Yes, the actor who played Withnail is in Game of Thrones, but did you know that the actor who *inspired* Withnail is in it too?

"Withnail is Coming" squealed the viral Photoshop collages, when it was announced that Richard E. Grant was going to feature in Game of Thrones.

It has been previously noted on this blog (here) that the GoT show runners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss must be Withnail fans: giving Diana Rigg a line which included the words "perfumed ponce" is proof if proof be need be.

So it was only a matter of time before REG (as he is known to his fans) appeared in the show. He duly made it to the screen in last week's episode, playing - what else - an actor. It was a cough and a spit of a role, so one hopes he'll be featured again...

Also in the episode, reprising his recurring role as Aeron Greyjoy, was this chap:

That's noted English stage and screen actor Michael Feast. Many years ago, he shared a flat with a few other aspiring young actors. He's the long-haired one sitting in in the middle of this photo...

... and yes, standing on the left is Bruce Robinson. While it's been well-documented that the character of Withnail was based largely on another of the flatmates, Vivian MacKerrell (who's standing at the back in the middle), Feast had a large part to play in the genesis of Robinson's script, not least because it was he and Robinson who actually went on holiday by mistake.

As Feast told journalist Jeff Dawson:

“That whole Lake District fiasco, all of that stuff happened. Getting into the field with the bull; the search for fuel; tying plastic bags round our feet; the chicken thing. The cottage was a tip. The farmer — who did have a plaster on his leg — was just looking to make a bit of extra cash from idiot southerners. It was freezing. We were burning bits of furniture. We slept with our coats on. Even ‘We want the finest wines available to humanity’ was coined up there. The first night we blew all our money on a slap-up meal in one of those very upmarket hotels.”

Is it a coincidence that the show runners cast Feast on Game of Thrones? Surely not. Sadly, given that REG is in Braavos and Feast is in the Iron Islands, it's unlikely they'll share a scene, but we can hope...

Withnail and I News Round-Up: Here Hare Beer, Screening at Crow Crag and the Amazing Wall O' Withnail

Readers of the Withnail Books Facebook Page may have seen mention of some or all of the following, but for blog followers and casual googlers, here's a selection of Withnail-related items of note from the last couple of months or so.

The breaking news is that Picnic Cinema have announced the dates for the 2014 screenings of a certain film in the courtyard of Uncle Monty's cottage itself, Crow Crag (aka Sleddale Hall, near Shap, not far from Penrith). There are three nights this year: July 3, 4 and 5. The details are here, though you'll have to subscribe to be informed when the tickets actually go on sale... and when they do, with only 300 in total, they will probably disappear within 24 hours. This amazing event is now in its third year, and its popularity looks like it will continue to grow exponentially. If you have no bloody idea what I'm on about, you can have a read of this, and watch a video of last year's event here.

No doubt more than 'a few ales' will be consumed at Crow Crag this summer, and the top choice has to be Eden Brewery's new Withn'Ales. Yes, Withnail and I-inspired beer has arrived:

As you can see from the ABVs, these are serious beers for serious drinkers! That 9.1% is not a typo. And having tried them, I can confirm that they are indeed a far superior drink to meths. For me, Here Hare Beer wins on taste, and name. RLF, in case you were wondering, stands for Ronson Lighter Fluid (or Really Lovely Framboise). The Eden Brewery's website is currently under construction, but you can follow them on Facebook. The Withn'Ales are available locally (try the Moo Bar in Penrith) and via mail order, I believe.

Last, but certainly not least, feast your eyes on the Wall O' Withnail:

A US-based Withnail fan has taken it upon themselves to collect examples of the vintage items seen in the background in the film. For example, a Wood & Sons coffee pot seen in Withnail's kitchen...

... or the Black and White Whisky Dogs seen in the Crow:

For more (much more) click on over to the Wall O' Withnail blog. This truly wonderful endeavour has rightly already been tweeted about by Richard E. Grant, and even received the seal of approval from Bruce Robinson himself: in a move which practically defines the term 'a class act', he sent the blogger a signed Withnail poster, on which he also wrote 'You are quite possibly insane.' (You can see it here.)

