Just found my first 2 episodes of the Bill as a screenwriter on YouTube. From 1998 the half-hour was the very first professional writing gig I ever got. I’d never thought a plumbers son from Coventry like me could ever be a writer so I was/am very proud of this. I have this on my office wall to this day.

The hour long S.A.D was a “Christmas Special” broadcast on New Year’s Eve and is quirky and great fun with the first child birth in the Sunhill cells.

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My first tutorial at University.

My second tutorial – I’m a fast learner!

My first job – Lincolnshire Roadshow T.I.E circa 1980. This is the glorious ‘Desmond The Dentist’, a mastrerpiece – and I still know Desmond’s theme song.

My first Spotlight picture – no wonder I spent so much time bent over a table taking ‘notes’

And here’s me as Lawrence Watt in Alun Williams ‘Mean Streets’ for Hull Truck circa 1981. The first in a long line of not so loveable wallies!

Doug Lucie’s ‘Hard Feelings’, The Bush, 1984. See what I mean! Different specs but it’s the same vibe!

My 15 minutes.

Me and Dudley rehearsing for the Lovejoy bubble – Catchpole & Dill!

Location catering on Stay Lucky

And now I really have lost the plot!

The best advice you’ll ever get.

SOME CHOICE REVIEWS

“In particular Cris Jury’s Lawrence is a minor masterpiece, a ball of frustrated longing with the frame of the school twot and the most expressive adam’s apple in living memory.”

Steve Grant, Time Out, Nov 1980. Mean Streaks By Alun Williams, Hull Truck

Now that’s what you call a review!

” ‘Foul-mouthed.’ ‘Boring.’ ‘Stupid.’ and ‘rubbish.’ “

No these aren’t the comments of the Producers I have worked with over the years. They were just a few of the comments made by people who left the Civic Theatre Scunthorpe on Monday 9th October 1980 after seeing the same play Mean Streaks. We were banned from ever appearing there again! It’s one of my proudest achievmentrs in showbiz.

“Chris Jury as David projected a particularly eccentric character”.

In Dreams, Hull Truck, 1981.

Story of my life.

“Chris Jury a versatile and immensely promising character actor, plays the only attractive member of the group.”

James Fenton, The Sunday Times 6th Feb 1983.

I think Frankie Barber and Ian ‘Otis’ Reddington might have something to say about that!

A Code For Living

Peter’s Law – The Creed Of The Sociopathic Obsessive Compulsive

1. If anything can go wrong – fix it (To hell with Murphy!)
2. When given a choice take both.
3. Multiple projects lead to multiple successes.
4. Start at the top and work your way up.
5. Do it by the book…….but be the author.
6. When forced to compromise ask for more.
7. If you can’t beat them, join them – then beat them.
8. If it’s worth doing, it’s got to be done right.
9. If you can’t win, change the rules.
10. If you can’t change the rules then ignore them.
11. Perfection is not optional.
12. When faced without a challenge, make one.
13. “No”, simply means begin again at one level higher.
14. Don’t walk when you can run.
15. Bureaucracy is a a challenge to be conquered with a righteous attitude, a tolerance for stupidity, and a bulldozer when necessary.
16. When in doubt, THINK!
17. Patience is a virtue but persistence to the point of success is a blessing.
18. The squeaky wheel gets replaced!
19. The faster you move, the slower time passes, the longer you live.

Apparently this is a joke – it all seems eminently sensible to me.

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