Britain’s youngest-ever female pilot set to fly WW1 Sopwith 1½ Strutter

Britain’s youngest-ever female pilot set to fly WW1 Sopwith 1½ Strutter

Huzzah!  We've finally made it in to 2024 (just!) with this latest item of news, featuring a modern aviation pacesetter and someone who will certainly go on to do great things in the industry - 21-year-old female pilot Ellie Carter.

Sky's not the limit – Britain's youngest ever female pilot eyes new record

Miss Carter first made the headlines four years ago when, on her 17th birthday, she became Britain's youngest-ever licensed woman pilot.  Flying has obviously been in her blood for much longer, though, judging by the story related in the accompanying articles about her run-in with the USAF authorities at the age of nine(!) not to mention her subsequent aeronautical experiences that led to her record-breaking qualification.  

First World War plane to finally take to the sky this summer

Now another record is set to be broken by this committed aviatrix, as I am delighted to see that she has been chosen to be the first person - and the first-ever woman - to fly a newly-completed [replica] of a workhorse aircraft of the First World War, the Sopwith 1½-Strutter, built over the last 23 years by a team of enthusiasts in East Lothian.  Even better the B.B.C. have approached her with the intention of making a documentary about her life and this ground-breaking flight, which is due to be aired later this year.  Definitely something I will be looking out for in the schedules!  

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French-built Sopwith 1½-Strutter at Air Service Production Centre No. 2,
Romorantin Aerodrome, France, 1918

As ever with this type of young, dedicated individual it is wonderful to see the obvious, palpable enthusiasm for her chosen calling and her clear desire to make a life's career out of aviation.  At the same time her down-to-earth (if you'll pardon the expression!) attitude is equally admirable and, in conjunction with her degree in Aeronautics & Astronautics (which if she hasn't already achieved at the time of writing, I'm sure she will!) will keep her in good stead as a worthy ambassador for women and young girls in aviation and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in general.  She reminds me very much of another lady pilot (about whom I have also previously blogged), Tracey Curtis-Taylor; I am sure that Ellie Carter will follow a similar path and that this will not be the last time she appears on these pages, or in the annals of aviation history.  To borrow an expression familiar to those original 1½-Strutter pilots - "soft landings and no dud engines!"

Constance Leathart: The forgotten 'aviatrix' of WW2

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Constance Leathart: The forgotten 'aviatrix' of WW2

This month's post focuses on the the fascinating B.B.C. article (linked above) regarding one of Britain's most obscure and long-forgotten aviatrices - Constance Leathart.

The Beeb has gone into some detail about this remarkable lady in their article for the regional Inside Out programme, so I do not intend to repeat all of it again here.  Suffice to say it appears that Miss Leathart was every inch a most indomitable woman, at a time when women needed such spiritedness in order to break into the male-dominated world of early aviation.

Her appearance in the majority of the surviving photographs of her shows this plainly; usually sporting a short side-parted haircut and often wearing shirt, tie and tweeds she could easily pass for a man.  This allowed her to embark on many fantastic-sounding aviation adventures, from air races to long distance flights (not to mention repairing aeroplanes on the side!), culminating in being one of the first women to sign up for the Air Transport Auxiliary during World War Two.  Even then her adventurousness continued unabated - as it would if you were able to fly myriad military aircraft, particularly the Spitfire!

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Behind the exciting lifestyle and the overturning of gender stereotypes, though, seems to me to be a very sad portrait of a lonely outsider.  Leathart herself admits to dressing in the masculine style in order to try to please her father, who had wanted a boy child.  To see her self-deprecating notes on her own photographs is heartrending; her exclusion from most ATA publicity shots on the grounds of her not being of the "pin-up" style is equally saddening (and in the photo featured in the accompanying article of Miss Leathart standing with the rest of the ATA women one can even sense there a difference and an element of exclusion - whether on Leathart's part or not we may never know).

Her spirit of adventure still not sated, following her war service she became a UN Special Representative to the Greek island of Icaria - helping to provide food and medical supplies by air.  She eventually had to give up flying in 1958 and retired to a farmhouse in her native North-East, where she spent her time caring for rescued donkeys.  She never married and, when she passed away in 1993, in a final display of tragic seclusiveness requested to be buried in an unmarked grave (thankfully her friends disregarded this and marked her resting place with a stone from her outside swimming pool).

Although it's splendid to see Constance Leathart's life be recognised, I do feel she (and the other aviatrices of her time) are worthy of whole programmes to themselves.  Hopefully one day we shall see even greater recognition of these pioneering female pilots.

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Tracey Curtis-Taylor to recreate Amy Johnson's flight from Britain to Australia 

On a related note I'm thrilled and delighted to see that modern-day aviatrix Tracey Curtis-Taylor, who presented the B.B.C. report on Miss Leathart (and whose recreation of Lady Mary Heath's 1928 Cape Town-Goodwood flight I blogged about two years ago) is currently recreating Amy Johnson's epic 1930 flight from England to Australia.  By now somewhere over the Middle East and on her way to India, Ms Curtis-Taylor aims to land her vintage 1942 Boeing Stearman biplane in Sydney some time early in 2016, before shipping the aircraft to the west coast of the USA to continue across that continent and so make it a genuine round-the-world trip!

