Back to Tapes
This tape is almost worth getting just for the photograph on the front.
Gareth Thomas and Paul Darrow are gagged and tied up while Michael Keating
stands gloating in the background!
What is the tape itself like? Well, for those who have heard 'Blake's Back' the format is similar. Joe Nazzaro and Sheelagh Wells hold a relaxed informal interview with their guests, in this case, the proceedings are enhanced by Pushka the cat who decides to lick Michael Keating's toes!
The first side of the tape starts with one VR of Victoria explaining how 'Vilified' he feels about having been reported to be reading a girlie magazine on the first tape. Michael then proceeds to cheerfully invent his own version of events and swop a lot of anecdotes with Gareth Thomas. On the second side of the tape they are joined with Paul Darrow. Paul and Gareth do tend to dominate the second side a bit, which is possibly the origin of the cover photo. There's a number of interesting stories that come out, many of which were new to me (although the story about David Jackson and the sandwiches was on the first tape). One of my favourites was Paul telling how during the final scenes of 'Blake', Gareth was lying on the floor pulling silly faces at him! And Blake's dying words of course... But if you want to know what Blake whispered in Avon's ear as he slithered to the floor, you'll have to buy the tape <grin>.
There are many stories here that raise a smile and I find I catch things on subsequent listenings that I missed on the first. Joe's style of interviewing is to start them talking on a particular subject and then let the conversation find its own path; only if they get too far off the subject for too long does he kick them back again. I find this very effective as it helps create the relaxed informal atmosphere of both tapes. There's all sorts of things here: the BBC policy of filming close to London, explosions, the mess that quarries can cause in hotels, what the actors wanted to do with their characters in the final episode, who shared a room on the Liberator, etc.
Although I slightly preferred the first tape overall, I still think this one is well worth the money.
Minor quibble - I do wish the tape came with a location guide. I've worked out that 'Pressure Point' must have been filmed at Abingdon and that 'Redemption' was at Oldbury Power Station, but there are some anecdotes that I can't instantly tie into an episode and I'd love to know which episode to rewatch to see what the things they are talking about.
Sold out.
Back to Sheelagh Wells Ordering Information