mostly david ephgrave

My favourite line from Channel 5’s ace (no card-pun intended) documentary on Paul Daniels last week was, "It took twenty years for Paul to become an overnight success." That’s a statement most people in the performing arts industry can relate too, and a sobering reminder of just how much work and commitment is required to sustain a long career. These things don’t just come overnight, and if they do, that’s not to say they’ll stay. It’s a fickle and often-thankless world to be a part of, save for those few moments when you’re onstage and things fall into place. But Daniels career is testament to the fact that hard work does pay off; in his case, the years of effort he put to the cause prepared him for the success that followed. What underlined this for me while watching the programme was seeing footage of one of Paul’s earliest TV appearances, on the variety show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club in the mid-1970s. He kicked off his set with exactly the sam...

I watched the pilot episode of The X Files tonight, having recently enjoyed the new series when it was shown on Channel 5. I was surprised by how much detail I remembered, despite having not seen it for a good - nay, fantastic - twenty years. Some of the shots were alarmingly familiar, which I can only put down to the fact I'd probably been quite tense watching it first time around, as a younger, more easily scared Ephgrave. It's funny how these things lurk in your subconscious.  I found it hard to get over just how young Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny looked, particularly as I'd only finished the new series the other week. That's not to say that either actor hasn't aged well; more likely that my perception of age has changed through getting older myself. Anderson looks positively foetus-like, which isn't surprising, as she was only in her early-to-mid twenties, while Duchovny was around the age I am today. This passing time thing's a bugger, wh...