That was the record in the log and that is faint praise. A superb cast including Alan Howard, Bernard Cribbins and Anne-Marie Duff . Richard Eyre directing. What’s not to like?
All my notes say is that I went with Bobbie Scully and that we thought it was very good.
I remember thinking Ken Stott was superb – I don’t think I had seen him before. It might have been my first encounter with the excellent Alex Jennings. Des Barrit was also a standout performer, as usual. But in truth the whole cast was good and you can see many names on the list who went on to do bigger and bolder things.
There are no on-line reviews to be found – until now – my one right here – yay!
I’m not sure what Bobbie and I did about eating afterwards, but in those days we would sometimes eat at the RNT itself – we might well have done that – or sometimes we’d go to The Archduke or somewhere of that ilk nearby.
My appointments diary remained ridiculously full of meetings right up until my term of office ended…and indeed for a while after it ended doing handover.
Sample from the appointments diary.
This article covers the two weeks ahead of the final day of our term of office.
Tuesday 28 May 1985 – rushed today with interviews, meetings etc etc. Cooked Petra some food in evening.
Wednesday. 29 May 1985 – busy in meetings all day – worked late. Cooked Annalisa a meal in evening.
Thursday, 30 May 1985 meetings all day – including NUPE over staff. Petra [cooked me a] meal in evening.
Friday 31 May 1985 – very busy day – hassled etc. Made Petra a meal late.
Saturday one June 1985 – Rose fairly early – went shopping (proper). Worked after. Cooked Petra meal
Sunday to June 1985 – Rose quite early – went to office for most of day – saw Petra later.
The question of who cooked whom dinner seems to have been my main personal diary concern that week.
Coincidentally, forty years on, Janie is cooking a pork stroganoff this evening of a very similar specification to the “strog” I used to cook back then. Obviously ingredients such as “shitake mushrooms” hadn’t been invented in 1985 and “three kinds of mustard” is at least two kinds more than I would have mustered back then, but still. We have no pictures of the food from 1985, as taking pictures of food hadn’t been invented. So here is a picture of the 2025 strog in the making:
Digression over – let’s move on to week two.
OK, I’ve heard you – you can’t read that diary page. Here’s a transcript:
Monday, 3 June 1985 – rushed today – meetings etc. Constitutional committee etc in evening – got back quite late.
Tuesday 4 June 1985 – choc-a-block today – meetings etc till late – cooked Petra a late meal.
Wednesday, 5 June 1985 – busy day – Union Committee, Ringroad meeting. Easyish evening at home – Petra came over.
Thursday, 6 June 1985 – worked hard & late today – Petra exams – made her grub – early night.
Friday, 7 June 1985 – busy day in office – not feeling too good. Cooked Petra meal in evening – stayed in.
Saturday, 8 June 1985 – lazy day – rose late – went shopping – had theatre supper around Having A Ball – very nice evening.
Sunday, 9 June 1985 – got up late had breakfast went to office for a while. Went to Kate’s for dinner.
Ah yes, Having A Ball at the Theatre Royal Hanley.
I’m glad that Petra and I had a pleasant evening. My memory of the play & production itself was of a very corny comedy, which was, in truth, not to my taste. Nor Petra’s, I should imagine, but we clearly enjoyed the “end of exams/end of tough week” escapism of it. I do especially remember thinking that the “having a ball” pun about being in a vasectomy clinic started to grind very quickly and was used far too many times.
I wonder if I might find a review of the production we saw…
…yup, from Newcastle a few days later. The critic’s view from 1985 concurs with my memory forty years on:
Billington on Magia Sat, Jul 15, 1995 – 28 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Coveney on Magia Sun, Jul 16, 1995 – 77 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
