The Queen, Nixon, Mallory and Searle

On Sunday evening I saw Helen Mirren in The Queen, which is one of the best films I've seen this year, and deserves the high critical praise it's currently receiving.

Last night, I went to the Donmar Theatre to see 'Frost/Nixon' which was sold out - all you need to know. An evening of high drama, it's the story of how David Frost put together the 6 hours of interviews with Richard Nixon, and the shenanigans both sides got up to. I thought the two leads, Michael Sheen and Frank Langella were outstanding, and when it transfers to the Wyndhams, I recommend you book early.

Today, I had a meeting with 'the money' behind filming Mallory, my screenplay on the story of George Mallory, the man who climbed to within 600 feet of conquering Everest in 1924, and may - but we will never know - have reached the summit, wearing a three piece suit and carrying a rolled up umbrella. 'The Money' doesn't think much of the title, Mallory; my alternatives are 'Walking Off the Map', or 'A Time to love and a time to die'. Any other serious ideas considered.

It's always thrilling when you receive the first book off the press, and this morning I saw Cat O'Nine Tales with the 49 colour illustrations by Ronald Searle. Mr Searle is still at his magical best, and I'm immensely proud of our collaboration. The book will be launched on October 24th at the Chris Beetles Gallery on Ryder Street.

Don't drop the baton...

The Chariots of Fire race in Cambridge was run on Sunday in aid of a new helipad for Addenbrooke's Hospital, so that the air ambulance has somewhere to land - coincidentally there's been a lot in the news recently about the Yorkshire air ambulance, following Richard Hammond's terrible accident.

The race started on 'the backs' in the centre of the Cambridge and did a circuit around the town of 1.7 miles. More than 400 teams took part, and my team had a combined age of 378 (here's a photo of the distingushed group that turned up! From left to right - Jonathan Lloyd, Jim Barry, me, John Greatrex, John Bryant and Adrian Metcalfe)

Our time was 1 hr 24 mins and 28 secs, giving us an average of around 14 minutes each. I didn't help matters by taking 16 minutes (pathetic). Nevertheless, we managed to raise about £10,000 towards the cause, and the overall amount raised that day is expected to be over £100,000, so the helipad will be built by this time next year. Whether we'll be running this time next year is far less likely! Many thanks to all those who supported us.

Saturday night

The auction on Saturday night at the Dorchester for Transplants in Mind was organised by Michael and Elaine Jennings who are devoted to this charity. I was delighted that we were able to raise £35,000 for such a good cause. The most popular item was a round of golf with Colin Montgomery, which went for £11,000!

Charity, chariots and chutzpah!

The King's Head was buzzing last night with beautiful young things and luvvies who'd come to help raise money for the theatre. Joanna Lumley, their Patron, was sadly not able to be with us because of filming commitments in the West Country, but Maureen Lipman took over the proceedings - and I mean, took over. She commanded the stage and the audience with great humour and artistic skill. She is, let's face it, an old pro, and whatever the occasion, she delivers. Not easy to follow children or animals, impossible to follow Maureen Lipman.

The auction raised £11,725 towards a new air conditioning unit. The organisers couldn't have asked for more balmy weather to make their point, but despite this, 'a good time was had by all'.

This weekend I'm off to watch my rugby team (Cambridge) play Henley, and tomorrow evening will do another auction, this time for for Transplants in Mind at the Dorchester.

On Sunday, I'm running in the Chariots of Fire Race in Cambridge, in aid of the new helipad for Addenbrooke's Hospital (see earlier post). My team are all over 60 - the ones that are still able to complete 1.7 miles, so I'm confident you'll not be seeing us on the winner's rostrum. Watch this space, and have a good weekend.

Snowdon

Monday's opening night of the Snowdon exhibition at the Chris Beetles Gallery on Ryder Street, St James's, was so crowded that it was difficult to get into the building.

I thought the best photograph was Nannies on Rotten Row which brilliantly reminded us of a past era. But there are wonderful portraits of Nureyev, Princess Margaret, Noel Coward and Henry Moore's hand, that make this exhibition a must.

One paper suggested that not many celebrities turned up...that particular journalist either wasn't there, or simply missed Tim Rice, David Frost, Britt Ekland, Peter Blake, Richard O'Brien, John Julius Norwich, Terry O'Neill, Manolo Blahnik, and David Linley.

