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Home , Beryl Vertue, Eric Sykes, Joanna Lumley, Spike Milligan

Film Finance Corporation Australia presents a Hatchling Productions film in association with 2005 Adelaide Film Festival

I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of

“We don’t have a plan, so nothing can go wrong”

PRESS KIT 20-25 word Précis

An intimate portrait of comic legend Spike Milligan, a complex and multifaceted man who trod the thin line between genius and debilitating depression.

Brief synopsis

I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF SPIKE MILLIGAN is an intimate and deeply personal portrait of comic genius Spike Milligan through the eyes of his brother, three daughters and third wife. Each saw a very different side of this complex and multifaceted man who forever changed English comedy and trampled on the notions of decorum and deference. For the first time his family have opened up their personal archives to reveal Spike as a brilliant, tortured and visionary man who trod the thin line between genius and debilitating depression.

Jane Milligan with Spike

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 2 One Page Synopsis

This is the definitive story of the man dubbed ”The Godfather of Modern Comedy”

For the first time, Spike’s family have agreed to open the archives and reveal the real Spike Milligan: visionary, comic, writer, father, husband, knight of the realm, and the most famous manic depressive in England. Featuring commentary from a cast of Milligans, including his brother, three daughters and third wife, plus Joanna Lumley, and , this intimate portrait uncovers the man behind the silly noses, funny accents and unending love of the absurd.

From 19th Century vaudevillian Ireland to an Australian backwater he satirically christened "the largest above ground cemetery in the world", and all points in between (including Rangoon, London and outer Lewisham), Spike’s story unravels like one of his scripts. Alternately comic, dramatic, romantic and often surreal, it paints a picture of an idyllic childhood tempered by war, depression and English weather, and casts a light on the reckless and sometimes tortured trail left by a man burdened with the gift of genius.

For centuries there has been debate about the connection between creative genius and mental illness and particularly manic depression, now known as . Aristotle asked in the 4th century BC "Why is it that all men who are outstanding in philosophy, poetry or the arts are melancholic?" English poet John Dryden wrote: "Great wits are sure to madness near allied" and throughout the 20th Century the claim has been made that "there is a thin line between genius and madness". The life and legacy of Spike Milligan adds a new chapter to this debate.

The central storyteller of the film is Spike’s youngest daughter, Jane Milligan. She and her sisters Laura and Sile have agreed for the first time to open their family archive and tell the story of their father as they knew him. They do not believe that Spike’s depression was inherited or that it has been passed down to the Milligan children and grandchildren. Jane speaks to people who were close to Spike during key periods in his life, and through these interviews and archive footage, the story of Spike’s life is re- examined and reviewed.

Much of the story is located in a small Australian town just north of called Woy Woy, where Spike’s parents lived for 40 years and where Spike made frequent visits. He wrote many of his famous books in his parent’s small weatherboard house and became involved in local campaigns to protect the environment and heritage of the area. Over the years, Woy Woy came to regard Spike as one of their own, and after his death, the town came together to stage a unique festival called Spikefest in honour of their famous visitor. Spike’s brother Desmond and daughters Laura and Jane played an active role in the festival, and Desmond allowed the crew to film in the Woy Woy house which is a treasure-trove of Milligan family history and memorabilia. His own archive plus Jane’s discovery of Spike’s old home movies shot in Woy Woy create a vivid picture of Spike’s family history in Ireland, and their connection to Australia.

The story of Spike’s professional life is revealed through his manager Norma Farnes, and colleagues such as Eric Sykes, Joanna Lumley, and Michael Palin. His children reveal what he was like as a father, sharing their memories as well as their photographic, audio and visual archives. Shelagh Milligan talks about Spike from the perspective of a wife and partner for 25 years.

This unique portrait of a man who changed the face of English comedy and left an indelible impression wherever he went is accompanied by a comprehensive web site with a rich array of additional features. A DVD is currently in production. The film includes a rich archive of Spike Milligan material from the BBC and ABC as well as valuable personal and family photographs, audio tapes and home movies of Spike with his family, where he claims he came closest to finding some kind of happiness and a sense that his life was worthwhile.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 3 Principal Characters

Spike Milligan Jane Milligan (Spike’s daughter) Laura Tierney (Spike’s daughter) Sile Harrower (Spike’s daughter) Desmond Milligan (Spike’s brother) Shelagh Milligan (Spike’s third wife) Norma Farnes (Spike’s Manager)

And interviews with: Michael Sellers (son of ), Joanna Lumley (Actor), Eric Sykes (Comedian), Michael Palin (Comedian), Eddie Izzard (Comedian), (Film Director), Beverley Spiers (very close friend of Spike’s), Georga Malcolm (Spike’s Granddaughter), Paul Gunning (Historian), Myles Dungan (Radio Presenter and Author).

