Cast news – Page 5 – Survivors: A World Away

Lucy Fleming and Simon Williams – ‘Posting letters to the moon’ – at Carnforth Station Heritage Centre

Lucy Fleming and Simon Williams appear at the Carnforth Station Heritage Centre Carnforth, Lancashire LA5 9TR) on Thursday 2 March at 19:30 to deliver a reading of the wartime correspondence between Fleming’s mother Celia Johnson and husband Peter Fleming.

These letters from Celia to her husband tell of her experiences during the war – from coping with a large isolated house full of evacuated children, learning to drive a tractor, dealing with rationing, occasional holidays in Cornwall where she took to surfing, and all the while acting for David Lean, Noel Coward and starring in the classic film Brief Encounter in 1945.

Not only are the letters highly engaging, but they also provide a fascinating historical insight into that time of true austerity and fearfulness.

Carnforth Railway Station was the filming location for the pivotal scenes in the 1945 film Brief Encounter in which Celia Johnson starred. Tickets for the event (‘Posting letters to the moon’) are £9:00 and are only available from the Centre.

Other performances are scheduled for Wednesday 1 March 2017 (Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster) and Saturday 4 March (Glenridding Public Hall, Glenridding).

Posting letters to the moon - Lucy Fleming and Simon Williams

The Westmorland Gazette carries a short preview of the event:

Brief Encounter actress Celia Johnson’s daughter Lucy Fleming to perform at Carnforth Station Heritage Centre in Posting Letters to the Moon

THE daughter of actress Celia Johnson is to make a special appearance at Carnforth railway station this spring, where her mother filmed famous scenes from Brief Encounter in 1945.

Actress Lucy Fleming and her husband Simon Williams – of Upstairs, Downstairs fame – are to appear in Posting Letters to the Moon, when they will read wartime letters between Lucy’s mother and father, Peter Fleming.

Described as touching and amusing, the letters from Celia to her husband tell of her experiences during the war, from coping with a large, isolated house full of evacuated children, to learning to drive a tractor, dealing with rationing, and all the while accepting offers of work when she could get away – for David Lean, Noel Coward, wartime propaganda films and ultimately in 1945 starring in the classic Brief Encounter.

“It was a joy to discover these letters, and I hope you will find them as funny and moving as I do,” said Lucy, whose uncle was James Bond author Ian Fleming.

The performance is to take place at Carnforth Station Heritage Centre on Thursday, March 2, at 7.30pm. The pair will also be taking their show to the Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster, on March 1, and Glenridding Public Hall on March 4.

Ian McCulloch talks Italian horror movies on The Strange and Deadly Show

In a relaxed and reflective podcast interview Ian McCulloch, (Greg, Survivors) discusses his work on the three Italian horror movies in which he starred after his work on Survivors on a new edition of The Strange and Deadly Show.

Ian does mention, in passing, the importance of Survivors in him securing these films roles, but this interview (recorded back in 2012, but only now released online) focuses on the three films – about which Ian is much more positive than (he himself acknowledges) he used to be previously.

The interview begins around 5m:30s into the broadcast.

Ian McCulloch Interview – Tom Elliot gives a short update on the status of The Strange and Deadly Show before presenting an interview with the star of Zombie Flesh Eaters, Zombie Holocaust and Contamination, Ian McCulloch.

Please send your feedback to feedback@strangeanddeadly.com

Lucy Fleming appears in Eastenders and The Archers

Lucy Fleming appeared as Judge Evelyn Heap in BBC One soap Eastenders (31 May 2015), an episode viewable (in the UK) on the BBC iPlayer until 30 June 2016.

In May, Fleming also appeared (alongside her husband Simon Williams) in and episode of BBC Radio 4’s The Archers (6 May 2016) playing Miranda Elliott (while Williams voiced Justin Elliott).

Big Finish release first details of Survivors fifth series of audios

The fifth series of Big Finish’s Survivors audio adventures (scheduled for release in November 2016) will focus on the outbreak and spread of a second deadly virus – which threatens the survival of communities only now emerging from the aftermath of The Death.

