Guy Richie, Sherlock Holmes and a little place called Manchester
From Baker Street to Little Lever Street.
Events have been rather exciting of late at Glorious HQ; what with the birth of Tommy’s little boy Fred, wins at The Roses and Gramias awards, and…a leaky roof. Life round these parts is never dull.
Some folks scoff at our subterranean abode, but as Oscar Wilde said, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”. This week, that was certainly true. A month ago, strange things began to happen in the streets and alleyways surrounding the office. Areas were cordoned off and boards erected. After some digging, John (one of the security blokes and our resident mole) informed us that Guy Ritchie was filming his latest picture, Sherlock Holmes, with the A-list talents of Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr. set to grace us with their presence right here in Stevenson Square . This caused a fair bit of excitement in the office…well, apart from Mark who thinks ‘Jude Law is a crap actor anyway’ and would only get excited if thespian Daniel Day Lewis was in the vicinity.
Over the following weeks, I watched fascinated at the set’s creation: windows dressed, street lamps and flyposters went up, Chinese lanterns hung and mountains of fish (with big fearsome mouths), were despatched into what became known as fish alley.
On Tuesday I arrived to work and was confronted by a swath of Victorian gentlemen and ladies. Over a loud speaker, discussion of a live horse being brought on set and the offices next door were turned into an ad-hoc makeup department for the cast. It’s unfathomable that so many people could be involved as hundreds of crew, body guards and extras. And of course the police milled around, seemingly nothing better to do.
So sometime after lunch I nipped out for a bit of a nosey, straining to see a bit of the action. One of the crew members decided that the perfect spot for the next scene would be in front of our blue doors. Wow, how cool! So the folk here at Glorious joined other onlookers and got an unbelievably good view of a scene being shot. The actors seemed pretty relaxed about our voyeurism and cracked jokes between takes. Guy, dressed in his famous tweed flat-cap, quietly directed.
We looked up and we saw the stars. Reaching them however, may be a little more taxing. Some of us lived in the vain hope that Jude may wish to use our latrines. He did not, although his paramedic did pop in for a tinkle.
Topics: Comment | 3 Comments »
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November 11th, 2008 at 8:25 am
im heading out to manchester for a holiday! can u let me know what dates robert downey jr will be filming!!!
November 11th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I’m afraid he’s been and gone.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:22 am
Your comment that the police had nothing better to do is wrong. the police were asked to be present on set for security and reassurance for the public. As always, get the facts straight.