I heartily commend Ms Curtis-Taylor for striving to keep the memory of these early aviatrices alive through her own flying adventures and I admire her greatly for both this and the courage and drive it must take to undertake such expeditions.  Those of you in the U.K. (or with access to B.B.C. output) may remember that a documentary of Ms Curtis-Taylor's South African flight was broadcast shortly after its completion and I'm pleased to see that discussions are underway to produce a further series of programmes covering the Australian and American flights (and beyond!) for airing in the first half of 2016.  Until then I'm sure you will join me in wishing Ms Curtis-Taylor continuing good luck as she makes her way to Australia.  Soft landings and no dud engines!

Reaching for Someone and Not Finding Anyone There

First of all, a thousand apologies for the two months of radio silence as I rather let things go here at Eclectic Ephemera.  Rest assured I am alive and well, but unfortunately finding many distractions that conspire to keep me away from blogging as often as I would like.  I've always felt it to be an awful cop-out to blame a full-time job for stopping me from writing a blog, since I know so many of my favourite fellow vintage bloggers also have regular paid employment and that doesn't stop them from posting once a week!  But alas I do find myself with less time to spare at the weekends now my weekdays are once again taken up by honest toil - having had every day to myself for so long (albeit enforced through ill-health) it's come as a bit of shock to have to condense all that I would do in a week into the two days of the weekend!  Still, I must have done it before so I'm sure it'll become normal to me again soon.

In the meantime my new plan is to do one post as-and-when (note the deliberate vagueness!), covering two or three vintage-related news articles and/or anything of similar interest that may have happened in my life recently (highly unlikely, that!). Now, let's see if I can remember how to do this...



I picked this tune for a few reasons, not least because it's so toe-tappingly good!  The title somewhat reflects this place for the last couple of months too (!), but it's mainly because I've recently been on something of an early Bing Crosby kick.  For, yes, it is perhaps somewhat little known (and sadly so too) that on a lot of the classic 1920s jazz numbers featuring the noted (and tragic) cornetist Bix Beiderbecke recorded with Paul Whiteman (among others) the vocal accompaniment is performed by none other than a young Bing Crosby.  Often appearing as part of a trio known as "The Rhythm Boys" the twenty-something Bing was soon spotted as an emerging talent and by the beginning of the 1930s was singing solo more often than not, as he started down the path towards greatness.

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Bing Crosby with Al Rinker and Harry Barris
as "The Rhythm Boys"

I now have three CDs chronicling these early years of Bing's career - Bix 'n' Bing with The Paul Whiteman Orchestra and The Earliest Bing Crosby Volumes 1 & 2 - and all of them absolute crackers (but not always easy to get hold of - Amazon Marketplace is your friend!).  It's fascinating to hear the genesis of Bing's inimitable voice, particularly in its early stages, in the somewhat unusual setting of 1920s jazz.  It's hard to pick a favourite song, but this is one of the stand-outs in my opinion.  If you're a fan of the 1990s Jeeves & Wooster TV series with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (and let's be honest, if you're reading this you probably are) you'll recognise more than a couple of tunes.  To complete the Bing-fest I also ended up getting a box set of his films as well!

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Oh, and in other news I'm off to Eastbourne in Sussex the week after next (17th) for one week as a birthday treat - my first real holiday in ten years (which is why I'm playing it safe with the south coast)!  I understand the area in and around Eastbourne is something of a vintage hotspot, so I'm hoping for some retro fun, frivolity and maybe a vintage find or two!  Any tips on places to visit, hidden gems etc., please let me know (the De La Warr Pavillion is on the list, I need hardly say)!

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Well, I was going to go on to summarise two or three interesting vintage news stories from the last couple of months but looking back at this post I think I've said enough about me (oh, the vanity!) to be going on with for now, so as with all good things (oh, the vanity again!) I'll leave you wanting more (I hope!).

Speaking of good things, let me just end by asking how many of my UK-based readers have been watching and enjoying the B.B.C.'s new adaptation of Agatha Christie's Partner's In Crime stories, starring David Walliams and Jessica Raine as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford?  I was highly sceptical when the series was first announced, since I can't stand Walliams in anything else he's had a hand in and I wasn't too sure about the updated suburban 1950s setting.  I must admit now to having not yet read any of the original books (set at first in the 1920s but unusually for Christie actually progressing in real time, ending in the 1970s with the protagonists in their seventies) so had based my whole outlook on the early 1980s ITV series.  However I will admit I was pleasantly surprised - this is a rip-roaring little series; David Walliams can actually act, Jessica Raine is as lovely as ever and the plot and setting work well (not to mention the outfits - I bet you girls are having a field day!).  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's episode as I type.