Principal Character Details

Spike Milligan Terance Alan (Spike) Milligan was born in Ahmadnagar, 100 miles from Bombay, on 16 . His only brother, Desmond Patrick Milligan was born in Burma in 1925. Their father, Leo Milligan, was in the , but his post was abolished in 1933, and the family sent back to London. In April 1940, Spike’s call-up papers arrived and he joined the British Army - D Battery in Bexhill- on-Sea - and his war adventures began. In 1944, he was sent to an officer’s rest camp south of Naples where he joined a dance band. From there he was posted to the newly formed Central Pool of Artists (CPA) near Naples and his career as a performer took off. After the war, he teamed up with ex-gunner, , Peter Sellers and to write a comedy show. The first recording of was made at BBC Variety headquarters on Sunday 21st May 1951 and went on to become an international sensation.

On the Spike Milligan website (www.spikemilliganlegacy.com), a series of icons provide links to detailed insights of Spike’s life. Scroll over each icon to reveal an intimate portrait of Spike as: - Godfather of comedy - Professional - Friend - Soldier - Citizen - Traveller - Explorer - Conservationist - Father - Family man - Romantic - Mentally ill - Looking Back (the alarm clock icon) provides a timeline of key dates/descriptions of the Milligan family and Spike’s life - Looking Beyond (the tombstone icon) provides Jane Milligan’s commentary about her father, his life and his legacy.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 4 Jane Milligan (Spike’s daughter): Jane is Spike’s youngest daughter. She is 38, single and works as a professional performer and singer. She is the only daughter of Spike’s second wife Paddy, and lives in North London. She says of her father: “He was a wonderfully funny, sexy guy, unconventional, talented, great to be with, and I think he was very hard to resist. And he loved that. He knew he was a catch. I think he was certainly having affairs, probably several at one time. I know he made two other kids. But I know he was in love with my mother, which is a wonderful thing to know, because he told me that until the day he died”.

Laura Tierney and Sile Harrower (Spike’s daughters): Laura is 52, married with two children, Jay and Georga. She lives in Sydney and works part-time while maintaining an active interest in writing, drawing and cartooning. She is involved in the development of the Woy Woy comedy festival, Spikefest. Sile is 47 and lives in North London near Monkenhurst where the family lived until the mid 1980s. She is married and has three sons, Hasty, Callam and Brodie. She works in a local school and is on the committee of the Spike Milligan statue fund.

Desmond Milligan (Spike’s brother): Desmond is 79, married with one son and lives in Sydney. He is retired following a long and successful career as a graphic artists, cartoonist. He continues to draw and paint, and is also actively involved in Spikefest. He says of his brother: “He was a man of extremes. He was about three or four different people, all locked into one body. Some of them wonderfully passionate and saving of the world, and others mad as , raving and screaming at you. It was sort of like Jekyll and Hyde, but I suppose if you put the various facets of it together, it was the sort of mad genius that gave us the Goons and changed ”.

Shelagh Milligan (Spike’s third wife): Shelagh Sinclair met Spike in July 1974 and they were married in 1983. They moved from North London to the south of England near Rye in 1988 and Spike died there in 2002. She is now in legal dispute with Spike’s four children over Spike’s last will and what will become of Spike’s estate and legacy. “I wasn’t attracted to Spike because of his humour. I was never a fan of his. But I loved his energy, and how he never behaved properly. Spike wasn’t a sycophant. He never could be. He thought differently from everyone else in the world as far as I’m concerned.”

Norma Farnes (Spike’s manager): Norma Farnes began working for Spike at Orme Court in August 1966. She became his manager and stayed with him until his death. She still runs “Spike Milligan Productions” on behalf of his four children. She says of his legacy: “What’s in the pot now is going to stop because he’s not writing anymore so they will get the royalties from that but there comes a time when it will stop … and yes Yeats and Oscar Wilde & George Bernard Shaw – but how much do they earn from it? Not a lot ‘cos they’re not writing anymore.”

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 5 Partners in this production “I told you I was ill” is collaboration between Hatchling Productions and the following partners: ƒ Film Finance Corporation Australia ƒ 2005 Adelaide Film Festival ƒ South Australian Film Corporation ƒ ABC and ABC Content Sales ƒ RTE, Ireland ƒ The Documentary Channel, Canada ƒ Australian Film Commission ƒ NSW Film and TV Office

About Hatchling Productions HATCHLING PRODUCTIONS is an award winning production company creating multi-platform content for the international marketplace. The company specialises in documentaries for television and interactive digital content for DVD and on-line delivery. The company is also developing educational programs and two feature films. Whatever the subject matter, the Hatchling Productions approach is to shine light into the darkness, to find new and creative solutions to some of the great concerns of our time, and to tell universal stories than resonate with audiences around the globe.

