ROLL UP FOR THE MYSTERY TOUR

I have not been very well for the last few days. As regular readers of my inky-fingered scribblings here and elsewhere will be aware, I am not in the best of health at the best of times (I have just realised that I have said 'best' three times in one sentence which is somewhat of a crime against The Queen's English) and I am very aware that manic depression, heart disease and diabetes are not a good mix, and visits from my friend Mr Jack Daniels, are not the healthiest of things to do.

So, I have been under the weather for the last few days, but last night, through the magick of the BBC iPlayer, Richard and I watched The Beatles much maligned 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour together with an Arena documentary about it.

It is the first time that I had ever seen it straight, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was nowhere near as freaky as I had been expecting (because it is the first time I have seen the entire thing in over twenty years) and Ivor Cutler in particular was genius.

However, the documentary was less impressive. Both Richard and I wanted to know what happened to the various cast members. What we actually got was a vague mishmash of enjoyable but not particularly groundbreaking documentary stuff about what The Beatles did in 1967, most of which we knew already.

So, for those of you who care, I have been digging about:

RINGO'S AUNT JESSIE: Jessie Robins (June 5, 1905 – August 10, 1991) was an English actress whose career lasted from 1958 to 1969. She was best recognised as Ringo Starr's "Auntie Jessie".

MISS WENDY WINTERS: Mandy Weet. She was far less easy to track down. There was a whole article on her here and in the comments a relative of hers tells how she became a bit-part actress under the name Miranda Forbes, and died in 1991.

JOLLY JIMMY JOHNSON: Derek Royle (7 September 1928 – 23 January 1990) was a British actor born in London. His face was probably better known than his name to British viewers, but he acted in films and TV from the mid-1960s until his death. Most of his film appearances were in comedy films such as Don't Just Lie There, Say Something! (1973)

LITTLE NICOLA:According to a fanzine article written in 1991 (the year so many of the other cast members went to greet the four or five wizards in the sky) "Little Nicola is no longer Little. She's now known as Nikki Hale and is a full grown 31 year old woman. For the last five years, Nikki has been living in America. She's in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park where she works as a counselor for kids with drug problems. Since most of the kids are hard-core drug users they're at a high risk for HIV infection. It's not an easy job.