RITA IN NEW TV SHOWS DEPT --


If you happen to have access to the BBC1 channel, you can tune in to
see Rita guest-star in the TV series "New Tricks" on Monday, June 6,
2005.

"New Tricks" follows the antics of three retired cops recruited to
reinvestigate unsolved crimes. The cops have, for a variety of
reasons, handed over their badges and accepted premature retirement.
But their hunger to right the wrongs of the past is still strong, and
they're willing to resort to the most unconventional methods if it
means they can close a case. http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/newtricks/

"Series 2, Episode 5 - Attractive widow and probate assessor Elise
Allen (Rita Tushingham) asks Halford (James Bolam) to find the
rightful owner of a large, uncut red diamond, worth £15 million. She
found the rare jewel in a flat rented by a man who died in 1982."

Rita appeared on May 24th on the talk show, "The Paul O'Grady Show",
in part to plug this upcoming "New Tricks" episode.

I've made some friends in the UK over the past year in connection
with collecting some of Rita's films, and these folks have been kind
enough to record her current TV appearances for me. I will be happy
to provide a DVD copy of Rita's "New Tricks" episode, and her "Paul
O'Grady" appearance to any club member who would like one, just for
the cost of the discs and postage.


RITA IN OLD TV SHOWS DEPT --


Thanks to the sharp eyes of one of my UK friends participating in my
Rita Early-Warning System, her appearances this week in old episodes
of "Bread" have been recorded for our viewing pleasure.

Online documentation of "Bread" episodes is sketchy at best, and
prior to this week's broadcasts, I only knew of two "Bread" episodes
in which she guest-starred. It turns out that she appeared in no
fewer than five episodes (4.09 - 4.13), which have been broadcast on
the UKTV Drama channel this week. Paul and Linda McCartney guested
in the final episode of the 1988 season, episode 4.13.

A "Bread" DVD box set exists for Series 3 and 4, but it is woefully
incomplete. A total of thirteen episodes from series 3 and 4 are NOT
included in the set, including all of Rita's appearances. What were
they thinking?

Again, I will be happy to provide a DVD copy of Rita's "Bread"
episodes to any club member who would like one.


RITA'S KINDNESS TO FANS DEPT --


As club founder Ken Toops has mentioned here before, the best place
to find Rita stuff is on eBay. A lot of old back-issue magazines
also turn up with Rita articles and interviews. She mentions a lot
of movie projects that were in development at the times of those
interviews. Many of those projects never made it to the screen. So
what happened?

I ended up with about twenty questions along those lines, concerning
movie titles and projects that were unfamiliar to me. I included
those questions in a fan letter to Rita last March. I had tracked
down the address of her agent, who was kind enough to forward my
letter on to Rita. (You can find this contact address in the Files
section, under "Fan Mail Address".)

Imagine my enormous thrill when I discovered an email message in my
Inbox from Rita herself! Holy heart attack! It was Tuesday, April
26, 2005, at 09:36 a.m. (not that I would have any reason to
remember). It was a day off from my usual 14-hour days working at
the hospital.

Her message was brief but very kind. In subsequent emails, she
mentioned a little bit about her family and her busy schedule, which
I took as an attempt on her part to be kind to a new fan, and to
appear to be an ordinary, down-to-earth, "just plain folks" sort of
person. Ordinary? Rita Tushingham?? I THINK NOT! However, I very
much appreciated her kindness and her willingness to try to answer
some of my questions. A very positive, delightful person.

In my own mind, I had planned to be very cool, calm, and collected if
ever contacted by her. Of course, that all went out the window
immediately! I was effusive and enthusiastic in my replies, and I
can only hope that Rita has become accustomed to cutting some slack
to overly-effusive fans, or else she's going to think that I'm a
complete nitwit! Oh well, if I had to go down in flames, at least I
made an enormous crater upon impact!


BOYS WITH TOYS DEPT --


With this year's tax refund, I bought myself a multi-region DVD
recorder. I suppose that I SHOULD have put the money into savings,
but what fun would that be? I spent some initial learning-curve time
transferring some of Rita's movies to DVD.

Over the past year and a half, I've managed to collect quite a few of
her movie and TV appearances. With all of these new "Bread"
episodes, I probably have about 44 appearances now. I thought that
it would be nice to share some of these with the club.

I don't wish to infringe on any copyrights, so I won't make a copy of
anything that can be purchased retail, but just for those cases where
a retail DVD for that region does not exist. They're for private
home use only, not for resale, and I won't make a profit on them, but
will only charge for materials and postage.

At this time, these are the DVD's that I've managed to transfer so
far -

1. The Leather Boys (1962) -- PAL version for UK/Europe

2. The Man Who Fell Apart ("Human Jungle" TV episode) (1964) --
(rare) NTSC and PAL, for both the USA and UK/Europe

3. The Trap (1966) -- NTSC and PAL, for both the USA and UK/Europe,
from VHS

4. Smashing Time (1967) -- PAL version for UK/Europe

I particularly like the DVD for "The Trap". I worked with some
additional video equipment to correct deficiencies in brightness and
contrast, and to restore original colors and enhance sharpness.
Still, it's based upon an original (but nearly-new) VHS tape, so the
resolution is not as good as a commercial DVD. But until the film is
officially released on DVD, this is just about as good as it's going
to get.

I plan to continue to transfer her movies to DVD as time permits. If
there are any appearances that are of special interest, please let me
know, and I will try to put them at the head of the list.
The "Filmography" file in the Files section is the most accurate
listing of her appearances. Anything that is not marked
as "unavailable" is something that I can transfer to DVD.

Cheers,
Robert