The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm: a review

Christmas telly this year was widely derided by critics, most of whom pointed to the large percentage of repeats and "unoriginal programming" that would be clogging up the major channels during the festive period.  While a big amount of Christmas repeats (curse the sprouts!) could well be said to be the norm for most years nowadays, I have to admit I found this year's offerings to be quite good - a decent mixture of old classics and new films plus the odd interesting programme (B.B.C. Four was the place to be for us vintage/jazz aficionados over the holidays, as Mim over at Crinoline Robot foretold).  One little gem of a programme in particular caught my eye on Christmas Eve and so, as it might be of particular interest and enjoyment to my readers, I thought I'd give it one of my impromptu short reviews.

The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm was a one-off hour-long comedy that was broadcast on B.B.C. One on Christmas Eve at 8:30pm.  The story and characters are based upon a series of children's books written between 1933 and 1983 by Norman Hunter.  Now here I have to admit that, while I knew of the character of Professor Branestawm, I've never read any of Hunter's thirteen books that featured him.  (I often think that can be a blessing in disguise, actually, as it meant I approached this programme with no preconceptions.)



Playing the title character was the British comedian Harry Hill.  For those readers not familiar with Mr Hill's work he is probably best known for presenting irreverent comedy sketch shows, often featuring slapstick or absurdist humour and usually mocking pop culture (TV programmes, celebrities etc.) in some way.  I think it's pretty fair to say that his is a particularly British brand of humour, which you either get or you don't.  His best known programmes include The Harry Hill Show and Harry Hill's TV Burp; for the last ten years he has also narrated You've Been Framed, a long-running home movies and funny clips show.  This turn as the literary character Professor Branestawm would, in fact, be his first real acting role.

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Some kindly critics did point out that the role would not be too much a stretch for Hill, being much like an extension of his comedy persona, but be that as it may I thought he did a very good job bringing the character to life.  He imbued the Professor with just the right amount of absentmindedness (a lot, for this character!) and bumbling confusion; when it came to the few moments that required some [serious] acting he was more than up to the task to in my opinion.  Hill's experience with physical comedy, allied to his [relatively] younger age than the character he played, also helped add to the well-roundedness of the portrayal - especially during the more action-packed moments!

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Anyway, before I get too far ahead of myself, a quick overview of the main characters in the stories and the basic plot of this latest adaptation.  As mentioned, Professor Branestawm is the archetypal absentminded professor, forever coming up with crackpot inventions that usually form the basis for each book's storyline.  Other recurring characters include his best friend, the eccentric ex-Army officer Colonel Dedshott, and his housekeeper Mrs Flittersnoop.  As you can probably tell, being aimed primarily at children the characters are very exaggerated and the stories often fantastic.  The first two books of the series were written in the 1930s, so it sounds like there should also be a good period feel to the stories; the remaining eleven were written much later, between 1970 and 1983, but I suspect may contain that same air about them.

Despite this, the various elements of the stories were skillfully woven together by the programme's writer Charlie Higson (who also appears as the town's mayor).  Higson - best known in TV-land from the '90s comedy sketch series The Fast Show - has form in this area, having not only helped write the aforementioned programme but also a series of young adult novels featuring a teenage James Bond.  Here he transposes the action to an idealised 1950s version of the professor's home village of Pagwell.

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It's certainly a beautiful location (actually Shere in Surrey) and one that perfectly complements the storyline.  Despite the latter containing many elements of fantasy it was careful never to go too far overboard, retaining a welcome air of almost-believability.  The comedy was very much in evidence but very well balanced against the plot, never descending into overwhelming physicality.

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The supporting cast were clearly having a ball:  Simon Day (another Fast Show alumni) was thoroughly enjoying himself as a splendidly chappist Colonel Dedshott; Ben Miller hammed it up excellently as the evil Mr Bullimore, aided and abetted by David Mitchell as the scheming councillor Harold Haggerstone.  It was good to see Miranda Richardson (Queen Elizabeth in Blackadder II) as schoolteacher Miss Blitherington, who featured as part of a sub-plot (slightly laboured, I thought) about the professor's schoolgirl friend Connie (Madeline Holliday) wanting to become a scientist, with the message obviously being "follow your dreams" and the sexist, male-dominated world of the Fifties fair game.



Anyway, I won't give away any more of the main plot beyond saying that the professor and Connie must go up against the council and the devious Messrs. Bullimore and Haggerstone to try and save the prof's "Inventory" workshop - that just about sums up this riotous one-hour programme without leaving any spoilers!  Highlights for me in particular, I will just finish by saying, included the "mobile telephone", "Robot Father" and the results of the "wonderful photo liquid".  In truth the whole 60 minutes was a joy to watch, with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments.  While definitely aimed more at the younger viewer (I was surprised at the somewhat late hour it was initially put out at) it's certainly got something for all ages - including some wonderful '50s fashions! - and is thoroughly enjoyable.  The only pity was that the B.B.C. didn't promote it a bit more (a few trailers several weeks in advance of the 24th and one the night before were all I saw) and that it was only a one-off.  Still, with 13 books in the canon I'm sure there must be a series in there somewhere; let's hope Higson, Hill and most importantly Auntie Beeb can be persuaded to make it.  In the meantime the Professor Branestawm books have found another reader, as I'm off to read the stories on Google Books.