Recording of series five is now well underway, and features scripts by three returning Survivors script writers: Simon Clark (Contact, series three); Andrew Smith (Judges, series one; Rescue, series three); and Christopher Hatherall (Collision, series four).

It has also been revealed that series five will also feature Doctor Who actors Neve McIntosh and Richard Hope. Also joining original cast members Carolyn Seymour, Ian McCulloch, Lucy Fleming will be the returning Fiona Sheehan, and Barnaby Edwards, Sean Biggerstaff, Andy Secombe, Fintan McKeown, Alex Clatworthy, Roger May and Elizabeth Payne. Further casting announcements are to follow. Read the full update from Big Finish below:

Survivors: Doctor Who stars join Series 5!

Big Finish’s post-apocalyptic series continues in November – with Neve McIntosh and Richard Hope joining the fight for survival!

It begins with just a few people falling ill. Another flu virus that spreads around the globe. And then the reports begin that people are dying…

When most of the world’s population is wiped out, a handful of survivors are left to pick up the pieces.

Cities become graveyards. Technology becomes largely obsolete. Mankind must start again. But viruses are survivors too…

Based on Terry Nation‘s classic television series, Survivors continues the story of a virus-ravaged Britain, featuring the cast and characters of the original program.

Ahead of the June launch of Survivors: Series 4, Big Finish is delighted to announce that recording is underway on November’s Series 5, guest starring a pair of actors well known to Doctor Who fans!

Neve McIntosh and Richard Hope appeared together in the 2010 Doctor Who story The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, portraying classic foes the Silurians. Since then they have become the recurring faces of the creatures for the series, with Neve memorably starring as Madame Vastra, the leader of the Paternoster Gang.

‘We spent a lot of time thinking of potential names to play the pivotal character of Carol Baker in this set,’ says producer David Richardson. ‘And director Ken Bentley presented me with Neve – which I think is inspired casting. This will actually be Neve’s second role for Big Finish. But what was the first? Ah, you’ll have to wait for that announcement!’

Neve and Richard will join the fifth series of Survivors alongside regulars Carolyn Seymour, Ian McCulloch, Lucy Fleming and Fiona Sheehan. Also appearing will be Barnaby Edwards, Sean Biggerstaff, Andy Secombe, Fintan McKeown, Alex Clatworthy, Roger May and Elizabeth Payne with further cast members to be announced.

‘Series 5 could be subtitled The Second Coming,’; says David. ‘It explores a really powerful storyline – what would happen if the plague broke out all over again?’

Survivors: Series 5 will contain four new stories, written by Andrew Smith, Christopher Hatherall and Simon Clark. It can be pre-ordered today for just £25 on CD or £20 to download.

Survivors: Series 4 will be released in June, continuing the story of the Whitecross community and guest starring Zoë Tapper as Evelyn Piper. You can listen to a trailer for the new box-set below:

Three previous series are still available to order, alongside an audiobook of Terry Nation's original novel, performed by Carolyn Seymour.

Denis Lill – Shadowlands tour – cast photos

The 2016 national tour of William Nicholson’s Shadowlands, directed by Alastair Whatley, enjoyed its opening night on 18 February at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, ahead of a national press night on Friday 26 February.

Denis Lill (Charles Vaughan, Survivors) is a late addition to the cast, taking on the role of Major W.H. Lewis ‘Warnie’, joining Stephen Boxer (C S Lewis), Amanda Ryan (Joy Davidman), Simon Shackleton (Professor Christopher Riley), Jeffrey Harmer (Rev ‘Harry’ Harrington), Ian Marr (Alan Gregg), Richard Holliday (Dr Maurice Oakley), Shannon Rewcroft (Douglas), with Holly Smith and Alistair Higgins playing multiple supporting roles.

Broadway World has published a gallery of promotional shots from the production.

Tickets for performances at venues across the country are now on sale.