Hatchling Productions consists of CATHY HENKEL and JEFF CANIN and is based in Clunes, in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. Since its formation in 1992 the company has produced over 30 programs including 5 documentaries for television, 20 commissioned works for the educational and training market, 5 self-initiated programs, 2 award winning short films, and two large-scale content rich web-sites. Their credits include “Walking Through a Minefield”, (SBS) “Losing Layla”, (ABC), winner of the ATOM award for Best Documentary in 2001 and nominated for an AFI Award, and “The Man who Stole My Mother’s Face” (ABC) winner of the Tribeca Film Festival award in 2004 for Best Feature Documentary and the Discovery Channel IF Award for Best Documentary in Australia in 2004. This program also has a web-site located at www.hatchling.com.au/face The team recently launched a new feature length documentary entitled “I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan” at the Adelaide Film Festival and an associated web-site with dynamic content, animations and rare archive material at www.spikemilliganlegacy.com

Summary of recent successes and current activities:

2005 I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL: The life and legacy of Spike Milligan, ABC/FFC non-accord documentary in association with Adelaide Film Festival, The Documentary Channel (Canada) and RTE (Ireland). Distributed by ABC Content Sales. Launched at the Adelaide Film Festival to sold out screenings in February 2005 by South Australian Premier Hon Mike Rann. The film begins its theatrical release in Byron Bay on 8th April, 2005. The associated website was also launched in February 2005.

2003/4 THE MAN WHO STOLE MY MOTHER’S FACE, ABC/FFC non-accord documentary: a daughter’s search for justice for her mother following a traumatic sexual assault. • WINNER: BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY: TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, New York • WINNER: DISCOVERY CHANNEL IF AWARD for BEST DOCUMENTARY, Australia • SELECTED: MELBOURNE & BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS • FINALIST: 2003 LEXUS IF AWARDS: Independent Spirit Award • FINALIST: CAPE TOWN WORLD CINEMA FESTIVAL • SELECTED: HOT DOCS, Canadian International Documentary Festival • NOMINATED: AFI AWARD for Best Achievement in Directing. • NOMINATED: FILM CRITICS CIRCLE OF AUSTRALIA award for Best Documentary.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 6 Websites: www.hatchling.com.au/face - companion to “The Man who Stole my Mother’s Face” www.spikemilliganlegacy.com - companion to “I told you I was ill”

In development: UNDER THE TURBAN. A window into the Sikh community of Australia through the eyes of one fascinating family. A 4 x half hour series. The company is also developing three other documentary projects, two feature films and a major DVD on sea turtles. Other Hatchling Production highlights include:

2004 CROSSING THE LINE: training DVD for long-line fishing industry on sea turtle handling. 2003 COASTAL DREAMING: The Casuarina Beach Story. A DVD for Consolidated Properties. 2001 LOSING LAYLA, ABC/FFC, documentary about birth, death and grief • WINNER: 2001 ATOM AWARD. • HIGHLY COMMENDED: DENDY AWARDS. • NOMINATED: AFI AWARD Best Achievement in Directing 1999 WALKING THROUGH A MINEFIELD, SBS Documentary about Jabiluka uranium mine

1996 TAPA TRADITION, Fiji TV Traditional Fijian village life,

1995 TORIKA’S DAY, Fiji TV A Day in the Life of a Fijian Girl,

Other achievements:

• “The Man who Stole My Mother’s Face” has been picked up by The Sundance Channel for broadcast in the USA and by Women Make Movies for non-theatrical distribution of the DVD. • The film been sold in six countries, (The Netherlands, Israel, Canada, South Africa, Denmark and USA) with sales pending in Germany and the UK. It has also been selected for screening at 15 international film festivals including: International Film Festival, Israel, Köln Film Festival, Germany, Irish Film Institute Festival, Festival of Women’s Movies, Netherlands, One World Film Festival, Czech Republic, 31st Flanders Film Festival, Belgium and Commonwealth Film Festival, UK. • Losing Layla sold internationally in 16 countries and continues to generate interest worldwide. A DVD of the film with added features is in development to be launched in conjunction with a new book with the same title by Vanessa Gorman later in 2005. • Cathy Henkel is doing a PhD research project with QUT (Queensland University of Technology) on the development of screen industries in regional areas with a focus on the Northern Rivers Region of NSW. The research has three industry partners: The Northern Rivers Regional Development Board, Northern Rivers Screenworks and Hatchling Productions and will provide new research data of interest to regional development and screen industry organisations. The final report will be delivered as a DVD in 2006.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 7 Image Gallery

There is a comprehensive image gallery on both the disc provided with this pack, and on the website (www.spikemilliganlegacy.com/image_gallery.htm). Each full size image is a large file suitable for 300dpi printing. The average file size is 1Mb, so if you are accessing images online, it may take several minutes to download these files on slow connections.

