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Authors: Fern Britton
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piece of kitchen towel and kicked off the conversation.
‘Simon, you start – how did the meeting go?’
He told them about the plans for fliers in windows, leaflets through letterboxes and letters to the council.
‘Good for Audrey and Geoff. That’ll keep them busy. Who else was there?’
Simon duly listed the attendees, finishing: ‘… and Queenie, of course. She took Colonel Stick under her wing – kept him quiet with aniseed twists.’
Helen paused with a chunk of cod halfway between her plate and her lips. She darted a look at Piran, who shook his head as a warning for her not to say anything just yet.
‘What?’ said Penny, immediately spotting what had passed.
‘All in good time,’ Piran answered infuriatingly. ‘Penny, your turn – any of those actor types in your address book come good?’
Penny clapped her hands together, thrilled with what she had to tell. She moved her fish-and-chip paper to one side and opened the document wallet that had been sitting underneath.
‘I think you’re going to be very pleased!’ She beamed at them, waiting for murmurs of wonder and approval, but kept them waiting a moment too long.
‘Get on with it, woman!’ barked Piran.
‘OK, OK.’ Penny took the papers out of the wallet. ‘Let’s see … I started by emailing the cast of
Mr Tibbs
; seeing as the series is being filmed locally I thought they’d be supportive. Both David Cunningham and Dahlia Dahling’ – the actors who played the two lead roles, bank-manager-cum-sleuth Mr Tibbs and his secretary Nancy Trumpet – ‘have agreed to help in some way.’
‘That’s jolly good of them,’ said Simon, patting Penny’s arm affectionately.
‘There’s more. The Arts Council are launching a new campaign to get people to support their regional theatres, so we can get some publicity on the back of that.
AND
– ta-dah! – dear Julian Fellowes has said he might,
might
, can’t promise in blood, but might …’
‘Yes?’ Helen was on the edge of her seat.
‘… be able to persuade Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith to join him for a special
Downton Abbey
night where they share a kind of behind-the-scenes gossipy chat with the audience.’
‘What’s
Downton Abbey
?’ asked Piran, frowning.
‘Shut up!’ Helen punched his arm. ‘I’ll tell you later.’
‘
And
…’ Penny continued, ‘it looks as though we’ll be getting some memorabilia from
Dr Who
, signed by cast members, past and present.’
‘David Tennant?’ swooned Helen.
‘Yes, David Tennant.
And
my man in Hollywood is going to ask Quentin Tarantino’s office for anything the great man can sign and send us too.’
Penny sat back looking very pleased with herself. Simon and Helen could only gaze at her in astonishment, their eyes like saucers.
‘Wow,’ said Helen.
‘’oo’s Quentin Tarantino?’ asked Piran.
After it was explained exactly who Tarantino was, and Penny had poured out the last of the bottle of red wine, Piran pulled out the newspaper cutting he’d shown to Helen earlier that day and passed it to Penny and Simon.
‘’ave a look to that.’
Simon and Penny hunched together and looked. It was Simon who got the connection first.
‘Piran! This is Colonel Stick, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘So the man who first took charge of the theatre is still in Trevay?’
‘That’s right.’
‘And he was a music hall performer who knew Max Miller?’
‘Give the man a cigar!’
‘He was at the meeting today. He told me he’d never missed a show, but I thought he meant a military “show”, that he liked nothing better than to get stuck into a battle. But he meant—’
‘I should think he did.’
Penny was listening hard and had finally put two and two together. ‘So
he
is the piece of historic interest we need to save the Pavilions?’
‘Correct.’
‘But how exactly? What can Colonel Stick do that could possibly help us save the theatre?’ asked Helen. ‘I mean, I’m sure he has lots of
‘Simon, you start – how did the meeting go?’
He told them about the plans for fliers in windows, leaflets through letterboxes and letters to the council.
‘Good for Audrey and Geoff. That’ll keep them busy. Who else was there?’
Simon duly listed the attendees, finishing: ‘… and Queenie, of course. She took Colonel Stick under her wing – kept him quiet with aniseed twists.’
Helen paused with a chunk of cod halfway between her plate and her lips. She darted a look at Piran, who shook his head as a warning for her not to say anything just yet.
‘What?’ said Penny, immediately spotting what had passed.
‘All in good time,’ Piran answered infuriatingly. ‘Penny, your turn – any of those actor types in your address book come good?’
Penny clapped her hands together, thrilled with what she had to tell. She moved her fish-and-chip paper to one side and opened the document wallet that had been sitting underneath.
‘I think you’re going to be very pleased!’ She beamed at them, waiting for murmurs of wonder and approval, but kept them waiting a moment too long.
‘Get on with it, woman!’ barked Piran.
‘OK, OK.’ Penny took the papers out of the wallet. ‘Let’s see … I started by emailing the cast of
Mr Tibbs
; seeing as the series is being filmed locally I thought they’d be supportive. Both David Cunningham and Dahlia Dahling’ – the actors who played the two lead roles, bank-manager-cum-sleuth Mr Tibbs and his secretary Nancy Trumpet – ‘have agreed to help in some way.’
‘That’s jolly good of them,’ said Simon, patting Penny’s arm affectionately.
‘There’s more. The Arts Council are launching a new campaign to get people to support their regional theatres, so we can get some publicity on the back of that.
AND
– ta-dah! – dear Julian Fellowes has said he might,
might
, can’t promise in blood, but might …’
‘Yes?’ Helen was on the edge of her seat.
‘… be able to persuade Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith to join him for a special
Downton Abbey
night where they share a kind of behind-the-scenes gossipy chat with the audience.’
‘What’s
Downton Abbey
?’ asked Piran, frowning.
‘Shut up!’ Helen punched his arm. ‘I’ll tell you later.’
‘
And
…’ Penny continued, ‘it looks as though we’ll be getting some memorabilia from
Dr Who
, signed by cast members, past and present.’
‘David Tennant?’ swooned Helen.
‘Yes, David Tennant.
And
my man in Hollywood is going to ask Quentin Tarantino’s office for anything the great man can sign and send us too.’
Penny sat back looking very pleased with herself. Simon and Helen could only gaze at her in astonishment, their eyes like saucers.
‘Wow,’ said Helen.
‘’oo’s Quentin Tarantino?’ asked Piran.
After it was explained exactly who Tarantino was, and Penny had poured out the last of the bottle of red wine, Piran pulled out the newspaper cutting he’d shown to Helen earlier that day and passed it to Penny and Simon.
‘’ave a look to that.’
Simon and Penny hunched together and looked. It was Simon who got the connection first.
‘Piran! This is Colonel Stick, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘So the man who first took charge of the theatre is still in Trevay?’
‘That’s right.’
‘And he was a music hall performer who knew Max Miller?’
‘Give the man a cigar!’
‘He was at the meeting today. He told me he’d never missed a show, but I thought he meant a military “show”, that he liked nothing better than to get stuck into a battle. But he meant—’
‘I should think he did.’
Penny was listening hard and had finally put two and two together. ‘So
he
is the piece of historic interest we need to save the Pavilions?’
‘Correct.’
‘But how exactly? What can Colonel Stick do that could possibly help us save the theatre?’ asked Helen. ‘I mean, I’m sure he has lots of
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