Well my friends we have made it through another week. I must admit these days I sometimes feel like Leonardo Da Vinci or whatever the name of that actor was who ended up clinging on to Kate Winslet in Titanic as he began to freeze up in the water. Personally I would have tossed her into the water and saved myself to ensure my bloodline but it would not have been the done thing. Thankfully the rules of decency have now changed so it is children and MBE holders first into the lifeboats as we must respect the equality of women to suffer the same fate as men.

I must thank John, who reads this rubbish in St Albans, for his kind comments. Last week I mentioned a film made in Borehamwood called Nowhere To Go. He reminds me that it was the debut film for a young Maggie Smith. Indeed I was aware of that and last year wrote to Dame Maggie for her memories but she replied she had none. Well it was just a couple of weeks work over 60 years ago so that is understandable. I often feel sorry for actors who attend events when fans expect them to remember anecdotes from decades ago. On more than one occasion at such events I have been asked by an old star to remind them of some stories before fans approached. I recall my old friend the late Peggy Cummins, who starred in a cult classic supernatural movie made at Elstree called Night Of The Demon. Before one event she turned to me and said: "You have interviewed most of those involved in the film and to me it was a few weeks work in the 1950s, so help me out."

I welcome any reader to comment on my articles as feedback is always good and you can do so via whichever paper you read this. My ego loves compliments; it is like blood to a vampire.

Please notice how smoothly that dovetails into my next memory. Now I have probably mentioned this before but since 1976 I have written about 2,000 articles and once published I delete them, or in the old days tore them up. To have your own column is the dream of most journalists and it just fell into my lap with no qualifications or experience back in 1976. In those days the local papers were awash with advertising so needed editorial features and I was headhunted due to my connections to the film world. Alas, media has changed a great deal and I am a dinosaur from yesteryear, but never say die!

Once again I have digressed. Back to vampires: I had the pleasure to know the late Sir Christopher Lee who enjoyed an amazing screen career lasting several decades. I must admit he was not a modest man and if something could be said in ten words he would take one hundred words. In 1996 I invited him to Elstree Studios to unveil a plaque honouring his late friend and co-star in many movies Peter Cushing. It was a heavy, metal plaque but I decided to hold it up on stage after I introduced Christopher, assuming he would talk for about five minutes. Instead he launched into a speech that lasted 16 minutes and my arms were turning to jelly.

In 2008 I decided we should honour him with a plaque but now I was older and wiser, so it was mounted! I invited two of his old co-stars Barbara Shelley and Francis Matthews to do the introductions. Again Christopher spoke at length but thankfully on this occasion all I had to do was stand beside him.

When designing the plaque I asked him which films he wanted mentioned on it. I seem to recall he forbade any mention of Dracula or even Hammer movies, which I thought was a shame. I appreciated his career spanned so much more, but I think we should remember our beginnings. Naturally he must have been spinning in his grave when his obituaries focused on Dracula, a role he only played a handful of times in more than 200 screen appearances.

Well, I think that is enough for this week. I hope to bring you news of new non-executive directors who have been appointed to the Elstree Studios board in a couple of weeks. They rejected me but thankfully they have more wisely appointed some high flyers from the business today, which is the way forward. The past is fun, as in this column, but the future should be for younger people. Until next time take care.