As I told in the previous news, Douglas’ family (mother, sisters, brother and daughter) came to Elstree Studio on Friday 12th march and, according to executive producer Robbie Stamp, they “were very moved and delighted by what they saw. I think its fair to say that we have the Estate/Family’s full support for what is going on!”.
James Thrift, Douglas’ brother, kindly told me more about this event : “We were at Elstree about 2 weeks ago and spent the morning with Robbie, Nick and Garth. It must be very hard for these guys to finally put something down on film that has been the product of so many imaginations for so many years; we all have “the real” Arthur Dent in our heads.
Well Nick and Garth have to give us their view of Arthur, Ford and all the others, and just hope that the wider world out there are entertained by the product. They also had to share it all with Douglas’ family, those of us who have been with this “thing” since it emerged from the room at the end of the corridor all those years ago, and you must remember that until now very few if any major hitchhiker projects have occurred where Douglas has not held considerable control.
Well, as Robbie has said, we all loved it, the ideas, the casting, the whole project and those working on it seem to have a very Douglas feel to them. Everyone seems so determined to create something he would have loved.
We have a saying of having “Douglas” moments, moments when something happens that “is just so Douglas”. Recently Robbie Mcintosh getting the Norah Jones gig, that was a very Douglas moment, he would have been ecstatic.
I had suspected that I might see things on the set/ in the art department that wouldn’t be my “image” of that scene, not my take on that situation, and sure enough there were a couple. What I did not expect was to leave feeling so comfortable inside that this film is in safe, or should I say the best hands.
So sit back, put your feet up, and get ready for a 2 hour Douglas moment at a cinema near you soon. “