The following thumbnails show some of the images available:

Jane Milligan Jane Milligan Jane Milligan Jane Milligan with Spike signing autographs at Spike's grave

Jane Milligan Jane Milligan Jane Milligan Jane Milligan with Spike (2) with Spike (3) and Michael Palin and Michael Palin (2)

Jane Milligan and Joanna Lumley Joanna Lumley Cathy, Sile and Jane Laura Tierney at and Jane Milligan and Jane Milligan (2) with the Milligan Spikefest, Woy Woy grandchildren

Jane and her nephews Director Cathy Henkel On location in Ireland Cath, Jane, Laura outside Carpenters filming Jane Milligan and Conan filming at Milligan's Cave

Sile and Jane Laura and Jane with Jane in Ireland Jane with , outside Munkenhurst Laura's daughter Georgia Spike's first manager

Shelagh with Jane inside her Sile and Jane Portrait of Jane one of Spike's grandfather's house, out the back of Milligan paintings Sligo Monkenhurst

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 8

Jane at Monkenhurst Cathy and Sile Jane with Norma Farnes with Spike's letters Spike's mini

Jane Milligan Director Cathy Henkel Desmond Milligan at Spike with a reflective with Jane Milligan Spikefest, Woy Woy young Prince Charles

Desmond Milligan Desmond Milligan Michael Palin Lyndsay de Paul close-up close-up (2) and Jane Milligan at the Spike Statue Fund launch

Reg Bennett with Reg Bennett with Spike Eddie Izzard and Spike with third director Cathy Henkel Cathy Henkel wife Shelagh

Producer/director Director Cathy Henkel Director Cathy Henkel Cathy Henkel and Cathy Henkel and filming Desmond Milligan producer Jeff Canin

Sile, Wendy and Jane Spike meets Desmond Milligan Desmond at Walking Queen Elizabeth and Mayor of , Backwards parade, Spikefest 2003

Beverley Spiers Glenn Cardier Cathy Henkel Charlotte Robson, at Orme Court wife of Spike's therapist

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 9 The making of the film by director Cathy Henkel

The idea for the film began when, after finishing our previous documentary, “The Man who Stole my Mother’s Face”, our sound mixer said in parting “I hope the next film will be a comedy”. With these words in my head, I stopped in at Woy Woy on the NSW Central Coast my way home to visit a friend of mine, Nina Angelo. Nina told me about a committee she was part of called Spikefest and their efforts to create a festival in honour of Spike Milligan who’d spent so much time in Woy Woy. I didn’t know this, and in fact realised how little I knew about this comic legend that had infiltrated my childhood through The Goon Show and had somehow profoundly influenced a whole generation of comedians and the nature of comedy itself. So I began reading and researching Spike’s life and found so much more that intrigued me. He wrote 83 books and was a campaigner for the environment and animal welfare in the 1960’s before it was common for celebrities to speak out on these types of issues. He suffered manic depression (now known as bipolar disorder) most of his life, and was very outspoken about it. He defied conventions and notions of decorum and lived by his own set of rules. He was profoundly sensitive and compassionate and quietly supported many people and organisations who wrote to him for help. He signed his letters “love, light and peace”. The more I read, the more I began to think he would make an interesting subject for a film. And after spending almost four years focussed on survivors of sexual assault, this felt like it would be a more light- hearted and entertaining journey.

So in September 2003, I packed my camera and headed to Woy Woy in the lead up to the first Spikefest. I stayed there for six weeks, getting to know the festival organisers and people who’d met Spike and had stories to tell. I met Desmond, Spike’s brother and he opened up his parent’s house to me. Inside I found a rich Milligan museum, and together with the stories and archival material Desmond showed me, revealed a man very different from the public perception of Spike, the mad comedian. Then Spike’s two daughters turned up. Laura, who lives in Sydney, is Spike’s eldest daughter from his first marriage and with her was Spike’s granddaughter, Georga. Laura’s youngest sister, Jane, Spike’s only daughter from his second marriage, also came to the festival, all the way from London. When I heard the two daughters talking about Spike as a father, I became really interested. Spike created an unbelievably magical, creative and wildly chaotic childhood for them, and the quality and depth of his relationship with his children, revealed through letters he wrote them as well as stories they told, really surprised me. It also became clear to me that Spike’s legacy was in jeopardy since he died, because of what was happening within the family and what Jane calls Spike’s “close circle of people”. The effects of the dispute were felt right throughout the family and this deeply disturbed and saddened me. My relationship with the daughters grew, and they came to trust me and opened up their family archive to the film. I offered to make the film from their perspective as it was a unique perspective that had not been seen publicly before, and as a way of reminding people of the enormous breadth and depth of Spike’s legacy and finding a way to maintain and preserve it for future generations.

