Cinema – Sophie Neville

‘My Take’ interviews the author Sophie Neville

Can you tell us when and where you were born?

I arrived two weeks early and was born at home, delivered by my great-grandmother in my parents’ cottage, the Old Bakery in the village of Clent in Worcestershire in 1960. Tell Laura I Love Her and Save the Last Dance For Me were top of the charts.

Sophie Neville as a child ~ photo: Martin Neville

Can you give us background on your parents and what they did for a living?

My father worked in Press and Publicity at BIP where he launched fibre glass boat manufacturing by setting up an experimental workshop in Covent Garden. My mother married on her 21^st birthday just before graduating from RADA. She was in the same year as Susannah York and the playwright Hugh Whitmore, but took a break in her career to get married and have us children.

Painting with my father on the shore of Coniston Water

Do you have any siblings?

I have three little sisters, so I was never lonely. Perry had a small part in the classic HTV series Arthur of The Britains and later played the teacher in Bernard’s Watch. Tamzin had leading roles in six television productions playing Elka in Arthur of the Britons, Anthea in The Phoenix and the Carpet and Linda in Love in a Cold Climate with Judi Dench and Michael Aldridge playing her parents.

My mother playing mother and Tamzin as Anthea in *The Phoenix and the Carpet*

My adopted sister Mary-Dieu suffered from polio as a baby so was in hospital a lot or on crutches, but appeared as a film extra in Abide With Me and the wartime drama Tenko, which she enjoyed.

Where were you schooled and were you academic?

I am a visual learner and could have gone to art college but concentrated on English, history and geography, going on to read anthropology with ethnography and psychology, subjects I draw on continuously as a writer. The most useful subject I took at university was cartography. All the best books contain maps and I draw my own.

Swallows and Amazons map of Coniston Water

Did you have any early career aspirations and did you go onto further education?

I went to the University of Durham, where I made wonderful friends including Alastair Fothergill who produced Our Planet and most of Sir David Attenborough’s iconic serials, along with a number of wildlife movies for Disney. I missed my viva – an oral aspect of my Finals – because I opted to go filming in the Charmague, but would you turn down that opportunity? We went on to film in Kenya and recce locations in Zaire and Uganda.

Alastair Fothergill making ‘Wildlife on One’ at Lake Nakuru ~ photo: Sophie Neville

Where did your creative flair and love for acting and writing come from?

We are all born to create. There are times when I have been tempted to take a more managerial path but I feel called to write, so that’s what I do.

Sophie Neville with some of the books she has written

Did you come from a creative family?

My father loved design concepts and developed products with his team at work, notably the cable tie. You find them everywhere now. My mother has always held a burning desire to act and brought out a children’s book in the 1980s, which is still in print. I feel she has more talent as a writer than an actress but she loves the social aspect of filming. At the age of 85, she appeared in Top Boy and was involved in filming The Repair Shop when they visited Denville Hall, the actors’ retirement home in November 2025.

Daphne Neville and Christopher Plumber in Diagnosis Murder — Daphne Neville with Christopher Lee in ‘Diagnosis Murder’

How did you manage to get your lucky break as an actress?

I was able to play the piano. I took my music along, practiced seven or eight hours a day, and did what I was told.

Sophie Neville playing Elieen Brown in the BBC adaptation of ‘Cider with Rosie’

Can you recall your first acting credit?

As a child, I appeared as a film extra in classic drama serials such as The Changes and Arthur of the Britons but gained my first acting credit as Eileen Brown in the BBC play Cider With Rosie, adapted by Hugh Whitmore. I had my hair chopped off for my first movie, and went on to act in a few more productions.

Sophie Neville having her hair cut on location for the part of Titty Walker in 1973

Your C.V. covers several areas including behind the scenes television and film related roles. Let’s start at the beginning of your career and find out what inspired you to become an actress and did you have any early influences?

I wasn’t so much inspired as simply offered an amazing opportunity, which is exceptionally rare. I was invited to an interview to appear in an adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s book, Swallows and Amazons when I was aged twelve. Of all the parts in all the books, I was asked if I would like to play Titty. How could I turn that down? I loved the Lake District, enjoyed camping and was happy in a boat. I did it for fun.

Swallows and Amazons is a classic family film released in 1974. Can you tell us about your experiences working on the film? What are your overriding memories and what does the film mean to you personally?

It proved hard work and involved a lot of hanging around in the cold, but I loved the period aspect and thrived spending time outdoors on location. Filming on Derwentwater was amazing. We had our own desert island, pine trees to climb and a houseboat to attack. Making Ronald Fraser walk the plank was fun. He did it rather well.

Cormorant Island - Sophie Neville as Titty filming 'Swallows and Amazons' 1973 — Sophie Neville as Titty on Cormorant Island ~ photo: Daphne Neville

You’ve written two books on your experiences of working on Swallows and Amazons: The Making of Swallows and Amazons and The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons. What made you decide to write two books on the film and were your memories still fresh and vivid when recounting the stories?

