Discussion Forum: Paul Darrow in Port of Secrets

Oh no! Where's the JavaScript?
Your Web browser does not have JavaScript enabled or does not support JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript on your Web browser to properly view this Web site, or upgrade to a Web browser that does support JavaScript.

View Thread

blakes7online » Blake's 7 » B7 Cast and Crew

Paul Darrow in Port of Secrets
Obsidian	#1 Posted on 27-08-2022 10:58
Moderator Posts: 3224 Joined: 15.01.22	Some, maybe all of you, will know that Paul Darrow was in a Norwegian-produced 'film' called Port of Secrets. It was made for the Norwegian NRK Schools television channel along with several other 'films' to teach children from Norway, and several other European countries, English. The producer and director, Egil Eikvil, had put up Port of Secrets on NRK online a few years ago where it was free to view as a 5-part serial. It remained there for a fixed period then was shut down. I wrote to NRK asking if they would be putting the films on DVD and also to Egil Eikvil via Facebook to do the same. The answer was a categorical 'No'. Possibly because Egil Eikvil died just this April last, they have started televising it again. So for those of you who'd like to see a very handsome and dapper young Paul Darrow running around Porthleven in Cornwall, where I have just spent a nice holiday in the self same surroundings (including staying in the exact same room which he is seen looking from), visiting the filming spots, go check it out. https://tv.nrk.no/serie/skolefjernsyn...avspiller This is the first ep. You need to click on the sidebar to select the subsequent eps. Some will load automatically but I can't guarantee which and when. Much easier to select from the sidebar. The order is as follows: Episode 1: A Lot of Questions Episode 2: The Eleventh Room Episode 3: Why Does Everybody Hate Divers? Episode 4: Through the Looking Glass Episode 5: Out of the Dark Also in the show is Alan Tucker who played Latep in DW Planet of the Daleks. He was a potential Jo Grant squeeze. Some people may also recognise Anne Kidd as Tilly in this and as Cora McLean, the forensic pathologist in Shetland. Penny Ryder – Julie – has been in loads of things but is bosom buddies with Judy Dench and has been her stand-in on numerous occasions. Perhaps if we bomb NRK with interest, they will put the films on DVD. Who knows? And phwoah! Those 1970s pants! Edited by Obsidian on 28-08-2022 06:27 Don't philosophise at me you electronic moron.


OneSparePart	#2 Posted on 28-08-2022 16:23
Alpha Grade Posts: 4219 Joined: 16.01.22	Just tapped on the link. It takes you there but then it says there is an error. Sadness.... Silflay hraka, u embleer rah!


Hugbot	#3 Posted on 28-08-2022 17:52
Alpha Grade Posts: 2075 Joined: 16.01.22	Try this one instead: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/skolefjernsyn.../avspiller Thank you for pointing this out, Obsidian! It was nice to have a glimpse of Cornwall again after so many years (it even started in Penzance!). And now we also know where Avon got his lobster suit... I guess he killed that crayfish!


Levitatingkeyboard	#4 Posted on 29-08-2022 16:07
Ungraded Posts: 4 Joined: 05.04.22	That's great. Thanks for the link.


littlesue	#5 Posted on 31-08-2022 15:27
Alpha Grade Posts: 1759 Joined: 17.01.22	Rings! Doves! Proddy Tools! And I love that car he was driving around in!! Oh yes...those flares!!!!! Cold! You don't know the meaning of the word cold! Cold is when you have ice on the INSIDE of your window!! Sue's Book Shelf https://www.mediafire.com/folder/z1xg...Zine_Shelf Rebel Run Video https://youtu.be/8prqS-XZtLo


littlesue	#6 Posted on 01-09-2022 11:36
Alpha Grade Posts: 1759 Joined: 17.01.22	The Cornish mine that Mr D visits in the last episode is, I'm pretty certain, Geevor Mine in Cornwall and I've been there!! So yet another location visit I've done. Yay!!! Cold! You don't know the meaning of the word cold! Cold is when you have ice on the INSIDE of your window!! Sue's Book Shelf https://www.mediafire.com/folder/z1xg...Zine_Shelf Rebel Run Video https://youtu.be/8prqS-XZtLo