During the shooting period, I kept a diary of events and wrote them up for our website which we launched in its early form in late August 2004. This became the place to communicate with Spike enthusiasts who were already contacting us about the film, and wanting to know how things were progressing. Extracts from these “blogs” are included in this press kit and can be found on the Spike web-site. These provide anecdotes and details of the shooting period of the film.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 10 The post-production phase of the film was from September until early January 2005. Producer Jeff Canin and I then headed for Adelaide to complete the sound mix, grading, graphics and inserting of the animations. We decided early on to use a selection of Spike's funny sayings as chapter links and to animate the character of Spike and some of his children’s work. There was an air of mania throughout the edit, partly induced by Spike and the material and partly by the looming deadlines. Spike kept us laughing, even when we were dealing with the difficult and unfunny aspects of the story and we tried to keep to the spirit of: "we don't have a plan, so nothing can go wrong". However, when you are editing a feature length and two television versions of a film, you have to have a plan, and it has to be clear. Our plan was to show the personal side of Spike, what he was like as a father, brother, husband and friend, and how his personal life and his "illness" affected both his family and his work. This meant the film was going to be a mix of humour and sadness, and would roller coaster from one mood to another just like Spike did when he was alive. He was very open and articulate about his manic depression and we wanted audiences to hear in his own words, what it was like for him. We also wanted to show how the family dealt with it and how profoundly it influenced his work. The inclusion of the dispute over Spike’s will and the conflict between Spike’s children and his third wife Shelagh was always a difficult issue. I did include it in the first version of the film, motivated by a desire to tell the truth as we knew it, and to convey the deep emotion and distress felt throughout the family because of these events. The children had not yet publicly told their side of the story and this was a way to do so without going through the British tabloid press. Also they hoped that by telling of their version of the story, they might bring about some clearer understanding and resolution within the family. As it happens, this has occurred. The children have withdrawn from the legal battle and there is now hope of a resolution within the family. I decided to change the ending of the film after the Adelaide screenings and the first three screenings in the Northern Rivers region for two reasons. Firstly the ending as it stood dated the film and I wanted an ending that was more timeless. I therefore decided to put the story of the conflict over the will onto the website where it can be easily updated. Secondly I wanted an ending that was more uplifting and reminded people of the enormous amount of active support Spike gave to a wide variety of causes and issues and how he believed that it is the individual who can make a difference. I decided that, in the end, this was the resonant message I wanted audiences to take home with them. The website was launched at 11.15pm on Sunday 20 February 2005, while Spike's eldest daughter Laura was driving home from a publicity function with web director Kerry Sunderland and Laura’s friends Nina and Trish (who are on the Woy Woy Spikefest committee). It was a suitably 'virtual' and madcap moment all at once because, while Kerry was on the phone, there was some confusion about which way to turn and the Milligan clan got themselves lost. One hour later, Nina pulled into a petrol station and discovered the group was about 70kms north of where they wanted to end up. Dressed uniformly in Spike Milligan Legacy t-shirts, the petrol station attendant enquired whether they were members of a religious group. The Cult of Latter- Day Milligan’s was officially born. The film was launched at the Adelaide Film Festival on Tuesday 22nd February by the premier of South Australia, Hon Mike Rann. Desmond, Laura and Spike’s granddaughter Georga attended the premiere and 350 Spike masks were handed out to the audience. The screening was sold out and a second screening on Thursday 24th was also full. The audience and media reaction to the film to date has been extremely positive. As the end credits of the film say, the story continues at…..www.spikemilliganlegacy.com

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 11 EXTRACTS FROM SPIKE WEBSITE BLOG

