The Water of Life: Bill Nighy, Victor Glynn and I
Do you find that life is like water –rivers flowing alongside crossing, meeting and blending?
Thursday was like that for me. The film producer Victor Glynn suggested I be an extra in the new film his son Phin Glynn is producing. The lead role in & Sons is taken by Bill Nighy. We were in the funeral scene, shot in the delightful Worcester College Chapel. Sat behind me was Chris Gray and his wife Rosemary (Rosemary is in the pic) Chris was editor of Weekend during the ten years that I wrote reviews for it. Thanks to him I met the artist Qu Leilei when I reviewed Everyone’s Life is an Epic for the magazine. I’d say ‘thank you, Chris’ but it led to ten years work and this
I was lucky enough to meet Victor when he taught for one year only on the Diploma in Creative Writing @ Oxford University when I chanced to be a student. I had to cast him away on Oxtopia, didn’t I – a no brainer! Anyone interested in the film industry will enjoy the feature.
A few of us students continued to meet and write and I suggested Shakespeare in Oxford as an umbrella of scripts which we pitched to Victor. It led to this video which he used to pitch the series as a reality TV format to BBC 4. It didn’t happen but its an interesting short video to watch.
https://vimeo.com/123886243 Joe and Zara
In a break from shooting on Thursday I was brazen and gave Victor a copy of my novel, Current of Death. Why? Victor was the producer of The Morse series on ITV. Most crime dramas set in Oxford are filmed in central and North Oxford with occasional glimpses of the Cowley Rd. South of the city tends to be ignored. Kennington, where I live on the southern edge, is on a picturesque stretch of the Thames. But it has dangerous places. Jerome K Jerome said that Sandford Lasher is ‘the perfect place to drown yourself in’. Indeed many students drowned there including Peter Pan, at least JM Barrie’s adopted son who inspired the character. A great place for a whodunit… So I lie awake in hope… well no..’ but I am working on a sequel as some good reviews of Current of Death are coming in. (See below)
So there we are – lives connecting and reconnecting on Thursday 16 January 2025!
Reviews of Current of Death
https://promotingcrime.blogspot.com/2024/07/current-of-death-by-sylvia-vetta.html
Colin Wade sent me this great review by an Oxford Brookes student.
‘Sylvia Vetta’s crime fiction is a short but gripping read that tackles big issues like modern slavery, climate change, and diversity in the police force. Alex Hornby, a resident of Thames Reach and fellow crime author, stumbles upon a corpse floating in the River Thames. Set in the much-loved Thames Reach, the setting is so vividly described it feels like a character in its own right. Vetta’s passion for nature and the environment shines through on every page, offering a beautiful contrast to the gruesome murders at the heart of the story. The book is packed with quirky, memorable characters whose stories gradually intertwine as the plot unfolds. With two unexpected murders and even more unexpected killers, it’s fast-paced, thought-provoking, and hard to put down. A cosy yet modern crime novel that’s thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.’
