When I was 17 I wanted to change the world. I couldn’t understand why starvation existed in some parts of the world, why some people swore all the time, why there were fights at football matches, why Television was obsessed with programmes about Murder and why I wasn’t 6′ tall, dark and good looking.
I am now 61 years of age and realise that the history of mankind is still so immature in relation to the great age of this wonderful planet and this immaturity is going to take many more centuries to develop.
I allowed the Media and The Politicians to totally dominate my thinking last week which resulted in the use of insulting language and disparaging Facebook Posts due to my frustration at the views being aired by individuals that are as different from me as can be.
I am taking a break from social media to try and rekindle my humour and the fun side of trying to make folks laugh.
In 1965 Edward Bond wrote a play called ‘Saved’. It dealt with working class Londoners, leading desperate, dead-end lives. It includes a scene where a gang of youths stone a baby to death.
One of the tag lines read “The poor are still poor but now have televisions”. in 2017 (52 years later), one could say “The poor are still poor but now have smart phones and social media”.
Today’s issues have been the same issues for eons.
There have been many great changes for good and yet the lowest common denominator descends ever lower each passing month (led by Television programmes that harken back to the horrible Victorian ‘Freak’ shows).
Sadly the never ending cycle of 5 years with one party not really delivering is replaced with the other party not delivering for the next 5.
The only difference between being Young and wanting to change the world and being older is that as an older Person I am angry about not been able to change the world.
I want to pass on the great benefits i’ve enjoyed in my career and love the idea of teaching, lecturing and running workshops to encourage the next wave of Youngsters but even with this ambition I have learned that I was terribly naive in believing that everyone actually had the same aims, rather than trying to live through the Youngsters a film or TV career they wouldn’t necessarily have enjoyed themselves.
I won’t name names but this year has really brought home that LUCK is such an important player in all our lives.
In 2014 I gave an incredible amount of my time and effort for a cause I believed in. In 2017 I discovered I was not the ‘Force for good’ I had hoped to be and in fact was just ‘another Tool’.
One must always look for the good in others and learn to be tough enough to realise that sometimes the good can be hidden far, far away.
In fact an awful lot of good can be achieved by people with selfish motives. Through their selfishness they can push to help others achieve their dreams (and indirectly inspire the Youngsters they are exploiting).
I still believe the same ideals I had when I was 17 and hope today’s Youngsters will raise the Lowest Common Denominator but I struggle to fight the insidious cynicism that “They will learn, they will learn…….just as I had to”.
World wide there are good, good people.
We must hope that the good, good people will want to become Politicians and Leaders, not just the callously ambitious and arrogant ones we tend to be lumbered with.

And i’m still only 5′ 7″  but now with considerably less hair and only good looking the other way.

Exciting Projects and plans.

Sometimes the waiting for the green light seems to last a life time. I am very much looking forward to help complete Principal photography on “The Flood’ which is a film that deserves a very large audience when it is ready for release.
I am preparing for a Master Class on Third Assistant Directing at Pinewood Studios, the week after next and working on schedules and budgets for 2 projects that I hope will go into production in 2018.
There is a project which i hope will go into production in the Autumn of this year. i am crossing everything possible that we will be able to disclose more very soon.
I am still planning my trip to America and Susie and I have another Amex BA voucher to use up before the end of the year.
The sales of Dad’s books have reached 380 and we have helped make £4000 for Linden Bridge school with the book sales and the sales of the Bamber DVD “A Night to Forget” (still available if anybody needs a chair leg propped up to stop any wobbling).
I am working on the script for the Comeback show and it is just a matter of the correct timing before it is unleashed on an unsuspecting public.
We have lost some wonderful people over the past couple of years but 2 weeks ago today I received a phone call from Harvey Harrison to let me know “The Duke”, Steve Foster, had passed away.
I’m afraid I don’t possess the vocabulary to do justice to this Work colleague and friend.
The Man From Uncle was the last film I worked with Steve on. Well, it wasn’t like work. Paul Jennings, 2nd Unit Director, Harvey Harrison, Kenny Atherfold, Steve and the other wonderful Steve. Roberts.
It was a a mini reunion of the crew from 102 Dalmatians.
We filmed the film and we filmed the Crew Awards ceremonies every week and we filmed special shows performed by the crew to reflect the whole world.
When we were filming on the Thames I believe the crew had paid Steve a certain amount of money to push me in the Thames (because I had refused to agree an overtime payment). In the end he didn’t have to push me because we had Dave Evans and Jason Horwood as our Armourers who were supposed to be shooting at the secret agents but were such terrible shots, I was the only person in danger of being hit.
To honour Steve we have renamed the “Alice Evans, I don’t want to be here anymore award” the “Alice Evans, I don’t want to be here anymore, Steve Foster memorial award”.