Roll out the red carpet – Hollywood is coming to Dunstable!
Believe it or not, the UK premiere of an award-winning horror film will be held here.
But this screening won’t be in a theatre.
It’s at The Highwayman Hotel, in London Road, on November 24. I’ll drink to that!
The film, Bad Reception, features Dunstablian Spike Breakwell, the writer, comedian, and actor, who uses a wheelchair to get out and about.
Spike, 44, plays Ziggy Fontaine in the movie, in which the spirit of a long-dead priest returns to terrorise a young writer and his friends. Scary.
And the premiere will raise cash for Macmillan Cancer Support as a tribute to one of Spike’s friends, theatre director Kevin Robinson, who had cancer and died in September.
Spike said: “He believed I could act right from the word go.
“And I guess, as I’m in a Hollywood movie, he was right.”
Bad Reception involved long days of filming for Spike.
The former Dunstable College student recalled: “We were shooting my scenes on the set in North Hollywood. I was on set, made up and ready to go and it was only 8am.
“My character is supposed to be very bubbly and lively and is described in the script as a self-styled ‘Stephen Hawking of Hollywood’, not easy at that time in the morning!”
Director Mark Todd said: “Spike knew that the set wasn’t friendly to his disability, but he was a real pro and told the crew jokes as they carried him and his wheelchair up two flights of stairs.”
Spike also had an executive producer role on the project.
He joked: “That’s how I got the film company to hold the UK premiere in Dunstable. Mark (Todd) lives in Birmingham. Who wants to spend a night in Solihull?”
The big question is – why is being held at The Highwayman?
“I thought it would be quirky,” Spike said. “And it’s my local!”
The premiere is for over-18s only, on Saturday, November 24, at 8pm.
Spike, Mark Todd and US actress Ashley Trevathan are all expected to be there.
Entry is free but anyone attending is asked to give a voluntary donation to Macmillan Cancer Support.
You’ve heard of a “bucket list”. You know, a list of things to do before you die.
Now a Bucket List For Dogs has just been brought out.
Out of 50 activities, number nine is “help your owner bag a date”. And now Visit England has highlighted Dunstable Downs as one of the best places to go to help with that must-do.
The bucket list was launched by More Th>n Pet Insurance and TV vet Marc Abraham.
What were the top five ideas for dogs?
1. Flop down in front of a roaring fire.
2. Go for a swim in the sea.
3. Go mad in the snow.
4. Do the ‘Beethoven shake’ (not the composer, the St Bernard movie star) and soak everyone around you.
5. Dig up a flower bed.
Don’t know about dogs, but I’ve already enjoyed doing four out of that top five myself.
I haven’t tried the ‘Beethoven shake’ yet.
Next time I go for a swim in the sea, watch out!
It’s National Kindness Day on November 13.
Sounds like the perfect day for random good deeds.
I’ve made a start by telling you all about it.
Do I hear you thanking me? How kind!