A signed copy of 'The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)'

The Nancy Blackettt Trust launched a competition to win a signed copy of Sophie Neville's often hilarious account of making the movie 'Swallows and Amazons' on location in the Lake District in 1974. 

It was won by a lady working as a librarian who happened to be visiting some of the film locations featured in the book the very next week. 

Please visit the Nancy Blackett website for other book offers.  

Lt Col Percy Fawcett, our long lost uncle

StudioCanal has been asking the question: Who was Lt Col Percy Fawcett?

He is actually a long lost relation of ours. I knew Agnes Fawcett married Charles Neville because they built Sheepscombe Church together. She was born in Bombay and had twelve children.

Appearing in 'The Crown' and other splendid dramas

Mum, who you'll find in the pages of 'Funnily Enough', somehow manages to appear in an alrming number of movies and costume dramas.

'I am a member of European royalty in 'The Crown'.
'Are you?'
'They don't actually know the name of my character - who was a real person of course - but I sit in a wheelchair, really rather close to The Queen. At her wedding.' The scene was shot on location at Ely Cathedral.

I can only see Mum's hand in the movie trailer of 'Absolutely Fabulous'. It is holding a glass of champagne at the late life lesbo party.

Mum is more visible, and certainly more audible in the official film trailer of 'The Invisible Woman'. She plays a Victoria lady accosting Charles Dickens on the steps of the Albert Hall:

Scottish Mussel - featuring Rudi the Otter

A new British film is being launched on 23rd September starring Talulah Riley, Martin Compton, and Joe Thomas of In Betweeners fame, along with our tame otters. I travelled up to Dunoon in Scotland to help with the scenes that, in the story, entail an injured otter brought into a wildlife conservation centre set in a beautiful location outside Glasgow.

Belinda the Otter with Sophie and Daphne Neville

The romcom is written and directed by Talulah Riley who also stars in what promises to be an amusing movie. Talulah was keen to feature our very energetic young male otter Rudi in a scene where the otter is released back into the wild.  To achieve this on film, without losing him altogether, was quite a feat but he enjoyed himself and the result looks endearing.

When one of the producers asked if I had worked on any other films featuring animals, I had to admit there have been quite a few. We had a baboon in the studio once and I became quite used to filming with trained elephants. I worked with a whole variety of exotic animals on the vet series ‘One by One’ from a pelican to a full grown leopard. In the mid 1980’s I was lucky enough to spend four months on Corfu making the first BBC adaptation of Gerald Durrell’s autobiography ‘My Family and Other Animals’ with Brian Blessed and a huge number of tortoises. As it happens, Rudi will appear in the next series of The Durrells, with filming due to start soon.

To see more about what the otters have been up to, please go to Daphne Neville’s website here.

You can read about living with tame otters in my book ‘Funnily Enough’ available in the UK here in paperback or on Kindle here

There are more photographs of the otters here

The DVD, which will be released on 3rd October, is available for pre-order here

One of our hand-reared otters who stars in ‘Scottish Mussel’

The Diary of a Tame Otter

My book 'Funnily Enough' features the antics of our first two tame otters Bee and Jims. Rudi, another hand-reared otter, can still be found wriggling about inside my mother's clothing.

Having appeared at the Royal Welsh Show he will be at the Royal Berkshire Show, near Newbury this weekend, 19th & 20th September.

He is currently staring in the role of Otto in the movie Scottish Mussel opposite Talulah Riley, Martin Compston and Harry Enfield. It was premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June.

To watch 'Scottish Mussel' online, please click here 

If you would like to meet Rudi, please click here for

the 2015 Diary of a Tame Otter

Author Sophie Neville in Richard Kay's column in the Daily Mail

Sophie's magical Swallows tales

Forty years after she enchanted film-goers as Titty in Swallows And Amazons, Sophie Neville has found a new audience with an ebook telling the behind-the-scenes secrets of the film of Arthur Ransome classic children’s novel.

‘After all these years, I’ve gently lifted the lid on the antics of the adult cast and crew,’ she tells me. 