Obsidian	#7 Posted on 03-09-2022 07:08
Moderator Posts: 3224 Joined: 15.01.22	Hugbot wrote: ↑ Try this one instead: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/skolefjernsyn.../avspiller Thank you for pointing this out, Obsidian! It was nice to have a glimpse of Cornwall again after so many years (it even started in Penzance!). And now we also know where Avon got his lobster suit... I guess he killed that crayfish! Hi Hugbot. Thanks for making the link clickable before I worked out I'd forgotten to do it. I was wondering if Sir got a real crawfish scratch and that got written into the script. It's pretty convincing. Strangely, we call them lobsters here in Australia and what they call lobsters, crayfish. Don't ask me why. At least he gets the girl in the end... Don't philosophise at me you electronic moron.


littlesue	#8 Posted on 04-09-2022 05:30
Alpha Grade Posts: 1759 Joined: 17.01.22	Obsidian wrote: ↑ Hugbot wrote: ↑ Try this one instead: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/skolefjernsyn.../avspiller Thank you for pointing this out, Obsidian! It was nice to have a glimpse of Cornwall again after so many years (it even started in Penzance!). And now we also know where Avon got his lobster suit... I guess he killed that crayfish! Hi Hugbot. Thanks for making the link clickable before I worked out I'd forgotten to do it. I was wondering if Sir got a real crawfish scratch and that got written into the script. It's pretty convincing. Strangely, we call them lobsters here in Australia and what they call lobsters, crayfish. Don't ask me why. At least he gets the girl in the end... I've been trying to work out which pretty Cornish village/town is being used by our hero. And yes, that 'scratch' from that lobster/crayfish did look a bit real. Another thing I love is all the ordinary citizens wandering around totally unaware that the future Avon is in their midst! Cold! You don't know the meaning of the word cold! Cold is when you have ice on the INSIDE of your window!! Sue's Book Shelf https://www.mediafire.com/folder/z1xg...Zine_Shelf Rebel Run Video https://youtu.be/8prqS-XZtLo


Obsidian	#9 Posted on 04-09-2022 06:46
Moderator Posts: 3224 Joined: 15.01.22	littlesue wrote: ↑ Obsidian wrote: ↑ Hugbot wrote: ↑ Try this one instead: https://tv.nrk.no/serie/skolefjernsyn.../avspiller Thank you for pointing this out, Obsidian! It was nice to have a glimpse of Cornwall again after so many years (it even started in Penzance!). And now we also know where Avon got his lobster suit... I guess he killed that crayfish! Hi Hugbot. Thanks for making the link clickable before I worked out I'd forgotten to do it. I was wondering if Sir got a real crawfish scratch and that got written into the script. It's pretty convincing. Strangely, we call them lobsters here in Australia and what they call lobsters, crayfish. Don't ask me why. At least he gets the girl in the end... I've been trying to work out which pretty Cornish village/town is being used by our hero. And yes, that 'scratch' from that lobster/crayfish did look a bit real. Another thing I love is all the ordinary citizens wandering around totally unaware that the future Avon is in their midst! It's Porthleven littlesue. He's staying in the Harbour Inn and 'Room No. 7' is at the end of the building as indicated. He is shown staying in Room No. 6, which is now No. 4, where I stayed. Curiously, the coat hooks are still there. The interior has been changed around a bit and opened out through the ground floor, but what else can one expect after 49 years? What is shown as the harbourmaster's office is actually the main door of the hotel. All the buildings shown are still there but, as the story goes in the film where they have the meeting about the future of the town, the village is now far less a fishing port than a tourist town. Still, they do some good crab, shrimp and lobster. A couple of top-class restaurants. Rick Stein used to have one there but closed it during Covid. It's still very good, though. You're correct about the mine, too. I did some intense Google searches beforehand and Geevor was the only mine with that style of engine house. The closest mine to Porthleven – the "Poldark" mine, has a completely different engine house. I was pretty thrilled about Geevor because it used to be called the North Levant Mine, the Northern Levant (Syria) being where I've spent one awful lot of time. I rather enjoyed the ordinary citizens wandering around as well. I especially like the ladies waiting for the bus (you can't see that's what they're doing, but I know it is because that's where I got off the bus from Penzance) who get up from sitting on the wall in the background to meet the bus after he comes out of the meeting. Little did any of them know what they were watching. People I spoke to there about it and to whom I showed my screen grabs were rather excited that their town had been used in a film and here was some Australian nut-job coming to visit it all on that basis. Don't philosophise at me you electronic moron.