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2004 Week one of production I drove to Woy Woy with Spike's eldest daughter Laura and friends and spent the first week shooting some pick-ups and new interviews. I met Beverly Spiers, a friend of Spike's for 30 years, who told the most entertaining and hilarious stories of her time with him. She was a wild-life carer and Spike used to go to her property to escape the 'noise' and flurry of his parent's house in Woy Woy and to take long walks in the bush. He liked to feed her brood of injured and tame wallabies, possums and birds. She showed me her open air bath that Spike also loved. He was forever in search of solitude, absolute quiet and nature and Beverly's place gave him all these things. During my week in Woy Woy, I also caught up on the news about this year's Spikefest - and met a musician, Glenn Cardier, who had toured with Spike for six months in the 70s. His stories of traveling and working with Spike revealed yet another side to this complex and multi-faceted man that I had not heard before. I spent a whole day with Spike's brother Desmond, and a day with Laura, who read me a collection of letters Spike had written to her over the years. These made us laugh and cry, often at the same time.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 07, 2004 Arrived in London Yesterday I arrived in London, and I'm staying with Spike's youngest daughter, Jane. On my first evening here, I went to a committee meeting in a nearby house with Jane and her sister Sile, to talk about a proposed statue of Spike that the locals want to erect. It is a life-size and very life-like statue of Spike sitting on a bench - I saw the model and it's brilliant. People will be able to sit next to him and get their photo taken or just talk to him. The bench is decorated with references to his life, such as fairies, elephants (from his childhood in India), soldiers and books. The committee hopes to raise the money to get the statue made and erected by the end of next year. They have people like Sir Paul McCartney, and Joanna Lumley as patrons. I'm meeting my crew and working on the script and production schedule this week. On Friday we will be filming an interview with comedian Eddie Izzard in a theatre in Soho, and by the beginning of next week we'll be full steam ahead.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2004 Jane Milligan's performance I went to see Jane Milligan performing in a show at the Queens Theatre, Hornchurch. She is an actor/musician and the show is called ALICE ON THE UNDERGROUND. It is an adaptation of the classic in which Alice runs away from home and gets lost on the underground. Jane plays Alice's sister and several other characters and I filmed the show and an interview with Jane backstage putting on her makeup. She is a dynamic stage performer and I remembered her telling me that her father’s opinion of her work had convinced her to continue with this profession: his words were “You’ve got it, kid”. I completely agree.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 12 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2004 The film is taking shape The film is beginning to take a much clearer shape in my mind now. There are several themes and strands in the film. One is the biographical story of Spike's life, as told by people who knew him, including show biz celebrities. Another is the contemporary story of Spike's family and what has happened since his death. A third is the story of his depression and what caused it and how it manifested in his life. The fourth is the archive - Spike's own home movies and audio tapes discovered by Jane in the house after he died. All of these strands will be interwoven to reveal a picture of Spike Milligan not seen before; a man more remarkable, surprising, brilliant and complex than I ever dared imagine. Our first real shoot was in a theatre in Soho where the enormously famous comedian Eddie Izzard was performing. There, on a balcony overlooking the London night life, Eddie told us why he calls Spike 'the godfather'. He brought to life their brief meetings and connection through the town of Bexhill and talked about the enormous influence he has had on comedy and the world around him. It was both funny and sincere and clearly Eddie has a huge respect and affection for Spike. It was a brief but dazzling interview and we all celebrated in the bar afterwards, feeling like we'd got off to a good start.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2004 Back to Spike's house in Rye On Sunday, Jane and I headed down to Rye in a truck where we met sound recordist Matt at the station. We were going to Carpenters, the house where Spike lived for the last 15 years of his life and where he died. Spike's second eldest daughter Sile joined us down there with her family (husband and three sons). The purpose of the visit was for them to collect any possessions left in the house by their step-mother Shelagh, who has emptied the place with the view to selling it. It was a very emotional day for all of them as they discovered bits of their childhood and memories of their father and grandfather. They have to say goodbye to this house that holds so many good memories for them.