The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm was first broadcast on B.B.C. One at 8:30pm on 24th December.  Another showing will be on CBBC tomorrow at 8:30am and it will also be available on iPlayer for the next 4 weeks.  Those of you without access to the B.B.C. can view the trailers here and here, while the entire episode is here.

The man who lives in 1946

The man who lives in 1946

Most of you will remember - and some of you have even blogged about - the programme Time Warp Wives, which first aired in the U.K. on Channel 4 back in 2008.  Currently on YouTube here, it featured some well-known faces in vintage circles including Joanne Massey (aka Lola Lamour) and Miss L Fire's Sammi Sadler (plus, for a few seconds around the 22-23 minute mark, our own dear Tupney!).  It garnered a lot of praise from all quarters for showing four truly vintage devotees in quite a positive light, something fairly unusual for the majority of such "real-life documentaries" these days - especially those of the fourth channel!

It's perhaps for this reason that I tend to shy away from featuring any such programming on my blog (TWW predating Eclectic Ephemera by a year) and why my first reaction to this short little clip on the B.B.C. Magazine website was one of mild suspicion.  I needn't have worried, though, as this video for the Beeb's Real Time series has turned out to be a jolly pleasant insight into one vintage chap's immersion in the past.

Indeed, Ben Sansum's story struck a chord with my own experiences - and I suspect many others' - of growing up and into vintage.  The "funny boy at school" with the "strange interests", the fascination with all aspects of a favoured period - it's all very much as it was (and is) for me.  Whether I will ever be as dedicated to my chosen era as Mr Sansum I couldn't say.  Certainly he, the Time Warp Wives and others like them give us something to admire and possibly aspire to but I have written in the past about my own attitude to the vintage lifestyle and I'm not sure I would - or could - live entirely like it was the 1920s or '30s.    

Having said that I do esteem - and envy (I want his house)! - those who do choose to live their lives in such a fashion and it pleases me no end to see them enjoying and appreciating their lifestyle as well as keeping the memory of these eras alive.  I'm glad to see the Beeb eschewed a [smarmy] voiceover and allowed Mr Sansum to quite eloquently explain in his own words his reasons and feelings regarding his vintage lifestyle.

For those of you outside the U.K. or without access to the B.B.C.'s online content, below is a similar interview with Mr Sansum carried out 3 years ago by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (in English).

Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Story of Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown

 

I rarely do posts previewing upcoming interesting programmes or listing classic films on TV these days, partly because I no longer follow TV listings any more (without going into moaning mode, I haven't missed a TV mag because there's precious little of interest on).  Other bloggers cover well the occasional runs of old films (usually, in the UK, on B.B.C. Two at some ungodly hour of the morning); I'm also mindful of the fact that some international readers have limited or no access to British programming.

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Having said all that, here now is a worthy exception - a programme I had the good fortune to discover will be broadcast tomorrow (Sunday) evening at 9pm (BST) on B.B.C. Two.  It features a hero of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, the consummate test pilot and a man who has flown more types of of aircraft - a staggering 487 all told - than any other human being in aviation history.  He is Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown RN (Ret'd).

Without giving too much away - you'll have to watch the programme - Captain Brown, now 95 years old(!), joined the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm on the outbreak of World War II having actually been on a student exchange holiday in Germany at the start of the conflict in September 1939.  He had visited the country several times previously in the 1930s with his ex-RFC father, including a trip to the 1936 Berlin Olympics where the Browns met and befriended German ace Ernst Udet.  In September '39, in the first amazing incident of a long and action-packed career, the young Eric Brown was arrested by the SS.  After three days of interrogation the 20-year-old Brown, quite incredibly, was simply escorted to the Swiss border - MG Magnette sports car and all - and sent on his way (when he somewhat impetuously asked his would-be captors why they weren't commandeering his car they replied "because we have no spares").

Captain 'Winkle' Brown: Is he the greatest pilot ever?

For the next 30 years Eric Brown would fly with the Fleet Air Arm, fighting German maritime bombers from aircraft carriers, testing captured German aircraft at Farnborough, as well putting new and prototype British and American aeroplanes through their paces - bravely pushing the envelope of flight - both on land and at sea.  He still holds the record for most individual types flown, as well as being the first man to land a jet aeroplane on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Now aged 95 Captain Brown still comes across as a fantastically knowledgeable and - of course - experienced chap, with the attitude and deportment that so typifies his generation.  I can heartily recommend his autobiography Wings On My Sleeve and if it's even half as good as the book tomorrow's programme will be a real corker (looks like is is too!).

**Britain's Greatest Pilot: The Extraordinary Story of Captain Winkle Brown, B.B.C. Two, Sunday 1st June, 9pm**

(For readers outside the U.K., or without access to B.B.C. TV/iPlayer, here is a selection of extracts from a 100-minute interview with Eric Brown made 3 years ago).