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Update, 2 March 2016: The touring production has secured an early glowing five-start review from the Guilford Dragon newspaper (23 February), whose theatre critic concludes:

The whole play is acted well and I don’t know who I would give the most credit to. Would it be: Stephen Boxer as Jack (CS Lewis), Amanda Ryan as Joy, Denis Lill as Warnie, Simon Shackleton as Christopher, Alastair Whatley – director or even William Nicholson as the writer. The stage set is minimalist but highly effective.

The whole combination worked for me. The story was brilliantly told, intellectually stimulating, humerous and naturally it was sad. Inevitably, highly emotional too. I thoroughly enjoyed my evening.

The Salisbury Journal review (1 March 2016) says of the Salisbury Playhouse run:

Finely acted, Stephen Boxer brought gravitas and humour to the role of CS Lewis who wrote the Narnia books and Christian apologetic novels like The Screwtape Letters, as well as non-fiction work.

Amanda Ryan, playing Joy Gresham, was wonderful as the archetypal American who blew the cobwebs away surrounding the comfortable existence of the scholar.

Her physical descent into frailty when she gets cancer is masterfully portrayed as is her patient manner with the reserved Lewis, who not only has to do battle with his emotions, and his faith, in realising he loves Joy but also, when he loses her.

Denis Lill, endearing as Warnie, is full of strength, concern and a hint of mischief.

The Southern Daily Echo review (2 March 2016) observes, of the Salisbury Playhouse run:

In difficult and emotionally demanding roles, Stephen Boxer as “Jack” Lewis and Amanda Ryan as Joy are both outstanding as the gentle lovers.

CS Lewis is a committed Christian, discovering love late in life, Stephen Boxer conveying brilliantly his agonies over traditional values clashing with his new-found affections.

Joy has been married before, to a violent alcoholic, moving to England for a new life. With a convincing Jewish New York accent, Amanda Ryan nails a beautiful mix between American can-do attitude and her cancer-ridden vulnerability.

As Lewis’s stalwart brother Warnie, Denis Lill is superb, his stiff-upper-lip softening as he helps Joy’s emotionally splintering son.

Denis Lill joins the cast of a national tour of Shadowlands

Denis Lill (Charles Vaughan, Survivors) is joining the cast of a new theatrical production of Shadowlands. He is stepping in to the role of Major W.H. Lewis (Warnie) with less than ten days before the tour begins, following the enforced withdrawal of Tony Slattery from the production due to ill-health. Lill’s first day in rehearsal was yesterday (8 February). Producers, Jon and Anne-Marie Woodley of Birdsong Productions, said:

“We are very sorry that Tony has had to leave and along with all the company of Shadowlands, we send our love and best wishes. We are delighted that Denis has so kindly agreed to step in at such short notice to take on the role of Warnie. Having both previously worked with Denis, we know he will be a lovely addition to the talented cast and crew of Shadowlands.”

Describing the production, they add:

The cast of Shadowlands will be led by Stephen Boxer (Humans, The Iron Lady, Garrow’s Law, Doctors) as C.S. Lewis and Amanda Ryan (The Forsyte Saga, Shameless) as Joy Davidman, along with Denis Lill (The Royal, Only Fools and Horses, Rumpole of the Bailey) as Major W.H. Lewis ‘Warnie’. They will be joined by Simon Shackleton as Professor Christopher Riley, Jeffrey Harmer as Rev ‘Harry’ Harrington, Ian Marr as Alan Gregg, Richard Holliday as Dr Maurice Oakley and Shannon Rewcroft as Douglas, with Holly Smith and Alistair Higgins playing multiple supporting roles.

Shadowlands, by William Nicholson, tells the love story of C.S. Lewis, Oxford don and author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, and American poet Joy Davidman. What begins as a formal meeting of two very different minds slowly develops into a feeling of connection and love. Lewis finds his quiet life with his brother Warnie disrupted by the outspoken, feisty Davidman, whose uninhibited behaviour offers a sharp contrast to the rigid sensibilities of the male-dominated university. Each provides the other with new ways of viewing the world, but Lewis’s Christian faith is tested when Joy is diagnosed with cancer.

Tickets are available for all dates on the tour, which begins in Guilford on 18 February 2016, and plays at venues across the country, before concluding in London at the end of July.

