I VE just had four days wandering about in tights. No, it s not a new hobby; I ve been making a film about Queen Elizabeth I with Cate Blanchett. (We did have a couple of blokes helping us, as well as three horses and a boat.) The film is about the golden

I'VE just had four days wandering about in tights. No, it's not a new hobby; I've been making a film about Queen Elizabeth I with Cate Blanchett. (We did have a couple of blokes helping us, as well as three horses and a boat.)

The film is about the golden age of Elizabeth's reign, a truly English story. The director is an Indian gentleman, the first assistant director (the bloke who does all the shouting) is Scottish and two of the stars are Australians and you can't get much more English than that!

The nearest I actually got to a celebrity was standing next to another extra who was wearing a jacket that Joseph Feinnes wore in Shakespeare in Love. There was a belt from The Kingdom of Heaven too. Once I was on the same minibus as Cate Blanchett's stand-in.

What a coup for Soham that was. When a shot is being set up, Violet Prigg, who grew up in Soham, stands where Cate should be. Violet won't actually be seen in the film, but you might just notice her footprints if you look closely.

Mostly the glamour of the silver screen involved standing about in the rain pretending the sun was blazing down and wondering what's for lunch. It was nice to climb into your own trousers at the end of the day, though. (And somebody nicked my umbrella!)