Laurel and Hardy inspire BBC drama

Laurel and Hardy inspire BBC drama

It has always been a source of regret to me that I wasn't alive to see two of my favourite comic actors of the 20th century, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, when they toured the theatres of Britain with their live sketch shows during 1952-53.  Although they were in the twilight of their careers, having completed their final film in 1951 - the unholy mess that was Atoll K (also known as Utopia or Robinson Crusoeland, an absolute disaster of a film and no way to have ended a 25-year movie career - a mixed nationality of actors and crew meant that no-one understood one another, The Boys were both ill and in the case of Stan looked it, he also never really got the creative freedom he was promised so the story was weak as well) - by the following year they were in better health and keen to get out and meet the many fans who still enjoyed their comedy genius.  Stan, the creative one of the partnership, had several new ideas for the team but both agreed that another tour of Europe - where they remained popular - was the first step (they had twice before toured abroad, once in 1932 and again in 1947).

In 1952 they performed a sketch written by Stan entitled "A Spot of Trouble" and it proved so successful that in 1953 they returned with a new performance, "Birds of a Feather".  Playing to packed houses, they were overwhelmed by the joy and affection they still engendered nearly 20 years after their heyday.  On one occasion, arriving by boat at Cobh in Ireland, they were moved to tears by the crowds' cheering and waving and - I'd have loved to have been there to hear it - all the church bells in the town pealing out their theme tune, "The Dance of the Cuckoos".

The 1953 tour was another great success but it proved to be their last, for Oliver Hardy's health declined in 1956 and following a series of strokes he passed away on the 7th August 1957 aged 65, ending one of the greatest partnerships in film.



I'm pleased to see that the B.B.C. has now commissioned a new drama-documentary charting those last two years' of tours, to be written by the same chap who co-wrote the recent critically-lauded film Philomena.  I haven't seen that one myself but by all accounts it is a very good, if heartrending, story so I have high hopes for this forthcoming programme.

It won't be the first time the Beeb have produced a drama based around the last years of Laurel & Hardy, however.  Back in 2006 as part of its "Silent Cinema" season B.B.C. Four broadcast Stan, which was written by Neil Brand (who is also well-known for playing accompanying music - and in some cases composing new scores - for silent films, often shown at the British Film Institute e.g. The Wrecker) and which covered Laurel & Hardy's career in a series of flashbacks as Stan visited Ollie on his deathbed.  That was an excellent production, if sometimes tough to watch, with the actors playing the lead roles well suited to the parts.  Let us hope it will be more of the same with Stan and Ollie; I look forward to hearing more news about it.  In the meantime I can heartily recommend the book Laurel & Hardy: the British Tours by A. J. Marriot as an excellent tome on the subject of The Boys' later live appearances.

Parade's End: a review

My goodness, the last week has just flown by - and I wasn't even doing much to make it seem so!  I must apologise again for the silence that has emanated from this blog for the last 8 days - terribly remiss of me I'm sure.

While there seems to be another lull in the proceedings I thought I would take this opportunity to post about a television drama that has just finished ("good timing, Bruce", I can hear you say, but read on...) here in the UK and which should be of great interest to you, my readers.  Of such great interest, in fact, that I'm more than a little surprised that someone else hasn't mentioned it before now.  I am referring, of course, to the recent five-part B.B.C. Two Edwardian drama Parade's End starring Benedict Cumberbatch, based on the book by Ford Madox Ford and adapted for the screen by Tom Stoppard.

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I first became aware of this production a few weeks before the first episode aired when a "preview" article appeared in The Daily Telegraph and an interview with Cumberbatch was published - I can't quite remember where, it may have been the same newspaper - focussing on his role in the upcoming series.  I recall that both articles seemed to be at pains to compare it - in a highly superior manner - with ITV's Downton Abbey, the third series of which was then due to begin shortly (16th September), but ended up omitting any precis of what it was actually about beyond the barest details.  As such I watched the first episode with no knowledge of what to expect (having never read the novel) and was promptly blown away by this beguiling adaptation.

To compare it to Downton is like comparing a supermarket's "basic" range with its "connoisseur" line.  That's not to do Downton a disservice - so far the episodes of this run have been some of the best since the first series - but there's no denying that even through all the trials and tribulations of that household it is still recognisably Sunday evening entertainment of the lighter variety.  I still like it, though, and Julian Fellowes has done a splendid job with it.  But Parade's End is just... in a different league.  Despite there being fewer characters they are all so complex and their lives so intertwined that one is transfixed, and almost obliged to follow each episode closely in order to really appreciate what's going on.  Each individual is so fascinating - helped in no small part by an excellent cast of actors.

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Benedict Cumberbatch we know and love from Sherlock and here he gives another virtuoso performance as civil servant Christopher Tietjens - albeit a strikingly different one from his turn as the Great Detective.  Here he is a highly principled man, locked in a loveless marriage and struggling to reconcile the fast-changing world around him with his own strict values - values that are tested to the limit when he meets and falls in love with a young suffragette.  In some ways I could empathise with Christopher Tietjens - a man with strong principles, having difficulty finding his way in the modern world.  Stoppard has done a wonderful job in making Christopher's dilemma appear allegorical to troubles faced by people in the world today, it seems to me.

