A handbook for aspiring actors by two of the best-known names in the British theatre and television Written by two of the best-known actors in the country, this short book offers practical advice and do's and don'ts to anyone thinking of taking up acting. Both authors are passionate about actor training, know the profession inside out and, as they say in their intro, have more than a hundred years' experience between them Writing alternate paragraphs throughout the book - and frequently contradicting each other - they cover the whole gamut from * Applying to drama school * Auditioning * Training * Working in unpaid productions * Doing 'bits' on telly etc etc and on up to * Getting an agent and * Enduring a West End run - should you be so lucky. Published in slimline format (cf. NHB's Actions), this handy but pleasantly unstuffy manual is essential reading - or an essential gift -for any aspiring actor.

Arriman has decided to marry. His wife must be a witch of the darkest powers - To find the most fiendish, he holds a spell-casting competition. Glamorous Olympia performs the Symphony of Death and conjures up a thousand plague-bearing rats. The magic of gentle Belladonna, the white witch, goes hopelessly wrong. She produces perfumed flowers instead of snakes. Bats roost in her hair instead of becoming blood-sucking vampires. Belladonna longs to be an evil enchantress - but how?

Lancashire bootmaker Henry Horatio Hobson (Charles Laughton) keeps a tight rein on his three daughters, until his eldest, Maggie (Brenda De Banzie), marries his assistant Willie Mossop (John Mills) and sets him up in his own bootmaking firm. To Hobson's consternation, Willie has soon become his father-in-law's main business rival.

When Irene Spencer meets Vera Small at her daughter Lesley's wedding reception, they embark upon a correspondence that is quite unlike any other in the history of letter-writing. Both Irene and Vera are happily widowed and endowed with errant offspring. They live in a world of church fetes and amateur dramatics, but love nothing more than dipping their pens in the vitriol pot - while remaining the firmest of pen-pals. Feisty, naughty and endlessly funny, Ladies of Letters provides a hilarious insight into suburban friendships as they really are! 'Quite honestly as I laid the last letter aside I felt a better person for having glimpsed behind the net curtains of Mrs Small's and Mrs Spencer's life.' - Sue Townsend. 1 CD. 1 hr 30 mins.

John Cleese's special introductions to each episode are included in this collection of all 12 TV soundtrack episodes. Welcome to Fawlty Towers, where attentive hotelier Basil Fawlty and his charming wife Sybil will attend to your every need - in your worst nightmare. With hapless waiter Manuel and long-suffering waitress Polly on hand to help, anything could happen during your stay - and probably will. Every episode of both TV series is included in this soundtrack collection: A Touch of Class; The Builders; The Wedding Party; The Hotel Inspectors; Gourmet Night; The Germans; Communication Problems; The Psychiatrist; Waldorf Salad; The Kipper and the Corpse; The Anniversary; Basil the Rat. Co-starring with John Cleese as Basil are Prunella Scales (Sybil), Andrew Sachs (Manuel), Connie Booth (Polly) with a supporting cast including Ballard Berkeley, Bernard Cribbins, Joan Sanderson, Geoffrey Palmer, Nicky Henson and Ken Campbell. Also included are special introductions to each episode by John Cleese.