggest that one of the finest achievements of democracy is the freedom to buy a Hermes headscarf or even a Louis Vuitton suitcase, I can't help but think that if more people had the means and opportunity to tell the time on a Cartier watch or sign their name using a Montegrappa pen, then the world would be just that little bit less unstable.

Time travel time

A NEW series of Doctor Who is imminent, and rumour has it that Emma Campbell-Jones (ColB 86-93) will be in it.

Big bad Wolf

WRESTLER Wolf Alexander (better known to us as Sacha Wolstenholme, MdB 93-00) in a 26-minute confrontation with David Deville, presented in two parts (15 mins, 11 mins; Wolf's the first fighter we see):




Hat tip: Great Plum | Wolf's YouTube channel

Bitter experience

"MY husband died as a result of the insurance industry," declares Rosh Wright (Debbie Stone, 1's 57-66).

Unforgotten

LAUNCHED last week on Old Blues' Day, this new book by the distinguished military historian David Miller (LaB 48-55) covers every known Old Blue who died in World War Two, with descriptions of how, when, and where each one died. The result of many years of research, it covers the extraordinary stories of 212 remarkable people – not only members of the armed forces but also civilians killed by enemy action. (David gives brief notes on twelve of them here.) The book is 160 pages long, on high quality paper, hard bound and profusely illustrated. Cost is £15, with £4.50 p&p for UK. All proceeds (when production costs are recouped) will go to the Museum Fund. Orders should be placed with Margaret Wadman at the CHOBA office, by email or by phoning 01403-2476645; she can also advise on methods of payment and costs of overseas postage.

Where Matisse left off

SURELY there's only one woman in the world named Su Bonfanti - which means the creator of these two delicate images (click on each to enlarge) was in Ward 5 from 1967 to 1973.