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Rebecca Hall, as Sylvia Tietjens, I have personally not seen before although she has appeared in some acclaimed films of recent years (for example Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Prestige and Frost/Nixon).  Here she gives a remarkable performance as Tietjen's unfaithful wife, amazingly subtle in her cruelty.  Her character is of a type that is equal parts attractive and repugnant, sometimes both together, and that is an incredible feat for an actress to pull off.  I hope we shall see more of Miss Hall in the future.

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Adelaide Clemens plays young suffragette Valentine Wannop, the lady Christopher Tietjens meets by chance and ends up falling in love with (and she with him).  I may struggle to write anything constructive here, for I admit that I fell in love with the character too.  Also highly principled, but a much more forward-looking way, she is possibly the only woman to help bring Christopher Tietjens into the 20th century and is not afraid to tell him what she thinks.  She is complementary and encouraging where Sylvia is destructive and stifling.  A relative newcomer, Adelaide Clemens has appeared in such un-vintage fare as X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D but watch out for her next year in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby in which she will play Catherine.

A superb supporting cast including Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson and Rufus Sewell helps this series to maintain its high level of drama, with each character having a part to play in the overall story arc.

Parade's End had for me a unique quality about it.  It is a series that screams for its episodes to be watched in one sitting - I have tried looking at clips after having watched the entire programme and snippets simply cannot provide the same intensity of feeling one gets from the whole hour.  At the end of that hour one feels somehow culturally enriched, a feeling a TV drama programme hasn't given me for goodness knows how long.  Then it suddenly occurs to you that you're actually still thinking about things that have gone on in the episode, continuing to put things together and appreciating the results long after the credits have finished rolling.  Some critics have decried the somewhat "jumpy" nature of events in some episodes, the fact that you have to follow the dialogue and the action closely throughout, but this is what sets Parade's End apart from other existing costume dramas and, as I hope I have suggested above, makes it a far more engrossing and stimulating experience.

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All the deep, intellectual stuff aside Parade's End is at the end of the day still a costume drama and there is lots of sartorial goodness for both chaps and chappettes.  Cumberbatch's wardrobe is typical of the Edwardian gentleman with hats, three-piece suits, separate collars and overcoats galore, although Rupert Everett also gets some choice outfits.  Ladies, there is something for every taste whether it be Rebecca Hall's flamboyant dresses, robes and coats or Adelaide Clemens' prim, tomboyish blouses, ties and suits.

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Now, Parade's End did indeed finish yesterday evening (boo!) but for those of you in the UK I am pleased to say that all five parts are on iPlayer for the next week.  Doubtless the DVD will be out shortly too.  American readers will be pleased to know that the series was produced in conjunction with HBO, so its appearance on U.S. television is only a matter of time, I'd say.  I understand that you are only just beginning season two of both Downton Abbey and Sherlock whereas in the British Isles season three has/is about to start[ed], so it might take a bit of time.  In the interim, clips are available on Youtube.  Alas, being based on a period novel means no more than the five existing episodes of Parade's End, either.

Be that as it may, I thoroughly recommend seeking out this series, if you have not already seen it (and if you have I'd be pleased to hear your opinions).

Music, Murder and The Mrs Bradley Mysteries

All images courtesy of Fanpop

Like a few of my fellow vintage bloggers I have been thoroughly enjoying the recent re-runs of the [sadly short-lived] B.B.C. series from the late '90s, The Mrs Bradley Mysteries starring Dame Diana Rigg, a few episodes of which have found their way on to B.B.C. Four (Wednesdays, 9p.m.).

Dame Diana plays society divorcée Adela Bradley, an amateur criminologist (with a penchant for the psychological) who is ably assisted by her loyal chauffeur George Moody (Neil Dudgeon).  Both roles are expertly essayed, and supporting cast members include Peter Davison, David Tennant and Meera Syal.  It's a wonderful feast for fans of the 1920s with period cars, fashions, music and scenery galore.  Author Gladys Mitchell's stories have been very well adapted for the screen.

It's only a pity, then, that the series was so under-appreciated - to the extent that it never made it past one series.  The 90-minute pilot and four hour-long episodes are all that exist of this excellent programme.

At the time it was first aired I was not as fully immersed in vintage as I am now, so was not able to appreciate it properly, but with these latest showings I have been able to really enjoy this series.  So much so, in fact, that I've bought the 2-disc DVD set.  Now I can enjoy the adventures of Mrs Bradley to my heart's content!  The B.B.C. broadcasts are available on iPlayer, of course, and the pilot Speedy Death plus the second episode Death at the Opera (which was the one starring David Tennant) are both available on YouTube.



