The Story Teller

Now here's a blast from the past. It began the year I was born so sadly I was a little too young for Marshall Cavendish's Story Teller magazine (though I did have enormous fun reading their Ancestral Trail series in later years).

It was a collection of children's tales, a mixture of modern novels and classic folk/fairy stories, so the likes of The Wind in the Willows and The Wizard of Oz mixed with Rapunzel, Cinderella and Pandora's Box; all of which were read by the respected acting type of the day (and now). These actors included, but were not limited to; Brian Blessed, Sheila Hancock, Joss Ackland, Joanna Lumley, Diana Rigg, Siân Phillips, Tom Baker, Ian Holm, Miriam Margolyes, Martin Shaw, Richard Briers and Derek Jacobi.

And why am I remembering this? Well, I've just found out that some lovely person has placed a number of the stories online. So go. Listen. And if you really need any reason to investigate further, just have a listen Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince, read by Tim Curry.

Tintin Time.

I am a big Tintin fan, and the names attached to the upcoming film tick many many boxes. Stephen Spielberg, Pegg & Frost, Toby Jones, Jamie Bell, Stephen Moffat, Cary Elwes, Peter Jackson, Tony Curran, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Daniel Craig, John Williams - these are all good people who do good things.

But, there's a thing, a little thing, but a thing. You know how the Richard Lester The Three Musketeers adaptation was almost perfect, but could have been improved by lifting Tim Curry's Cardinal Richelieu from the otherwise terrible Disney version, in place of Charlton Heston's awful performance? Well, I have a hunch that the new Tintin flick could only be improved by the addition of a certain much loved theme tune.

Like this (made by a very clever chap named James Curran.)

The Adventures of Tintin from James Curran on Vimeo.

Lines of Flight, Mervyn Peake, the Illustrated Work

An exhibition of Mervyn Peake's etchings and suchlike opens at the Laing, next week.

And very good it looks too.