Denis Lill appears in Midsomer Murders episode “A Dying Art”

Denis Lill (Charles Vaughan, Survivors) appears in the current episode of Midsomer Murders (Series 18, Episode 4) “A Dying Art”, in the role of frustrated and under-achieving artist Simeon Rowling: one of number of suspects in a typical Midsomer Murders‘ killing spree.

Art comes to the picturesque Midsomer village of Angel’s Rise with the opening of a new Sculpture Park. But when its launch is marred by murder, DCI Barnaby and DS Nelson have to get creative to crack a case where art imitates death, and everything has a deeper meaning.

The episode, which was first broadcast on ITV on 3 February 2016, is available for streaming on the ITV hub until early March.

Since John Nettles stood down at the end of the thirteenth series, the lead role in Midsomer Murders (in the guise of DCI Barnaby) has been taken by Neil Dudgeon – who in 2008 appeared in a memorable guest starring role in the third episode of the remake of Survivors (as the paranoid former farmer Sean, who has locked himself and his young children in isolation in a vain attempt to protect them from contact with the infected).

Denis Lill – Midsomer Murders – ‘A Dying Art’ – Series 18 – Episode 4

Lucy Fleming recalls her mother’s work on Brief Encounter

An article in yesterday’s Daily Mail (11 December 2015), which revisits the making of the 1945 classic British film Brief Encounter, includes reflections on the work of Celia Johnson by her daughter, Survivors‘ actress Lucy Fleming. She recalls:

Celia Johnson was in many ways just like Laura Jesson, agrees her daughter, the actress Lucy Fleming, today. ‘She was very moral and wouldn’t have liked that kind of situation to arise in her own life,’ says Lucy, 68, who is married to the actor Simon Williams and was best known for her role in Seventies series Survivors. ‘People loved working with her. She was fun. She had a great sense of humour.’

New DVD and BluRay release for Ian McCulloch’s Contamination

Released on 6 July 2015, Arrow Film‘s new combined DVD and BluRay release of 1980s Italian splatter favourite Contamination (one of three Italian horror movies Ian McCulloch starred in after appearing in Survivors) offers a new print and a range of exclusive special features.

Amongst those new features are a Q&A session with McCulloch and director Luigi Cozzi filmed at the 2014 Abertoir horror film festival.

Starring Italian horror veteran Ian McCulloch (Zombie Flesh Eaters), Contamination from director Luigi Cozzi (Starcrash, Hercules) is one of the brightest stars in the firmament of early 1980s Italian splatter.

A cargo ship drifts up the Hudson River. Its crew: all dead, their bodies horribly mutilated, turned inside out by an unknown force. Its freight: boxes upon boxes of glowing, pulsating green eggs. It soon becomes clear that these eggs are not of this planet, and someone intends to cultivate them here on Earth. But who? And to what end?

Contamination takes the premise of Ridley Scott’s classic Alien and peppers it with exploding guts galore and dangerously infectious soundtrack from celebrated Italian prog-rockers Goblin (Deep Red, Suspiria).

Lucy Fleming praises new James Bond author

Lucy Fleming (Jenny in Survivors, and niece of James Bond creator Ian Fleming) has praised Anthony Horowitz’s new James Bond novel Trigger Mortis, which is based on original, uncompleted ideas from Fleming himself.

In The Guardian (28 May 2015), Fleming is quoted as saying:

It was almost as if Ian had written [Trigger Mortis] himself.

It does feel like a Fleming book,” she said. “It takes place a couple of weeks after Goldfinger – Pussy’s back, which is fantastic, and we’ve got a particularly good villain in Sin – he’s absolutely horrible, a megalomaniac type, but fascinating as well… Pussy Galore is one of the iconic characters from the films and the books… It will be interesting to see what the public make of that.

Each writer has their own style, but I think Anthony is closest to Ian’s style,” said Lucy Fleming. “And he has the page-turning effect of making you think ‘what the hell is going to happen next?’… He’s worked Murder on Wheels in brilliantly – it’s woven into the whole thing. It was just a treatment, really, with the idea for the plot.”