You'll probably have heard about the fire on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios on Sunday 30th July. They are still working out the details of what caused it but with no-one hurt and shooting finished on that set, it could have been much, much worse.

This was the Venice set for our closing sequence. We've done a lot of filming in Venice itself but, for reasons that will become apparent when you see the film, we have also had to build a massive recreation of a Venice palazzo and square on the 007 stage.

Technically, the 007 stage belongs to Pinewood itself, being named because of its long association with the Bond franchise. It was on this stage, for example, that Zao drove his Jaguar into the Ice Palace on DIE ANOTHER DAY, it housed the Nuclear Test Chamber in THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH and its capacity for holding gallons of water was explored as long ago as THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, when it provided the submarine pens for Roger Moore. So it has been enormously useful, not just to the Bond films, but to a host of other film-makers as well.

However, its destruction was felt especially by the Bond family. Though honesty compels me to admit it was never my favourite stage. A huge structure of corrugated iron, it was always freezing cold in winter and boiling hot in summer. Perhaps the new stage will be a little more comfortable to work in.



Until next time.
YARBOROUGH