Bronze Goats and a Hepworth Horse

I attended the opening of the British Art Fair at the Royal College of Art last week, and fell in love with a wonderful Hepworth sculpture of a horse, and a magnificent Lynn Chadwick (King and Queen) at Osborne Samuel's stand.

For those of us with more sensible budgets to consider, I remain an admirer of the sculptor Christopher Marvell, whose bronze Goat, hidden in the far left hand corner of the hall, was surrounded by admirers. Well worth a visit. But leave your credit card at home.

A week of auctions

On Thursday last week I did an auction for Liam Botham (Ian Botham's son) who sadly had to reitre from active sport because of an injury. Liam reached the highest levels in rugby union, rugby league and county cricket. The highlight of the evening was a Q&A session with Shane Warne, Allan Border, Ian Botham and Freddie Flintoff. Shane Warne stole the evening with loud and raucous cheers, and then his views on the Australian management were reported in the press the following day. I raised £130,000 from the auction, the best prize being a trip to the West Indies, staying on a yacht with Ian Botham and watching the final of the cricket world cup.

The next auction was on Saturday evening, in Egham, on the banks of the Thames, in aid of various charities and organised by Professor Donald Longmore. The auction was attended by local people, and could not have been a more delightful afternoon. The charities benefited to the tune of some £10,000, and I ended up with a table made out of oak from The Victory, when no-one would out-bid me.

Last night I conducted an auction for Ashley Giles in the Long Room at Lord's. The highlight was Geoff Miller's (Test Selector) witty and apposite speech. He really is one of the best after dinner speakers in England, and his comments about facing Michael Holding as a night watchman, had the audience in fits of laughter - "If he'd delivered the ball from where he started his run-up, just by the pavilion steps, it would have been just fine". Ashley was supported by Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Alec Stewart, and all were given a rousing reception before their departure for Australia. Paul Collingwood understandably had to pull out of the evening at the last minute when his wife went into labour.

I have another auction tonight at the King's Head Theatre in Islington with Maureen Lipman, one on Saturday night for the charity Transplants In Mind, and then another next Wednesday at the Grosvenor House Hotel for Freddie Flintoff. Six auctions in fourteen days, and as I look through the diary, I see that the pace does not slow down before Christmas. Still aiming to raise £2m this year.

Fair Play For Children's Hospices

One of my oldest friends, Neil Bruce Copp OBE, (we were at school together), has set up a charity called Fair Play For Children's Hospices (charity reg. No: 1064582), to campaign for a change in the law relating to long-term government funding of children's hospice services.

Thousands of children who will die before they reach adulthood, and their families, depend on the essential and free services provided by children's hospices. Without a government commitment to provide sustained, long-term funding, many hospices will face cut backs or closure. Children's hospices receive 0-3% of their overall funding requirement, and of those, only a few get 3%. There are 40 such hospices in England. Adult hospices get between 40-50% of their funding requirement.

Currently, children's hospice services rely overwhelmingly on public support, supplemented by only this small, unpredictable contribution from the government. While short-term, ad hoc government funding is welcome, a guaranteed system of funding is needed to ensure all children's hospices can continue to provide their essential services to the children and families who need them.

The campaign needs one million signatures on their website to send a clear message to all the major political parties. Fair Play is NOT asking for donations, just that you show your support by clicking on www.fairplayforchildren.org.uk Get clicking!

Chariots of Fire

I missed my gym session this morning, although I'm supposed to be training for the Chariots of Fire race in Cambridge on Sunday 24th September. The race is run to raise charitable funds for a different local good cause each year. This year it's to build a helipad for Addenbrooke's Hospital.

There's currently no dedicated helipad access on the Addenbrooke's campus. In recent years, about fifty patients per year have arrived at the hospital via air ambulance, and this number is expected to rise when the Trust becomes a regional trauma centre. An Addenbrooke's helipad, with its own dedicated ground transport, will shave as much as 20 vital minutes off patients’ journey time to the Emergency Department. There may also be a future role for the helipad for cardiac, transplant and stroke patients. In addition, the police and army use helicopters to respond to medical emergencies and for inter-hospital transfers, and would welcome an Addenbrooke's helipad.