There was a touching moment in the walk-in wardrobe where they discovered Spike's footprint in the paint work. They sorted through old photos, books, records, toys, letters and mementos of all shapes and size. Some were thrown out. Some went into boxes to be kept. This scene will most likely be at the end of the film, and will dissolve into the archive footage his daughters have of him as an old man in this house surrounded by his children and grandchildren at Christmas. His letters, personal writings, poems and songs all tell the same story- Spike lived for his children and was happiest when he was with them.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2004 Joanna Lumley's interview A highlight of the second week of production was an interview with Joanna Lumley (from the TV comedy, ). We did the interview in a whisky bar in a hotel in Piccadilly. Joanna arrived on time and looked magnificent. She is a warm and friendly person who immediately put the whole crew at ease with her humour. The first thing she said to me, was "thank you - for writing to me and asking me to be part of this film!" She REALLY loved Spike and it shows. Jane conducted the interview and it was the heart of the film for me so far. Sweet, funny, sad, revealing, poignant, beautiful and charming.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 13 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2004 Week 3 of the UK shoot This week we spoke to Richard Lester who made films with Spike in the 50s and 60s. Their first film was called THE RUNNING, JUMPING, STANDING STILL FILM. It featured Spike and Peter Sellers and was nominated for an Academy Award. Richard told us that it was because of his work with Spike that trusted him to make their first film: A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. He also directed Spike in THE THREE MUSKETEERS, where he played Raquel Welch's husband. Richard had some great stories to tell and paid tribute to Spike as one of the two people who have inspired him the most in his life - the other was John Lennon. We also went to Rye this week and filmed Jane visiting her father's grave and talking about some of the difficulties she has experienced since her father died.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2004 Sligo, Ireland In our fourth week, we went to Ireland to visit Sligo, the birthplace of Spike's father Leo Alphonsis. We were given an official welcome to the town by the mayor of Sligo and Jane was shown her grandfather's house by the current owner, Ray McCullough. She met most of the people in the street, Holburn Street, and talked to a journalist and historian who had both uncovered some Milligan history. We found Leo's baptism records in the Sligo cathedral and Jane was given some artifacts found in the midden outside her grandfather's house. It was a wonderful experience for me as I've never been to Ireland and I was so pleased to be making this trip with a Milligan. The Irish are very fond of Spike and we were made most welcome everywhere we went. I also tasted my first Guinness and experienced the Irish pub, music and dancing. On our last day in Sligo we went touring to some wild and remote beaches and saw some of the famous lush, green countryside and old stone houses dating back many hundreds of years. In Dublin, we found an Irish radio journalist, Myles Dungan, who had interviewed Spike almost 20 years ago at his home in North Barnet (Monkenhurst). Myles told us that Spike had not been well that day and so he had interviewed him in his bed. He gave us a copy of the interview in which Spike talks about the Goon show characters, about being Irish and about his depression.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2004 Week 5: London Back in London, co-producer Jeff Canin joined us this week and took over as sound recordist as well. On Tuesday morning we filmed Jane driving around London in Spike's yellow mini and in the afternoon we interviewed Michael Palin. He spoke about the influence Spike had on him and the team and told the story of how Spike came to have a cameo role in THE LIFE OF BRIAN. He talked about how Spike had broadened the landscape of comedy and changed all the rules. Michael is currently starring in a TV series on his adventures in the Himalayas and his face adorns huge billboards around London at the moment. But despite his enormous profile and fame, he is completely charming, warm and easy to talk to and was delighted to meet and talk to Spike's daughter, Jane. We also found out today that our interview with Michael Parkinson was cancelled as a close friend of his had died and he had to attend the funeral. I was disappointed, but had to accept this. We have so much interview material with celebrities who knew Spike that I don’t think the film will suffer too much because of this.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 14 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2004 Discovering hidden treasures Over the course of the past five weeks we've been collecting wonderful archive material on Spike and his life, particularly with his family. Most of this has never been seen by the general public before and its one of the most exciting aspects of this film.

There is a wide range of photos, newspaper clippings, and letters. We finally found a reel- to-reel player so we could listen to the suitcase full of audio tapes that his daughter Jane has been keeping under her bed. These are mainly of Spike talking to his children but also many unpublished musical compositions and a range of weird and funny stories and voices. There is a song he wrote for which she sings, Spike playing trumpet and several songs written especially for his children. Slowly and with great care we have been transferring all this material to digital format. There is also a box of 8mm films and we've spent the past few weeks working out how to view and transfer this material to digital. Finally we bought an 8mm projector and were able to watch and film the old footage ourselves. It has been an incredible experience for Spike's daughters Jane and Sile - they have never seen these films before and watching themselves as small children with their mothers has been both emotional and funny. Tonight Jane watched a reel of film of her mother and father in Australia. Paddy died when Jane was 11 so this reel is particularly precious to her. Sile has also provided several video tapes of footage she took of Spike in his last years in his home at Rye, enjoying Christmas with the whole family around him. There is plenty of great footage of Spike, his parents, the house at Woy Woy, Desmond as a young man and Spike with his children and all three of his wives. Some of this footage will undoubtedly be used in the film and will enrich beyond measure the picture this film is painting of Spike as a father, brother, son and husband.

Jane Milligan and director Cathy Henkel

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 15 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2004 In the edit room Since I returned home from the UK and Ireland at the end of October, I have been locked away in the edit room with almost 100 hours of footage, a great editor (James Bradley), all Spike's wonderful archive footage and audio tapes, and the daunting task of producing a 90 minute film. Spike, of course, moved into the edit room with us and has been directing the whole thing in his own inimitable style. He has also taken over the web producer (Kerry Sunderland) and the animator (Murray Debus) and is influencing the creation of a very unique and distinctly Spike style for all aspects of the film, website and the DVD.

The film is told primarily from the perspective of Spike's daughter Jane and her desire to create a clearer and more accurate picture of her father, who he was and what he did in his life....and why his legacy is important and should not be buried, hijacked or smothered to death.

At the beginning of the film, Jane says: "Bad things have happened since Spike died within his close circle of people. People have done things that they shouldn't have done, and the press is sniffing around what they think is the truth and they're getting it all wrong...."

"My sisters Laura, Sile and I have decided to set the record straight.....all of Spike's creative work, and the personal possessions and family heirlooms that remind us of him, are being withheld from us now. We would like to see his legacy preserved and to have a say in the way this man is remembered. For this reason, we have decided to open our family archive and tell the story of Spike as we knew him, and the places and things that really mattered to him".

