It is an interesting, but not particularly edifying fact about humans that we tend to like people like ourselves. Not only that, but we tend to believe people like ourselves rather than others: suits are more likely to believe suits, bearded lefties bearded lefties and so on. No particular harm done until that preference carries over into prejudice against anyone not like ourselves . . .

Although his name may not be universally familiar as a rock star, his family name will be recognised by everyone and provides the credentials that justify his autobiography being included in these august pages. The son of John le Mesurier and Hattie Jacques, his childhood was spent surrounded by actors and musicians . . .

centres on the earliest surviving motion picture filmed in a British theatre. Brief but amazingly eventful, it records the conclusion of The Bandits, a London Hippodrome sketch performed in 1902 . . .

I saw Terence Rigby in the National Theatre production of Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land at the...

James Ellis was, at one time, one of the most familiar faces on our television screens. He was one...

BANDITS! OR THE COLLAPSING BRIDGE by David Mayer with Bryony Dixon centres on the earliest surviving motion picture filmed in a British theatre. Brief but amazingly eventful, it records the conclusion of The Bandits, a London Hippodrome sketch performed in 1902: soldiers give chase on horseback; a bandit queen fires a pistol; a mill explodes into flame; a bridge collapses in the millrush . . .