The Boy Done Good

My elder son is a Dr Who fan(atic). When he was 8 or 9 in order to raise money for Children in Need he and a friend were sponsored by their teachers (and others) to not mention Dr Who for a day. I'm sure it was a struggle. And this is all the more odd because the program's hiatus covered his life from age 7 to 15. So I'm not really sure where this love of Dr Who came from.

 

Be that as it may, he was determined to be at the huge 50th Anniversary Celebrations in London a few weekends ago. He booked, at great expense, a photo opportunity with Matt Smith and generally had a great time, which he recounted to me afterwards in Great and Loving Detail.

 

Except there were a few pertinent details he deliberately left out. Because yesterday when his Christmas card came a little hand written note fell out. It said

 

To Anne

Happy Christmas

David Collings

 

Now David Collings is one of my all time favourite actors. He's never been a big star but he's worked consistently for many years on stage as well on TV and Radio and he has a voice like a cracked peppercorn in honey. I could listen to him all day. I have been lucky enough to see him live on three or four occasions but at no time would the OH thole the idea of hanging round the stage door so that I could get my program autographed. Rather to my chagrin.

 

I knew, because I had watched them, that he had been in three Dr Who stories in three separate series and I assumed from the fact that Son No 1 hadn't mentioned seeing him that he had not in fact been at the Convention. But he was and the little note was the result.

 

It was one of the most wonderful things anyone has ever given me. I was so thrilled I cried. And that's not something I do often. Thank you, A. As my FB friend the Stainless Steel Cat said 'That's a good lad  you've got there.'

 

 

 

This is a very old picture, from a small part he had in A Man for all Seasons. In 1966.  But unmistakeably the man himself.