Cathy Henkel with Jane Milligan & Michael Palin

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 16 Credit list of key creative personnel

Produced by Cathy Henkel and Jeff Canin

Written & directed by Cathy Henkel

Edited by James Bradley

Website produced & written by Kerry Sunderland, Evolve Media

Website developers: Chris Joyner, Jason Sidoryn, Kipp Brady, Malte Wiegand, Katalyst Web Design

Website host: RUCC

Title sequence: Rapt Animations

Animators: Murray Debus and Jon Kudelka

Character voices: Jonathon Atherton

Music: Spike Milligan, Glyn Lehmann, Glenn Cardier

Cinematographers: Cathy Henkel and Richard Butchins, Richard Kendrick, Hugh Miller, Mike Rubbo, Ian Spruce

Sound recordists: Jeff Canin, Conan Fitzpatrick, Matthew Moline, Trish Waddington, Rainier Davenport

Sound post production: Pete Best, Peter Smith, Tom Heuzenroeder, Best FX

Online Grade & graphics: Dale Roberts, Oasis Post Australia

Consultants: Barry Stevens, John Edginton, Barry Dowdall, David Jowsey

Narration recording: Matthew Williams, Matthew Gulliford

Production accountant: Belinda Roberts

Edit assistants: Liliana Munoz, Barbie English

Line producer, Ireland: Paul Tully

Production assistants, London: Lisa James, Emma Mitchell

Production assistants, Woy Woy: Trish Waddington, Conan Fitzpatrick

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 17 About the filmmakers Hatchling Productions Hatchling Productions was formed in 1992 by Cathy Henkel and Jeff Canin to produce documentaries, educational and training videos and short films. The company established the first digital post-production editing studio available for hire in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. Since its formation, Hatchling Productions has produced more than 30 programs including five documentaries for television, 15 commissioned works for the educational and training market, five self- initiated programs, two on-line documentaries and two short films. They have won numerous international awards for their work including the Tribeca Film Festival Award in New York for Best Feature Documentary and the Discovery Channel IF Award for Best Documentary in Australia in 2004.

Cathy Henkel - writer/director/producer Cathy has worked as a producer, writer and director of documentaries, educational and information videos since 1988. This followed a 10-year career working as a director of theatre, particularly youth theatre. Her first documentary for television was HEROES OF OUR TIME (broadcast in 1991 on the ABC series "True Stories"). This first inside look at Greenpeace during one of its direct action campaigns was co-written and directed with Catherine Marciniak and produced by Film Australia.

Cathy’s subsequent directing credits include TAPA TRADITION, WALKING THROUGH A MINEFIELD, THE MAN WHO STOLE MY MOTHER'S FACE and I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL. Cathy also now has a decade's experience as a cinematographer, shooting almost all the education and training videos she has directed for Hatchling Productions. She was also director/DOP on the documentary WALKING THROUGH A MINEFIELD for SBS and producer/DOP on LOSING LAYLA for the ABC. Cathy shot most of the personal interview material with her family and friends and much of the police investigation in THE MAN WHO STOLE MY MOTHER'S FACE, and was principal cinematographer on I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL.

Cathy is a founding member and Chair of Northern Rivers Screenworks Ltd, and has served on the national Board for the Australian International Documentary Conference. She was also the Chair of the Byron Bay Local Management Committee for AIDC 2003. Cathy recently completed a Master of Arts Degree at Queensland University of Technology researching the development of creative industries in the NSW Northern Rivers region, and has commenced a PhD further exploring this topic.

Jeff Canin - producer, sound recordist Jeff worked for Greenpeace International as a sea turtle campaigner for seven and a half years, based in London, Florida and Amsterdam. In 1991, he met Cathy Henkel on a sea turtle nesting beach in Queensland and they decided to team up together in life and in work. In 1992, following the birth of their daughter, SamLara, they formed Hatchling Productions to produce environmental, social issue and community-based documentaries and establish a digital post-production editing studio in the Northern Rivers region of NSW.

Since then Jeff has worked as a producer, editor and sound recordist. His editing credits include: LOGGERHEADS and JABILUKA, and Production credits WALKING THROUGH A MINEFIELD, LOSING LAYLA, THE MAN WHO STOLE MY MOTHER’S FACE, I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL, two websites (www.hatchling.com.au/face and www.spikemilliganlegacy.com and many educational and information videos and DVDs. More recently, Jeff has established DVD production facilities at the Hatchling studios, and with partner Cathy Henkel, is currently developing a major series for television, two new documentaries and two feature films.

PRESS KIT I told you I was ill: the life and legacy of Spike Milligan Page 18

Contact Details

Hatchling Productions 119 Elliot Road CLUNES NSW 2480 Australia

Ph: +61 2 66 291449 Fax: +61 2 66 291089

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

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