‘And I’m thrilled because it has outsold Julian Clary and Stephen Fry in Amazon’s bestsellers list!’ 

The Secrets Of Filming Swallows And Amazons is based on diaries, letters and old photographs which Sophie has turned into a heart-warming account of making the movie

The Secrets Of Filming Swallows & Amazons is based on diaries, letters and old photographs which Sophie has turned into a heart-warming account of making the movie, which starred Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser and was set in the Lake District.

‘Looking back, it was an interesting experience promoting a major film as a child star, adds Sophie, now 53.

‘There were also some funny experiences, too, such as being with Ronald Fraser, who played the pirate and was a truly  drunken sailor!’

To read more please click here: 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2511596/RICHARD-KAY-Widow-whos-haunted-losing-Britains-celebrity-chef-Langan.html#ixzz2lN6fkTeX
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Mum's More Medical Moments in Movies

For someone who is never ever ill, and hates even the idea of hospital, it is rather surprising to digest the fact that Mum loves playing a patient.

Daphne Neville with Roy Dotrice

She doesn't seem to mind what she looks like on the screen. Here she is playing Louise, an A&E patient in 'Casualty', the long-running hospital drama made by BBC TV.

Playing a patient called Louise in 'Casualty'

The call now is for old ladies in need of comfort. This was a short WWII mystery movie called Lost Hearts shot on location near Malvern in Worcestershire in 2011.

Katrina Norbury and Daphne Neville in 'Lost Hearts'

She absolutely adored being in 'Doctors' for BBC TV - you can tell from this photo.

Daphne Neville and Tony Adams in 'Doctors'

Things were once different. She always enjoyed being a medic, although appearing as Nurse Fisher in the film 'Diagnosis Murder'  with Christopher Lee did not do much for her career in that area.

Daphne Neville as Nurse Fisher in 'Diagnois Murder'

I am sure she did something terrible to the poor man in the wheel chair. He didn't look very well at all.

Playing a mid-wife for BBC TV back in 1994

There even was a time when she played a doctor. That was alarming.She played Dr Machin in the ATV soap opera Crossroads. So many people though she was a real doctor she could hardly go to the supermarket.

Playing Dr Hilary Machin in 'Crossroads'

For a more comprehensive credit list please click here

If you want to act in movies - wear a hat.

'The Old Curiosity Shop' produced by Disney

We are not quite sure how she does it, but if a movie is being made Mum will make way to appear in it.

'The Invisible Woman' directed by Ralph Fiennnes

She is always being a Victorian lady. Just little roles.

'Feast of July' directed by Chris Menaul for Merchant Ivory

She loves dressing up, no matter how uncomfortable the corset or wig might be.

.

'Amazing Grace' about Wilberforce, directed by Michael Apted

See if you can name the films. This starred Dan Stevens and Dominic Cooper:

This one was made a while ago but it's a classic:

Angelica Huston and Daphne Neville in 'Buffalo Girls'

Hover over the images for the answers. 

But you'll have to tell me what this one was. I have no idea.

Mum appears directly after the blue title credits in the official trailer of 'The Invisible Woman' here:

Mum is to appear in the new film 'Summer in February'

Dan Stevens, Daphne Neville and Dominic Cooper
on location during the filming of 'Summer in February'

The movie 'Summer in February' opens with a scene on a Cornish cliff top that features my mother as a bird-watcher. She tells me that she looks just like her mother on screen.

'Summer in February', stars Dominic Cooper as the turn-of-the-century artist AJ Munnings, Emily Browning as Florence Carter-Wood his wife and Dan Stevens as Gilbert Evans.

The film is beautifully photographed by Andrew Dunn, who funnily enough was the lighting cameraman when I worked on the crew of the BBC drama serial 'My Family and Other Animals' made on location in Corfu. He had a house near ours in the Cotswolds and knows all about my mother's kitchen.

'Dominic Cooper is horrid,' she declared.

'Really horrid? Horrid in real life?'

'Oh, no. Horrid as the character. In real life he couldn't be sweeter. He has a lovely smile.'

You won't see Mum on the trailer but it is beautiful ~



To read a little about Dan Stevens' next film please click here.