I am simultaneously jealous that I didn't have the same idea earlier, and relieved that I didn't have the same idea earlier, as if I had, I would be the one currently searching for obscure items on eBay. Though I have discovered that the Jesse Tait 'Spanish Garden' design crockery, as seen amongst the 'matter' in Withnail's kitchen, is the same design I grew up eating off every day.

Wall O' is still searching for many items, so please help if you can. A possible avenue of enquiry would be to hunt down and pick the brains/memories of the original film's production designer Michael Pickwoad, Art Director Henry Harris or even the prop buyer Leith Boler. One of these people might remember which prop houses, if any, were used to supply set decoration. You never know, they could be worth a visit. For example, when the makers of  the 'creation of Doctor Who' docudrama An Adventure in Time and Space were busy recreating the original Tardis control room set, they went to a London prop house with some reference photos from the first episode. They were especially keen to find as close a match as possible to the brass columns which appeared either side of the doors. "What, those ones over there?" said the bloke at the prop house, pointing to the very same columns they had hired out to the BBC back in 1963. So they hired them again...

So, who knows what 'original' Withnail items are sitting around in prop stores as I type...

Alas, I don't have any examples of, let alone actual original vintage Withnail props, though the Little Shop does feature a mini shrine to the film, pictured at the top of this post. The sacred object is the 'With Nail', a lovely old nail found lying on the floor during a pilgrimage to Crow Crag/Sleddale Hall, back in the days when it was in a sad, semi-derelict state (it's now a privately owned house, of course). Here it is in close-up. Chin chin!

Withnail and I: The Finest Trivia Available To Humanity

Richard E. Grant, sitting down to enjoy his break between takes.

This week saw the latest in the bi-annual (at least) viewings of Withnail and I in the Withnail Books household. Reason enough to celebrate with a list of 10 things you may, or may not have known about the film...

1. Writer/director Bruce Robinson makes several uncredited appearances on screen. That's him driving the Jag in longshot, and it's also him (not Michael Elphick) in the long shot of Jake the Poacher walking away from Crow Crag.

2. Talking of Michael Elphick, he was apparently blind drunk throughout the filming of his scene: his lines were shot a half-sentence at a time, as he couldn't say more than that without becoming incomprehensible.

3. Also blind drunk was Bruce Robinson, the night before shooting started. He began his first ever day on set as a film director with 'a bastard behind the eyes', after staying up half the night nursing a bottle of vodka in the George Hotel, Penrith.

4. The film's end credits feature a mention of 'Special Production Consultant Richard Starkey, MBE'. That's executive producer George Harrison giving his mate Ringo a nod, after Mr Starr took time to visit the set:

The Special Production Consultant, consulting.

5. Murray Close, the Unit Photographer on the film, is today at the very top of the industry, with the likes of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games on his resume. He sells limited edition prints of his wonderful Withnail images on his website, here.

6. Though most of the 'country' locations were in Cumbria, the scenes in the film set in Penrith (Penrith!!) were not shot in the town. If you want to visit the actual place where Withnail demanded 'the finest wines available to humanity', you'll have to go to Stony Stratford, in Buckinghamshire. For a comprehensive guide to the filming locations, look no further than Tony Reeves' amazing site here.

7. In the aforementioned tearoom scene, we hear 'the proprietor' ask 'Mrs Blennerhasset' to phone the police. It's never been divulged, but here's guessing Bruce Robinson got that fabulous name from looking at a map of his filming location: there's a village called Blennerhasset in Northwest Cumbria. The place even has its own website.

8. There is a 'deleted scene', which is in the published script, and was shot, but has never been screened or included on any of the many, many home video releases of the film. It features Withnail and Marwood fencing in Monty's cottage. The film does include a moment with Withnail still holding his foil, but here's a photo from the deleted bit...

9. There was a well reviewed stage production of Withnail and I in Manchester earlier this year. Fittingly, it was performed in a pub.

10. The 'lighter fluid' was vinegar. Considering Richard E. Grant thought it was going to be water, his breathless reaction was not acting. Also not-acting is his collapse into giggles during the tearoom scene: you can see him looking almost 'off camera', assuming he's ruined the take...

Chin chin!