Basted

I’m feeling slightly frustrated. Our edit is essentially over. All that’s left is a process called the online, which is when an affable chap called Andy examines every shot making sure it looks as colourful and beautiful as it can. Unfortunately the end of the day got rather concercertinered and with one thing or another, specifically a whole wedge of technical issues, I ended up going to “picture lock” before I’d been able to have one last look at the film. I’m now powerless to change anything, and as a control freak, I find that very frightening.


That said, earlier in the day, we had a viewing in front of half a tonne of BBC Yorkshire executives, all of whom seemed to genuinely love the film. The editor of BBC Radio York was crying by the start of the second movement, which I took as a great compliment. Hazel’s mastered versions of the music were played out for the first time, and they sounded extraordinary. She’s done a wonderful job. For the first time on this project I felt truly proud of what we’d created and by the end, a little tear was prickling in the corner of my eye.

There’s not a great deal more to write. I’ve come home and am treating myself to an evening in front of the television. I’ve bought a very small bar of dark chocolate, and I’m going to nibble it with a cup of tea in front of Celebrity Masterchef.

Sometimes life doesn’t need to go at a million miles per hour to be fun!

The 22nd July 1660 was a Sunday and it rained hard during the night. This would not be rare for Leeds at the moment, but my parents, who live near Cambridge haven’t seen any real rain for the past few months and say their garden is utterly destroyed.

After looking into a few of the 100 churches that then stood in the City of London, Pepys went for a massive family lunch at his Uncle Fenner’s where he found himself surrounded by relatives.

He then went to St James’ Park for a walk and tried unsuccessfully to get into the exclusive Inward Park, an area which is still railed off and known as The Enclosure. Quite why he was refused entry, I’ve no idea, but one man was “basted” by a keeper for smuggling people into the area by carrying them across a lake on his back! An inspired money-making scheme.

Pepys returned home by boat, which was a new pleasure for him. In those days boats were banned for anything but official business on Sundays... Pepys, as a new government official, could finally take advantage of the loophole and seemed intent on flaunting it!