Stamp's path through life could have been very different. For an East End lad growing up in post-war London, acting was not on the cards. "I left the East End quite early in terms of other kids my age. My mother made a terrible fuss, but my dad didn't mind at all. But if I was going to try acting, I couldn't have done it had I stayed at home."
Concluding the Nolan Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises does not have the element of surprise inherent in Batman Begins and had to follow the near-perfect The Dark Knight. To its credit, it almost succeeds blending state-of-the-art direction techniques with astounding action and poignant moments of character.
The press junket for Cars 2, which meant a pretty heavyweight offering of the combined talents of Michael Caine, Jason Isaacs and John Lasseter in a London hotel. The corridor was a military invasion of activity - stunning girls on walkie-talkies, security men patrolling the corridors, attendants talking in hushed tones - you could be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled into a G8 summit.