Kino-Eye, Little England and Cannes ’96 When Ray Brady and Chris Read from Kino-Eye Films asked me to develop ‘The Truth Game’ into a screenplay, I honestly thought my film career was about to take off. Ray and Chris, along with their friend and business partner, Jim Crosbie, had caused quite a stir in the […]
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Blind Faith, Fringe Hits and The Workshop – Chapter Nine of The Bernician Chronicles
Blind Faith, Fringe Hits and The Workshop ‘Blind Faith’ was a parody of my experiences on the stand-up circuit, which I wrote as a stage play, during the summer of 1993. Essentially, it was a play about a terrible comedian, who finally finds his comic persona in the pit of his own despair, after years […]
Read moreLondon Calling, Svejk and Tragic Events – Chapter Eight of The Bernician Chronicles
London Calling Following the completions of my degree, I headed north to my parents’ house in Morpeth, knowing that London was calling me south, one way or another. Nevertheless, just a week after leaving Leicester in July 1991, I booked a fifteen minute try-out spot, at the lovely Dave Johns’ Cheeky Chappies Comedy Cafe, on […]
Read moreStand-Up, Le Mans and a Pyrrhic Victory – Chapter Seven of The Bernician Chronicles
STAND-UP, LE MANS AND LONDON CALLING Whilst I always knew I would become a stand-up comedian, I was to a certain extent motivated to do so at the earliest juncture, by events that transpired during the final year of my degree. Despite the arty farty nonsense permeating our experience of the first two years, in […]
Read moreLeicester Poly, Rights of Passage and Eviction – Chapter Six of The Bernician Chronicles
Leicester Poly, Rights of Passage and Eviction On the morning of my last A level exam, I had absolutely no idea that within a year I would be heading to the midlands, where I would spend the better part of the next three years on a performing arts degree at Leicester Polytechnic. In fact, I […]
Read moreHepscott Hall, Coming of Age and Kevin Keegan – Chapter Five of The Bernician Chronicles
Hepscott Hall, Coming of Age and Kevin Keegan From the birth of my sister, Joanne, in 1974, our house in Cramlington felt smaller every year that passed, so my Dad started looking for a bigger property in Hepscott, Northumberland, where Newcastle legend, Malcolm MacDonald used to live. In late 1978, he took us to see […]
Read moreRiver Tyne, Coal Dust and Black ‘n’ White Blood – Chapter Four of The Bernician Chronicles
River Tyne, Coal Dust and Black ‘n’ White Blood Even though men born on the banks of the River Tyne have a reputation for liking a fight, I always took the non-violent option during potential physical confrontations with my peers, whenever possible. This was predominantly due to advice given me by my Dad, whose early […]
Read moreBirth, Sting & Attila the Nun – Chapter Three of The Bernician Chronicles
According to eye witnesses, I came into this world, bloodied but unbroken, after a twenty six hour, breach birth, in the maternity ward of Newcastle General Hospital.
Read moreSubversive Is As Subversive Does – Chapter Two of The Bernician Chronicles
“If ever there was an example of ‘security’ factors being used as a pretext for political vetting, it is at the BBC. When their security procedures were revealed in 1985, the corporation said that vetting was restricted to a relatively small number of people who had access to ‘sensitive information’. But in reality a large […]
Read moreThe Director Who Knew Too Much – Chapter One of The Bernician Chronicles
The Director Who Knew Too Much 11 September 2004 On paper, as a first time feature film director, I really couldn’t expect things to be any better than they already appear to be, as I near the halfway point of my thirty sixth year. I am a commissioned screen writer, director and producer; I stand […]
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