I've been a bit busier since my last blog.  At the beginning of July, I was up in Birmingham filming an episode of 'Doctors' for the BBC.  I was called upon to play a rather sleazy professor who tried to hit upon aformer student who returned to the University as a visiting lecturer.  It was a most enjoyable job.  I got to work with Bill Ward - who played the nasty piece of work, Charlie, in Coronation Street and got killed for his pains.  He turns out of course (Bill that is) to be the most gentle, decent and amusing bloke and we had a great couple of days locking horns over the lovely Sara Stewart, who was the object of both our affections. I'll leave it to you to work out which of us she favoured when you watch it  should you choose to in October (14th I think).  Aside from my travel to and from the second city,  which you can read about in my articles from the Bucks Free Press on another part of this site,  it was a very pleasant experience - particularly so because I got to work for a lovely new director (to me anyway) called Sarah Punshon, whose name I knew from her theatre work and who created a lovely atmosphere in which to work.  Theatre directors are more often than not very good at getting the best out of actors when and if they move into television.

I also spent a very pleasant and very sunny and hot day in Basildon at the invitation of an old friend of mine, David Alacey,  who is a councillor in that Essex town which was celebrating sixty years of existence by laying on a great fete and jamboree for the citizens.  They had decided on a 'time travel' theme to reflect the sixty years progress, hence my presence. I hadn't seen David for a while and it was good to catch up with him. You may see his photo outside theatres all over the country from time to time with his Rat Pack tribute show -  The Rat Pack is Back. Check him out on www.franksinatratribute.co.uk

I have also recorded another Big Finish audio Paradise 5 which was yet again another excellent story, which we managed to squeeze in just before Nicola Bryant disappeared off to foreign and exotic climes filming a travel documentary.  Lucky her, say I, given the weather we have enjoyed this July. If "enjoyed" is the right word.  My only consolation is that the bad weather means I wouldn't have been able to drive around with the roof of my convertible down much this summer - were I able to drive! But I am nearly two thirds way through my enforced carlessness now.

A week after Basildon I was in Hitchen at their lovely little Museum where they too were having a Doctor Who day.  I spent several hours meeting local fans of the show and visitors to the museum and was very warmly received by David Hodges and the rest of the museum staff.

Then, two weeks ago,  I headed off to San Diego for the mammoth event that is Comic Con. I had heard about this convention but was unprepared for the sheer scale of the event. 130,000 people descended on this beautiful city on the Pacific coast to celebrate cult film and TV, comics, novels, computer games and art. 

And everyone goes to Comic Con apparently.  Johnny Depp even turned up at one of the panels.  Given the number of people thronging the vast convention centre it was almost impossible for me to have a good look round, but I did get to see some of the cast of Dexter, including thedelightful Julie Benz, and Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner from Star Trek were justround the corner from me, as was the ubiquitous John Barrowman, whom I met therefor the first time.  He was charming the socks (and probably everything else) off the throng of admirers that surrounded him.  I said to him that I was very glad he wasn't around when I was doing the show. I would never have got a look in! He laughed and politely suggested that the Doctor always had a look in!

When I returned home I told my daughters that I had also run into the cast of Twilight -  a film that I had somehow failed to register.  They seemed to have a huge following, I said and was then told that Robert Pattinson (who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter) is the hot star at the moment and I should be ashamed of myself for not knowing who he was. Twilight is apparently to new "in" cult film.

Each night I joined my host Gene Smith (who runs the annual Visions Convention in Chicago and has the franchise for Big Finish in the States) and his delightful and shrewd wife Karen for dinner, when we eventually found somewhere we could get into. 130,000 people looking for somewhere to eat in a small City downtown can put a strain on resources.  One night we were sitting outside one restaurant in the main drag, enjoying the evening sun and eating our pasta, when several hundred zombies came lurching and dribbling down the street, 'terrorising' the passers-by, complete with variable, but mostly excellent, make-up and frantic murderous stares.  Apparently this is a regular Comic Conoccurrence.  I imagine some of the residents leave town for the duration, while others rub their hands together with glee at the prospect of all the extra business. 

I must admit that the majority of convention attendees neither knew nor cared who I was. However the delight on the faces of those who did know, and were polite enough to pretend to care, when they discovered that a Doctor Who had troubled to traverse the pond to meet up with his American fans was mostgratifying.  Almost worth the experience of transatlantic air flight on crowded planes; though the fact that they hadn't changed the films for the return journey diminished the pleasure slightly, until I discovered the screen in front of me didn't work.  Then I was glad I had seen the films on the way out !!

Back to a performance of 'Love Letters' with my best friend Louise Jameson. We always enjoy doing this play together.  It is such a beautifully written and poignant and funny piece and each time we discover something new in it.  Last Sunday was no exception.  We were the inaugural production at a new pub venue in Eastbourne - The Lamb.  Newlandlord Jim wants to make the pub an arts venue and seemed very happy with this his first venture, which was mounted for him by Steve Scott who, among other things, puts on shows at the Underground Theatre in Eastbourne. 

The room was full to bursting and the audience were very receptive and appreciative.  It wasparticularly nice to see my cousin John and his wife Shirley, who had trekked over from Lewes to see the play with their friends Cynthia and Dave from Bristol. They were good enough to say that our efforts exceeded their expectations.  Mind you John didn't say what his expectations were.  He supports Brighton and Hove Albion so his expectations can't be that high!  Also there was my friend and vet  Malcolm who very generously gave me a lift home to Buckinghamshire.  After my journey down where I spent an hour and a half on a packed bus sitting next to sniffing Portuguese boy with a streaming cold and then another hour on a train behind two Italian boys playing the loudest version of 'Snap' you have ever heard- it was very welcome.

I'm off to the Fleet Air Arm at Yeovilton with another cousin,  Ian  (from the other side of my family) next weekend,  so if you read this and are coming,  do say "Hello".

And for now I'm heading back to the cricket at Edgbaston.  It's so frustrating,   but for the rain we would have put the Ashes beyond doubt, I think.   But we can still do it.  Come on  Freddie!