Fay Franklin

Editor • Writer • Travel • Food • Fiction

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@ElectronDev @morganjeffery @RDAnational Enjoy! But be warned, I’ve got sucked into a repeat viewing of the whole of the rest of Season 3… not complaining, though, it’s just what a wet and windy Saturday was made for! 😁

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@ElectronDev @morganjeffery @RDAnational My favourite episode (Because of that iteration of Rupert Giles), Band Candy, which I watched again last night in tribute to a wonderful actor and clearly a very lovely man.

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@GQMagazine What bollocks 🤦‍♀️

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@JaneFallon Was the art shop called Primavera, by any chance? Most of my most precious pieces (usually bought for me by my darling late husband) came from Primavera, and I think it’s still there…

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@kris6749 @NeroStorno @Rainmaker1973 @kmans1953 Made it make sense, though… 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@ArtCrunchy Could he and Yaxley-Lemming please scuttle off to Brazil like those other Nazis who fled being brought to justice?

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@jamlessdiminie Her husband just died and you talk about being hit by a bus. Your life must be so blissfully simple. Learn some empathy.

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@Bowtiedino That’s so lovely, thanks for pointing it out! I was crying too much by this point to spot it, I think!

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@caroljude @RadioTimes Couldn’t agree more. The final scenes, from the painting onwards, had me in floods.

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@rtalalay I’m so very sorry, Rachel. I know how hard even typing those words is when it’s so very soon. I lost my best beloved 20 years ago, and watching tonight’s ending was - even now - so emotional for me. I thought it was perfect. Take great care of yourself x

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

A fantastic turn-out on May the Fourth! Thanks so much to all The Regent’s supporters!

[Deal Town @Deal_Town]

Campaigners stage @StarWars themed protest to save a cinema in DEAL

https://t.co/8NHbEKG8oh

[Emmett Voss @Emmett_Voss]

Alec Guinness on how he nearly turned down Star Wars:

When asked how he came to be involved in a science fiction film, Guinness revealed his first reaction was far from enthusiastic.

"A script arrived on my dressing table. And I heard that it had been delivered by George Lucas and I thought, well, that's rather impressive because he's an up-and-coming and very respected young director. So, and then when I opened it and found it was science fiction, I thought, 'Oh crumbs,' you know, 'this is simply not for me.'"

But something kept him reading:

"I started reading. And it seemed to me the dialogue was pretty ropey. Uh, but I had to go on turning the page and I mean that's an essential in any script. You've got to know what happens next or what's going to be said next."

He eventually met Lucas, they got on well, and he signed on.

Then came the contract negotiation that would become legendary.

Guinness had never taken a percentage on a film before because, in his words, films "lose money like mad" when he takes a percentage. His agent suggested 2%. He agreed, expecting nothing.

The day before Star Wars opened in San Francisco, Lucas called him personally:

"He said, 'I think the movie is kind of going to be all right.' I said, 'I'm glad, George.' He said, 'Yeah, the press quite like it.' I said, 'Good.' He said, 'We're pleased with, you know, very grateful for little alterations you suggested, and so we'd like to offer you another half percent.'"

Guinness thought he had 2.5%. But when he later asked the producer to put the offer in writing, he discovered the half-percent had quietly become a quarter-percent. He ended up with 2.25%.

On why he thinks the film connected so deeply with audiences, Guinness offered a simple diagnosis:

"A marvelous healthy innocence. Great pace, wonderful to look at, full of guts, nothing unpleasant. I mean, people go bang bang and people fall over and are dead. But, you know, no horrors, no sleazy sex… a sort of wonderful freshness about it, a kind of like a wonderful fresh air."

He added that when he walked out of the cinema onto Tottenham Court Road, the real world suddenly felt "awfully sort of gritty and dirty and full of rubbish." It was, he said, "one of the few movies I've come out of recently where I really felt happy and uplifted."

His warning to anyone looking for deeper meaning in it:

"People are going to read too much into it. It's a simple, simple stuff for all ages."

Though the letters he was already receiving suggested the reading-too-much-into-it had begun.

One couple wrote asking if he'd come live with them for a few months to help fix their marriage.

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@Deal_Town @starwars All welcome! Costumes appreciated but not at all essential - just come along! May the Fourth, be with us!
Midday outside the Regent 🪐☄️🚀👽

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@Rainmaker1973 Vile.

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@juliandorey @MTPenna Could not be more brilliant!

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@renault_captain @SimonBrundish @benphillips76 Oh of course, it’s women who are actually to blame for all this! 🤣🤦‍♀️

[Animal Aid @AnimalAid]

Rest in peace HMS Seahorse. 💔

Sadly another horse has lost their life at Cheltenham Festival.

Today he became another casualty of a sport that continues to put entertainment and profit before animal rights.

#ITVRacing #YouBetTheyDie

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@SarahjevsEvans I’m so sorry. Having once had a darling Devon Rex from a breeder… sweetest little cat, who lived a life of constant illness and died young, I would never, ever trust a breeder again. x

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@strong_sue @justin_ng I’m with you, Sue. Love Justin’s pictures and his relationship with Larry, the actual furry occupant of No.10, but have always appreciated the broad, funny and insightful takes by @Number10cat in his own posts. People who can’t distinguish between the two must be thick as Whiskas

[Fay Franklin @fayfran]

@elonmusk You clearly don’t understand how this works. Look it up.