Mary and I are both taking part - but on different teams. Mine is called the Oxford Oldies, and includes Adrian Metcalfe - a silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics of 1964, an Oxford Blue at 5000 metres, and an Olympian with a dodgy knee.

Kings and likely lads

I was up at six yesterday, to write for 2 hours.

A car picked me up at 10.45 and took me to South Kensington (via Hyde Park Corner, Sloane Square and Harrods - perhaps the driver should give up the day job) to be interviewed by Penny Junor's son, Alex, on my views on John Buchan (The Thirty-Nine Steps, Mr Standfast, etc). I've always enjoyed Buchan, and think Fleming was his natural successor, before Le Carre took over and turned spying into a serious business.

Rushed back to Millbank to do an interview for R4's PM programme on primogeniture. In 1998, I presented a Bill to the House, to allow Prince William's first born, if it were a girl, to ascend the throne. The current law of course is that his first born son would automatically get the job. This must be mad in the year 2006. The government asked me to withdraw the Bill as they didn't consider such a constitutional matter should come from a backbencher, but should be put through the House by the government of the day. The Leader of the House gave me an assurance, from the dispatch box, that this was their purpose, and let slip - to a gasp from the House - that Her Majesty the Queen could see no reason why this Bill should not become law. By the way, this all arose because the Japanese are today celebrating the arrival of a male heir to the throne after a wait of 40 years - the Crown Prince's wife had only had daughters. No-one admires the Japanese more than I do, but frankly I think the Crown Prince's daughter should be Empress.

I had lunch with Tim Bell - as amusing as ever, though his views on Cameron can't be expressed until after the 9 o'clock watershed - before rushing back to the apartment to be interviewed by a Greek magazine, Varium et Mutabile, in preparation for my latest book, Cat O'Nine Tales.

At 4.30pm I had a meeting with Isaac and Jamie from the Simone Cowland Trust, who want me to do an auction at the Savoy for this very worthwhile cause. A couple of likely lads, but it soon became clear that they'd never done an event like this before. After I'd beaten them to pulp, they left with large grins on their faces, assuring me, it'll be alright on the night. I admire their energy and enthusiasm for a cause they believe in.

Met with my agent, Jonathan Lloyd, over dinner, to discuss a proposed TV programme that ITV want me to do. A sort of charity Dragon's Den. I've agreed to do the pilot and then let them know my final decision after that. Home in time to watch Peter Crouch score his goal for England, his 11th in fourteen games - and this was a man who, only a year ago, was booed when he came on as a substitute.

Maureen Lipman and Pooh Bear

I attended the launch of Maureen Lipman's new book, The Gibbon's in Decline, but the Horse is Stable, held at The Cartoon Museum on Little Russell Street, in aid of the Jack Rosenthal Memorial Fund at the International Myeloma Foundation (UK). The poems are great, and the illustrations by Gerald Scarfe and Posy Simmons are outstanding.

The Cartoon Museum is well worth a visit, displaying some of the finer examples of the evil arts of a cartoonist - Beerbohm, Low, Giles and Vicky are memorable, but my favourite was E H Shepherd's Hitler as Punch. I forget sometimes that Mr Shepherd was first and foremost a great political cartoonist, who is remembered by the masses as the man who gave us Pooh Bear, Piglet and Christopher Robin. Go and see it!

Launch Date

It's always thrilling for an author to receive receive the proofs of their next book. Today was no exception, when I was shown, for the first time, the full plates for the Christmas gift edition of Cat O'Nine Tales.

Ronald Searle's cover, as you've already seen, is excellent, and his 49 paintings show him at the top of his form. I'm very proud to be collaborating with such a distinguished artist.

The hardback will be published on Octoer 6th, and the gift edition on October 27th.

Here's another picture for you to consider, from It Can't Be October Already. This is the story of a man who always spent November to March in jail, because he didn't like spending the winter months sleeping rough.

Anyone for tennis?

Yesterday was the village tennis tournament, which is held every year in aid of the clock tower of St Andrew and St Mary's Church in Grantchester. You may well ask, isn't the clock tower finished yet Jeffrey? And the answer is, the vicar keeps saying, 'we're nearly there'.

Mary and I were knocked out by a pair of 16 year old twins. Despite my attempt at gamesmanship, we went down 6-4, 6-4. My son Will reached the final, and both of us are very stiff this morning.