Christopher Biggins would love you to join him for tea at Prestonfield House where he will entertain Dean Friedman on Friday – (yes Dean who had a hit with Lucky Stars which he sang with Denise Mara in 1978) – and the Artistic Director of the longest running play not just in the West End but in the world – Denise Silvey of The Mousetrap.
The line up for the next ten days in the 500-seat theatre is a delightful rummage through Biggins’ address book as well as featuring some of those actors and singers appearing on the Fringe. There is a suggestion that Basil Brush has already been reserved for next year’s Fringe show, although this year’s is a bit of test and only begins on Friday. But the tea will be real in a silver tea pot with a milk jug and “the odd cucumber sandwich” while Biggins interviews his guests.
Christopher talked with us about the people who will be having tea with him, but he also admitted that what he has loved most in his career was his appearance on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here – “because it is the public who vote you in”. He also loves being in Scotland because this is where he filmed Surprise, Surprise with his late friend Cilla Black who he still thinks of every day often wanting to share some juicy morsel of gossip with her. The actor is 75 later this year and has a long career to look back on, but he is certainly looking forward to having fun in Edinburgh.
Our interview with Christopher Biggins is longer than most that we publish:
It is always a refreshing change to go to James Thomson’s Prestonfield which is in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat but could be in the deepest countryside. It is a world away from the choked streets and pavements that make up so much of the Fringe and the Festival experience in Edinburgh, and this could be the next best Fringe venue.
Thomson has built a lovely Fringe Garden with white picket fences next to the Stables where so many fundraising lunches and dinners take place throughout the year. There will of course be champagne served in the rarified atmosphere as well as ice cream and pizza both before and after the shows.
And Summer Holiday Afternoon Tea is being served in the gardens in honour of Sir Cliff Richard who will appear in the second week.
The line-up includes:
Friday 18 August at 4pm – TEA with Christopher Biggins and guests American singer-songwriter Dean Friedman and Artistic Director of the longest-running play in the world, The Mousetrap, Denise Silvey
Friday 18 August at 7pm – Janey Godley Not Dead Yet tour
Saturday 19 August at 4pm – Tarantara – an afternoon of Gilbert and Sullivan
Saturday 19 August at 7pm – An Audience with Michael and Hilary Whitehall
Sunday 20 August at 4pm – TEA with Christopher Biggins and guests author Sally Magnusson; composer and lyricist Alexander Bermange and the cast of I Wish My Life Were Like a Musical
Sunday 20 August at 7pm – Julian Clary in conversation with Biggins
Monday 20 August at 4pm – TEA with Christopher Biggins and guests Loose Women panellist and broadcast journalist Kaye Adams, comedian Ed Byrne, and Thunderstruck writer, actor and bagpiper David Colvin
Monday 21 August at 7pm – Janey Godley Not Dead Yet tour
Tuesday 22 August at 4pm – TEA with Christopher Biggins and guests author Jenny Colgan and Edinburgh writer and broadcaster Liam Rudden
Tuesday 22 August at 7pm – The Barricade Boys West End Party
Wednesday 23 August at 4pm – An Audience with Stephanie Beacham & Christopher Biggins
Wednesday 23 August at 7pm – An Audience with Dame Arlene Phillips, Anton Du Beke & Christopher Biggins
Thursday 24 August at 4pm – Rosemary Ashe in Call Me Merman
Thursday 24 August at 7pm – The Celtic Tenors
Friday 25 August at 4pm – TEA with Christopher Biggins and guests actress and Loose Women panellist Linda Robson, singer-songwriter and front-woman of Scottish punk legends The Rezillos, Fay Fife
Friday 25 August at 7pm – Janey Godley Not Dead Yet tour
Saturday 26 August at 12pm – Peter Duncan in A Falling Tree (for eco-warriers of all ages)
Saturday 26 August at 4pm – TEA with Christopher Biggins and guests actor Jeffrey Holland (Hi De Hi/And This Is My Friend Mr Laurel), actor Graham Seed (The Archers), writer and actor Tim Whitnall and the musicians from Lena
Saturday 26 August at 7pm – An Audience with Sir Cliff Richard and Gloria Hunniford
Sunday 27 August at 5pm – An Audience with Sir Cliff Richard and Gloria Hunniford
The line-up is of course subject to changes and additions.
www.fringeatprestonfield.co.uk
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