At the same time as my rediscovery of The Mrs Bradley Mysteries I also felt the desire to introduce a little more of 1920s/'30s British bandleader Ambrose & His Orchestra into my daily soundtrack (his version of Happy Days Are Here Again remains one of my top 10 songs) so I set about looking for CDs.  In no short order two (one a double-disc set) have made it into my music collection.



They were both mine - new, from a well-known South American-inspired online trading emporium - for a little less than £5.  The Mrs Bradley DVDs were the same.  So for less than a tenner I have a new pile of Twenties goodness to enjoy.  What always gets me about this sort of thing - and perhaps you've noticed this as well - is that most media related to vintage, as much as it is available at all, is either heinously expensive/ completely unavailable (memories of the aforementioned retailer having books/CDs/DVDs for sale "new and used" starting at ridiculous figures like £50 spring to mind) or dirt cheap like my latest purchases.  It has often been a source of puzzlement to me that such items, which can appear so similar in genre, are only ever rarer than hens' teeth or practically being given away (more of the latter, I say!).  And, of course, it goes without saying that finding such items in your local high street shops is a once-in-a-blue-moon experience, such as when I found a copy of the 1935 version of The 39 Steps in the DVD section of Woolworths for £4.93 (?!) or an Elsie Carlilse CD in my local Sainsburys for 99p.

Oh well, perhaps another mystery for Mrs Bradley to solve, eh?

The Fleet's Lit Up!

Things have been quiet again lately in my world of vintage; news seems to be dominated by unfortunate world events, which is not what this blog is about, and the last few days have been uneventful for me personally.  However I've got a few posts lined up for the next week or so, more on that later.

This hasn't stopped The Vintage Knitter from bestowing upon this blog a little award - The Liebster Blog Award (The Lovely Blog Award, if my A-level German hasn't failed me!), which is especially for blogs with fewer than 300 followers.  My thanks to VK for the thought, and off my own bat I choose to pass on the award to the following 10 fellow bloggers:

a cat among the pigeons

Being Manly

Miss Magpie's Musings

Porcelina's World

That Vintage Broad

The Dandy Man Can

The Deco Devotee

The Butterfly Balcony

The Life & Times of a Vintage Obsessive

The paper doll says "let's have tea!"

Speaking of followers, a hearty welcome to the latest batch who have stumbled across my corner of the Interweb and decided to stay.  It seems like only yesterday that there were 70 of you - now I'm up to 93!  Nearly at the ton, what?  A giveaway!  I promised a giveaway at some point, and by Jove I'll have one when I reach 100 followers!

I leave you with this infamous and hilarious recording from the early years of B.B.C. radio.  The "Woodrooffe Incident" or "The Fleet's Lit Up" occurred during the 1937 Spithead Review (where H.M. The King inspected the Royal Navy fleet at Spithead, off the Hampshire coast).  Lt. Commander Thomas Woodrooffe was an ex-RN man employed by the B.B.C. to present the review on the wireless.  It just so happened that HMS Nelson, the flagship from which he was broadcasting, was his old ship and he knew many of the crew.  He made the mistake of engaging in a bit of a knees-up with them prior to going on the air and subsequently, as you can hear, was three sheets to the wind when it came time to tell what was going on!  It is said that the repeated phrase "lit up" later became a synonym for "drunk"; Woodrooffe actually denied he was plastered, claiming instead that he was "tired and emotional" (another synonym, perhaps?!) being the only B.B.C. man covering the event.  He was suspended for a week but kept his job, later commentating on the 1938 FA Cup final where he stated - 1 minute from full time - that "if there's a goal scored now, I'll eat my hat".  You can probably guess what happened next..

The BBC's ornate 'royal microphone' from the 1930s revealed

The BBC's ornate 'royal microphone' from the 1930s revealed

I'm probably the only vintage blogger who hasn't yet seen the (I can now say "Oscar-winning") film The King's Speech but rest assured I definitely will, be it on the big screen or DVD (or maybe both!).

In the meantime here is a clip from yesterday's Radio 4 programme Broadcasting House during which a member of the Corporation's in-house museum brought along an original example of the so-called "royal microphones" (above) that, as he explains, were first designed in the 1920s to hide the ugly(!) B.B.C. devices from His Majesty's view!  The ones used in the Colin Firth film are exact replicas of this gloriously Art Deco-style piece of radio equipment, which the B.B.C. allowed the film's production crew to look over when recreating them.  Even better, they still work!  Is it me, or does it sound better when the presenter switches from his modern mic to the old '30s one? ;-)

What's more it sounds as though we may all get a chance to see (and hear?) this part of audio history in the future; amazingly these microphones had until recently only been on view to anyone visiting Broadcasting House but now it seems that the B.B.C. will be lending them out to more public displays (perhaps not so surprising considering the success of the film), so watch (or should that be listen to?) this space!

Upstairs Downstairs to return for second series

Upstairs Downstairs to return for second series

Welcome news for we vintage costume drama fans as the B.B.C. announces a "second" series of the new Upstairs Downstairs (I say "second" because the first was really a three-part special rather than a whole series - unless 3 episodes constitutes a series nowadays?).

