Post by pye on Feb 26, 2013 12:02:48 GMT 10
Wow, a message board on Diana! How wonderful. I'm delighted to have discovered this, I truly am. A little story here which may interest some of you about how I came to love this serial.
In 1983 my Mum and Dad took me on holiday to Cornwall. We stayed at a marvellous hotel called the Carotel in Lostwithiel. I was already at the age of nine very interested in drama and especially television drama, and already taping things and paying close attention to them, with an eye on a career in the industry one day.
We turned into the car park of the Carotel and my Dad said "oh look, the BBC are here." There was a huge van with the BBC logo on.
We checked in and when we went down for dinner, it was quite obvious who the tv people were! There sitting at the next table was Patsy Kensit, who I recognised, and Jenny Seagrove, Mary Morris who I knew from Dr Who, and many many others.
We asked the owner what they were filming and she said "a serial called Diana".
The following January the trails for Diana appeared. I had got a portable tv for my bedroom and so every Thursday night I watched it. I would never have watched a love story at that age otherwise but it totally hooked me and I remember being so moved by Kevin McNally's performance and cried at the end.
It stayed in my mind for years.
When I was at University I met a girl who asked me if I knew of a writer called R.F. Delderfield, since I was reading English. I said "yes" and she said her grandmother had been his lover and he had apparently written a book about her. I don't know for sure if this was Diana but I thought how funny it had followed me to that point.
In 2005 I had my first play commissioned by Radio 4, and shortly afterwards Diana popped into my mind so I got a copy of it. Watching it I realised how much it had influenced my writing and has done ever since. It was the first love story I ever absorbed and still to this day it is a favourite of mine. So I am very grateful for that fateful moment back in 1983 in Cornwall!
In 1983 my Mum and Dad took me on holiday to Cornwall. We stayed at a marvellous hotel called the Carotel in Lostwithiel. I was already at the age of nine very interested in drama and especially television drama, and already taping things and paying close attention to them, with an eye on a career in the industry one day.
We turned into the car park of the Carotel and my Dad said "oh look, the BBC are here." There was a huge van with the BBC logo on.
We checked in and when we went down for dinner, it was quite obvious who the tv people were! There sitting at the next table was Patsy Kensit, who I recognised, and Jenny Seagrove, Mary Morris who I knew from Dr Who, and many many others.
We asked the owner what they were filming and she said "a serial called Diana".
The following January the trails for Diana appeared. I had got a portable tv for my bedroom and so every Thursday night I watched it. I would never have watched a love story at that age otherwise but it totally hooked me and I remember being so moved by Kevin McNally's performance and cried at the end.
It stayed in my mind for years.
When I was at University I met a girl who asked me if I knew of a writer called R.F. Delderfield, since I was reading English. I said "yes" and she said her grandmother had been his lover and he had apparently written a book about her. I don't know for sure if this was Diana but I thought how funny it had followed me to that point.
In 2005 I had my first play commissioned by Radio 4, and shortly afterwards Diana popped into my mind so I got a copy of it. Watching it I realised how much it had influenced my writing and has done ever since. It was the first love story I ever absorbed and still to this day it is a favourite of mine. So I am very grateful for that fateful moment back in 1983 in Cornwall!
