IKWIG 60th Anniversary
28 - 31 October 2005
By: Steve Crook
Sun 30th October 2005
We got an extra hour in bed as the clocks went back. But this was Der Tag the day when IKWIG! was first seen by anyone not connected with it, at the trade show in London.
After breakfast we set up in the appropriately named Kiloran Room in the hotel for a short lecture from Robert and a showing of the BBC documentary I Know Where I'm Going! Revisited (1994) by Mark Cousins which follows Nancy Franklin on one of her trips to Mull.
Jessie Gordon had brought along an album of photos that her late husband had been given by the crew. They weren't the big 10x8 studio stills, these were quite a bit smaller. But they were even more interesting in a way because a lot of them were natural photos of groups of people behind the scenes. They weren't specifically posed. Some of the locals also told us about a special screening that had happened in Oban where they were all shown not just the film as we know and love it but a lot more footage of people and places that had been filmed on the island. They said that it lasted about 6 hours (with intervals) and they stayed overnight in Oban which was quite a big event for them. This is most interesting. It would be expected that a lot more film would be shot than was used in the final film. But that extra footage isn't usually printed beyond the rushes stage. Was this fully printed? Is so, does it still exist anywhere?
After the documentary we hit the road again and headed out to Duart Castle. This is the Castle of Sorne in the film and is the home of the head of the clan Maclean/Maclaine. It's a very impressive place. Although it has "No photography" signs all over the place, we were given special permission to take photos and video. The main hall in Duart was re-created in the studio and that's where Cheril (Petula Clark) has her scene with Joan. We recreated that with the help of Jeane, Fizz and Frank playing Hooper, the butler.
The re-creation of the main hall is very good. Apparently it fooled the then owner who thought they'd filmed it when he wasn't looking. But there are a few differences which can be noticed with careful attention to detail.
Duart is an amazing place and has quite a few tableaux set up for the visitors. Upstairs they have a little museum giving the history of the clan. And there's a lovely view from the battlements.
Back to the Western Isles once more and some of the gang got ready to leave later that afternoon. Some of us stayed on for the extra day but the magic was beginning to go. We had a good time on that last evening but there were now other people staying there as well so we didn't have the run of the place as we had had up until now.
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