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A subreddit to discuss anything and everything related to Ian Fleming's James Bond 007. ~ 33 weeks until NO TIME TO DIE releases ~
Roll up your sleeve, Dame Judi: your next role is persuading cynical Brits to take the Covid jab By Jeremy Clarkson (
Sunday Times, Dec. 06)
How on earth have we reached a point where scientists can develop a vaccine for a virus that was unknown a year ago, only to find that 15% or 20% of the population won't take it because of something a pissed-up pop star said on Twitter? Seriously. You have educated people saying they won't take an "untested Frankenstein drug, developed by Big Pharma", before rushing off to a dimly lit car park and scoring a gram of coke from a man called Barry the Bugle.
Even I'm sitting here thinking: "Why have we gone for the German vaccine that costs a fortune and melts if it's exposed to room temperature? Why didn't we select the Oxford option that costs three quid and is as stable as mineral water?" Plainly there's some Brexity governmental shenanigans going on.
This must be so dispiriting for the scientists who, by developing these vaccines in record time, have saved the world order. Because think what they've been through in their lives. At school, while we were all in the pub, smoking and chatting up girls by explaining that we'd seen Thin Lizzy, they were at home, reading chemistry books.
Then, after a friendless spell at university, where they were mocked for being nerdy and having spectacles, they got a job where the only benefit was a free lab coat.
While you were in the City, living it large, they were in a windowless room dripping liquids out of pipettes into Petri dishes, hoping and praying that there'd be an Alexander Fleming culture when they came into work the next day. But there never was.
Finally, though, the coronavirus arrived and they had their moment, but instead of being carried through the streets on sedan chairs by six greased eunuchs, everyone said: "Have you not seen
I Am Legend? Emma Thompson thought she'd invented a cure for cancer, and the next thing you know, everyone is either dead or trying to eat Will Smith's dog."
'Twas ever thus. You had those boffins who worked for years on how they could get men to the moon and then, when they succeeded, van drivers said it couldn't possibly have happened because the astronauts would have been cooked by radiation. And now we have the same conspiracy theorists saying that, if you take the vaccine, you'll wake up in the morning looking like Mick Hucknall.
To try to balance this wave of negativity, NHS chiefs are said to be thinking of approaching what they call "very sensible" famous faces who could be used to persuade people the vaccine is not a phial full of thalidomide and that, actually, it will save your granny's life.
Right. I see. And who exactly will these very sensible famous faces be? Politicians? Don't make me laugh. We can all remember in the midst of the mad-cow disease outbreak, John Gummer, minister of agriculture at the time, trying to force-feed his daughter a beef burger to prove it was safe. We can also remember that she refused, so he had to eat it himself.
So, if it's not going to be a politician, who will it be? Sir Sir Attenborough is a name that springs immediately to mind, but let's not forget, shall we, that he has been banging on for years about how the human population is too enormous and must, if the world's rhinos are to be saved, be slashed. So I can't imagine he's in favour of halting the virus at all.
George Clooney then. Debonair. Plainly intelligent. And married to someone who's even cleverer. But there'd always be the nagging doubt that, because he's done coffee commercials, he'd only agreed to support the vaccine for the cash.
So what about James May. He is much adored by ladies of a certain age who may be sceptical about vaccines after the MMR business. It's likely, then, that he could talk them round, but if there are subtle side effects, it would be impossible to spot them in a man who's already so weird. "Oh, my God. Look what's the vaccine's done to him. He's just spent an entire day at a plywood exhibition." Don't worry. He often does that.
There are similar issues with Stephen Fry. "Christ, look what's happened to his nose!" And Mick Jagger. "Well, I'm not taking anything that does that to your hair." In fact, I've trawled the internet and the only person I've found who's normal, much respected and squeaky clean is Judi Dench.
So here we are. We have a vaccine that will save millions of lives and billions of jobs, and the only way we can get people to take it is by employing an elderly lady from Surrey to say you won't turn into Joseph Merrick? The problem, I guess, is that we simply don't believe anything we hear any more. It used to just be a few nutters who thought Elvis Presley was still alive and that the American government had aliens in a cave in New Mexico, but now the nutterness has seeped into every single corner of our lives. Two and two is four. "You say that, Grandad, but is it?"