A full-blown run of new episodes was always on the cards provided the first 3 performed well and with apparently very healthy audience figures this looks to have been achieved, so we have been amply rewarded!

Now with this, a second series of Downton Abbey on the horizon and the likes of Land Girls, Mad Men and the forthcoming (hopefully, if a terrestrial channel picks it up quick-smart) Boardwalk Empire we look like being spoilt for choice when it comes to televisual offerings. 2011-12 has the makings of a vintage year for TV, in more ways than one!

Britain’s tea rooms are on the way back

Britain’s tea rooms are on the way back

The B.B.C. is running a wonderful series at the moment called Turn Back Time - The High Street, which I know many of my British-based readers have been watching as avidly as I. One of the shops is a traditional bakery which, in recent episodes, has also included a tea room. It was splendid to see how the public took to and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of using such an establishment and judging by the programme and now this article from my local 'paper, we could be on the verge of a tea room renaissance!

Of the two mentioned in the article I am only familiar with Squires in Rayleigh (above), which is as delightful as it looks; Louis & Oscar's Patisserie in Billericay has only recently opened - I will have to make a visit and sample its wares.

If Essex can embrace the tea-room (!) then there should be no difficulty in the whole country once again enjoying a cup of afternoon tea in the high street. It's a lovely treat to be able to take some time out from one's shopping and have a refreshing cuppa and is the direct (and welcome) antithesis to all the ghastly fast-food chains that seem all-pervading. Perhaps the balance is about to be redressed!

A gem of a singer

I tend to listen to my iPod more than the radio these days as, even with all this DAB nonsense, there aren't many stations that play the kind of music I like (swing, dance and big bands - early jazz, in case you haven't guessed!). I do listen to Classic FM when the mood takes me but often I find myself listening to the Ken Bruce show on BBC Radio 2 (about the only decent thing left on that network these days).



This week I'm particularly glad I tuned in, as it's introduced me to this delightful singer, whose début album Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor is being featured this week. Her name is Caro Emerald and she hails from The Netherlands, where the album has been at number one in the charts practically since its release in January(!).

Her style (not to mention her looks) is really appealing, with a great '40s/'50s big band sound to it but with a modern twist. It rather reminds me of the Swing Revival that was popular in the mid- to late-90s, but I hope Miss Emerald will be more successful than that (I'm sure, with her unmitigated achievement in her home country, that she will be). From what I've seen and heard so far, Caro Emerald deserves a mention on this blog and I believe she will have a great following here as well as in mainland Europe. I for one highly recommend her and on the strength of her performance her album has just made it on to my Christmas list! Have a listen and let me know what you think.



** Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor will be released in the UK on the 18th of October and is the Album of the Week on the Ken Bruce Show this week. **

Why Sherlock is still sleuthing

Why Sherlock is still sleuthing

Obviously written to coincide with the new B.B.C. three-part series Sherlock, which debuted here in Britain on Sunday night, this little study of Sherlock Holmes' enduring popularity is quite interesting. The Holmes stories have captured the public imagination for well over a century and this new series, set in modern-day London, is just one of several recent adaptations which show that there is plenty of life left in the character yet. So many people have attempted to identify just what it is about Sherlock Holmes that has kept him at the forefront of the public consciousness for more than 100 years that I will not even attempt to add my own theories, which pretty much tally with those already expressed anyway.

Suffice to say that with this new series (which I personally found quite enjoyable and thought worked surprisingly well, despite a few irksome aspects - although if I want canonical accuracy and period settings I'll watch the Jeremy Brett series), the recent Downey Jr. film and the various other portrayals that are currently around the future of arguably the world's most famous fictional detective seems assured.

100 up!

I'm pleased to say that this very post marks my one hundredth such epistle since I first dipped my æthereal toe in the then-murky waters of blogdom back in November 2009.

As I recall I jocularly predicted at the time that this blog would either set the Internet alight with wonder and brilliance or else sink without a trace in less than month.

Well I am pleased to say that the latter instance did not occur and I am still here 7 months later blogging away happily, having very definitely caught the bug. Total World-Wide-Webbular domination is not yet on the cards though, I'm afraid!

When I set out to start this blog I wisely kept to something straightforward that even a semi IT-literate amateur such as myself could maintain and I'm pleased to see it working so well. I always felt that there was the opportunity for a chronicle of cheery, interesting and [predominately] vintage-related news items and such has proven to be the case. I have also had my eyes opened to a whole new world of like-minded blogs, events, and people that I may never have otherwise come across, so it has all been most definitely worth it.

I must extend my gratitude to the news sites I get the stories from, particularly The Daily Telegraph and the BBC - without them I almost certainly wouldn't have a blog. Last but by no means least I would like to thank the 8 people (so far - there's plenty of room for more!) who have taken the time to follow my random postings - thank you for making me feel like I'm actually passing on stories over the wires rather than just rambling away to myself in vain.

Here's to the next 100 posts and many more besides; I hope that you will continue to read with me all the amusing, light-hearted and interesting articles that are still to come.