littlesue	#10 Posted on 04-09-2022 15:56
Alpha Grade Posts: 1759 Joined: 17.01.22	I'm sure we have driven through Portleven on our way to Helston or St Michaels Mount. We've stayed at Clowance estate a couple of times and that is not far. Does driving through a place count as a Location visit? And you've stayed in the hotel as well!!!! Crumbs!!! Cold! You don't know the meaning of the word cold! Cold is when you have ice on the INSIDE of your window!! Sue's Book Shelf https://www.mediafire.com/folder/z1xg...Zine_Shelf Rebel Run Video https://youtu.be/8prqS-XZtLo


Obsidian	#11 Posted on 08-09-2022 11:18
Moderator Posts: 3224 Joined: 15.01.22	littlesue wrote: ↑ I'm sure we have driven through Portleven on our way to Helston or St Michaels Mount. We've stayed at Clowance estate a couple of times and that is not far. Does driving through a place count as a Location visit? And you've stayed in the hotel as well!!!! Crumbs!!! Driving through would be a nice treat anyway. I especially wanted to get the train to Penzance and then catch the bus so that I could go along that route that MrD drives in his little MGB GT. Doing it in a double-decker bus was rather exciting. There was one place where it made a turn that was essentially a gravel car park. Eeeek! The next visit I'll make time for St. Michaels Mount. It looked glorious as we whizzed past. Don't philosophise at me you electronic moron.


Lurena	#12 Posted on 27-09-2022 10:45
Alpha Grade Posts: 1273 Joined: 16.01.22	I've been without internet for some time and I almost missed this thread, but thanks to Littlesue who pointed it out to me. I'll be enjoying these videos as soon as I get the chance. Thanks for the find and the links! No, I am not. I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going. Lara&Sue's Blake's 7 stories click here to see my heartfelt tribute to Paul Darrow, Kerr Avon Forever


aussiepamela	#13 Posted on 11-10-2022 21:20
Ungraded Posts: 5 Joined: 18.09.22	Obsidian wrote: ↑ littlesue wrote: ↑ I'm sure we have driven through Portleven on our way to Helston or St Michaels Mount. We've stayed at Clowance estate a couple of times and that is not far. Does driving through a place count as a Location visit? And you've stayed in the hotel as well!!!! Crumbs!!! Driving through would be a nice treat anyway. I especially wanted to get the train to Penzance and then catch the bus so that I could go along that route that MrD drives in his little MGB GT. Doing it in a double-decker bus was rather exciting. There was one place where it made a turn that was essentially a gravel car park. Eeeek! The next visit I'll make time for St. Michaels Mount. It looked glorious as we whizzed past. Hi there, I have been told by another Paul Darrow fanatic friend from Australia that the MG he's driving was actually Paul's OWN CAR! This lady is a very good source of info usually. I was wondering if anyone here can confirm if this is true. Loved the programme even if it was aimed at school kids to improve their English! The registration of the MG was from 1973 and I believe the programme was filmed in 1974 making Mr D a very young looking 33! Pamela


Moon Disc	#14 Posted on 13-11-2022 17:03
Delta Grade Posts: 16 Joined: 16.01.22	aussiepamela wrote: ↑ Hi there, I have been told by another Paul Darrow fanatic friend from Australia that the MG he's driving was actually Paul's OWN CAR! This lady is a very good source of info usually. I was wondering if anyone here can confirm if this is true. Loved the programme even if it was aimed at school kids to improve their English! The registration of the MG was from 1973 and I believe the programme was filmed in 1974 making Mr D a very young looking 33! Pamela Coming in late to this discussion, but if someone can grab me a screenshot of the MG with the reg plate, I'll see if I can get any history on it. It would be nice to know if the car is still around.