It has been said that the internet is true democracy at work, because it gives everyone an equal footing. But the trouble with this is that Dave, a fat and single man, sitting in his mother's loft in a Motörhead T-shirt, has exactly the same space to air his views as
The New York Times.
We have "influencers" whose facts are never checked and who can, and will, reach more people today than any professionally put-together newspaper. Every day, Kim Kardashian can and does out-Beeb the BBC.
We all saw, last week, that astonishing 3D map of the Milky Way. Well, that's what news has become: a big, cloudy muddle. It's sad — and it's bloody dangerous.
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And here's the
Sun column: "
Obsession with cycle lanes is so mad… cities are dying on the Vine"
submitted by Judi Dench reveals how a clairvoyant chose her name The Oscar-winning star, who plays the eccentric Madame Arcati in a new film of Blithe Spirit, says her name was revealed to her parents by a... Dame Judi Dench is an Academy Award-winning British actress. She won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth in 'Shakespeare in Love.' Who Is Judi Dench? Dame Judi Dench made her stage debut in... Judi Dench kann zweifelsohne auf eine Ausnahmekarriere zurückblicken, und noch ist kein Ende in Sicht. Erfahren Sie hier alles über die umjubelte Mimin. Dame Judith Olivia Dench ist eine renommierte britische Schauspielerin (u. a. „Iris“ 2001, „Philomena“ 2013) und Oscar-Preisträgerin (für „Shakespeare in Love“ 1998), die am Theater u. a. in zahlreichen Shakespeare-Inszenierungen spielte und international u. a. als „M“ in den James-Bond-Filmen (1995–2012) bekannt ist. Judi Dench hat die erste Dosis ihres Covid-19-Impfstoffs erhalten. Die 86-jährige Hollywood-Ikone hat vor kurzem die erste von zwei Dosen des Coronavirus-Impfstoffs erhalten und soll in ein paar ... Dame Judi Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench in an episode of the long-running British sitcom “As Time Goes By.” Ms. Dench, Mr. Palmer once said, “is an actress who anyone would give their eyeteeth to ... Judi Dench, 85, sat down with her daughter Finty Williams, 48, to speak with presenter Gaby Roslin, 55, on her That Gaby Roslin Podcast about the process of overcoming grief.The James Bond actress ... Judi Dench ‐ Wiki: Alter, Größe und mehr. Sie ist die Grande Dame unter den englischen Schauspielerinnen: Judi Dench hat ihren 80. Geburtstag längst hinter sich, feierte bereits 2007 ihr 50. Judi Dench kommt am 9. Dezember 1934 im englischen York zur Welt. Bereits als Kind erahnt sie durch ihren Vater Reginald, dem örtlichen Theaterarzt, die Faszination der Bretter, die manchen die...
The Graham Norton Show - This episode of the chat show features Judi Dench, who discusses her work as M in the James Bond OO7 films. Also interviewed are Ju... Judi Dench talks to Richard Eyre about how to learn to deliver Shakespeare's works. A BAFTA Tribute - This is an evening dedicated to Judi Dench. Hosted by Stephen Fry, from The Theatre Royal Haymarket, it looks back at her life and career. ... Sir Edmund Tilney comes to arrest Viola after she performs Juliet in the play but before it's too late, Queen Elizabeth (Judi Dench), who was hidden among th... Subscribe and 🔔 to OFFICIAL BBC YouTube 👉 https://bit.ly/2IXqEInStream original BBC programmes FIRST on BBC iPlayer 👉 https://bbc.in/2J18jYJProgramme webs... Dame Judi Dench showed she’s full of surprises during her sold-out 60 Minutes at China Exchange, discussing everything from her extensive career and sharing ... Subscribe and 🔔 to OFFICIAL BBC YouTube 👉 https://bit.ly/2IXqEInStream original BBC programmes FIRST on BBC iPlayer 👉 https://bbc.in/2J18jYJProgramme webs... Robin Williams presenting Judi Dench the Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Shakespeare in Love" at the 71st Academy Awards® in 1999.... John Hopkins' four part British TV drama mini-series, masterfully written to give a glimpse of each of the four family members in this 'less than perfect' fa... Judi Dench joins Angus MacKechnie on the Lyttelton stage to discuss her career and share memorable moments from her performances at the National Theatre.Disc...