I had the amazing cine footage that my parents took behind-the-scenes on location that they BBC put on a DVD when they made Countryfile and Big Screen Britain, presented by Ben Fogle. I’d already set up my own publishing company and was employing a formatter who suggested we brought The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons as a multi-media ebook, including this unique footage and my parents photos (that you would never be allowed to take on location these days). This did so well as an ebook that it was picked up by the publisher Classic TV Press. They gained permission to add official stills from the film and brought it out as a large paperback with colour plates entitled The Making of Swallows and Amazons. It was then bought by The Lutterworth Press who re-designed it in 2017.

How were your books on Swallows and Amazons received by fans and critics?

Each edition had been received with huge enthusiasm. I had terrific publicity in the Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail and am hugely appreciative of all the book reviews left by readers online. I didn’t want to spoil the magic of the film but nearly fifty years have passed since it first came out and fans like to visit the locations. I’ve included maps and all the information needed to find them.

Can I ask your take on the film’s fanbase, how it’s regularly shown and embraced by new audiences? What do you think is the film’s overall appeal?

Being a family classic, as you say, it has become generational. People who originally watched it in the cinema in 1974 want their children and children’s children to see it. When an audience of 250 piles into a cinema to see the re-mastered version, you can appreciate what an amazing landscape movie it is. The humour is drawn out when you watch it with an audience, which is wonderful and you emerge from the auditorium feeling elated.

You’ve appeared in several classic television serials and programmes: Crossroads, The Two Ronnies and Cider With Rosie. What are your memories from working on those shows and did that exposure lead to other opportunities?

I didn’t realise that Ronnie Baker directed the Two Ronnies, or at least the Charley Farley and Piggy Malone serial with in it. He inspired me to direct comedy. I adored working with him and only wish we’d done more together. He had me for an informal interview on location one lunchtime. I blew it, but did end up directing a bit of comedy at the BBC.

Ronnie Corbet with Sophie Neville filming ‘The Two Ronnies’

6. Who have you enjoyed working with the most in front and behind the camera? Have any of your colleagues acted as mentors and have you gained greater knowledge about the industry from any of them?

So many! Suzanna Hamilton and Anthony Calf are the actors I’d want to work with again. They brought out the best in me. Claude Whatham was the mentor who advised me before I went for my first interview to work in television production. He said, ‘Filming is all about using your time well.’ Writers are wonderful about sharing every tiny piece of knowledge but my own formatter Lisa Skullard mentored me on new technology, for which I am grateful.

7. What made you decide to make the transition from an actress to a behind-the scenes member?

Even as a child I was more interested in the logistics and production side of making dramas.

Can you talk about some of the projects you’ve worked on including being an assistant floor manager of EastEnders, My Family and Other Animals, Bluebell, Doctor Who along with your directing and producing credits?

I was very fortunate to work in BBC Drama Series and Serials at the very zenith of production in the 1980s. It was such a privilege to work on My Family and Other Animals as it was made entirely on location in Corfu. I helped cast the little boy and did the research, interviewing Gerald Durrell, who came out on location with his lovely wife Lee Durrell. I carried out the historical and film research on Miss BlueBell’s life and met her in Paris where we filmed one summer. I also worked on the zoo vet series One by One, and became a location manager on Rockcliffe’s Babies. Producing my own series, INSET, shot in Cumbria, Wiltshire and Sheffield was unforgettable. I had such a good team and we were in a position to do ground-breaking work.

Sophie Neville not at 10 Downing Street but on the lot at Elstree Studios — At Elstree Studios for the BBC Drama Directors’ studio course. I am wearing a green sweater.

You are an award-winning writer with several books to your credit. What made you decide to become a published author and of the books you’ve written, which are you most proud of and why?

Writing Funnily Enough was a huge challenge. I felt I was laying my whole life out before the world. It’s a dark comedy. As all the stories expose my friends and family, I opted to self publish so that I could make changes. My brother-in-law was working in Libya and I didn’t want him to be shot. In the end I was only asked to change the name of a town and the names of three characters. I’ve changed them back now. My brother-in-law now regularly talks about his book on Libya on Sky Television.

Funnily Enough – the paperback with black and white illustrations

9. How does the creative writing process work for you? How long does it take you to prepare and plan a book and do you have a set time for writing?

I need at least two years to write, edit and develop a novel, even though I put in about eight hours work a day. I often start at 6.30am and am a complete work-aholic. Only other writing, such as articles, and inevitable admin get in the way. My husband has to do the shopping.

Ride the Wings of Morning by Sophie Neville — A travel book with a difference

We’ve spoken about the many areas and capacities you’ve worked in: Acting, a floor manager, a researcher, producer, director and a published author. Do you have a favourite discipline and if so, why?

I loved every aspect of directing – felt as if I was flying – but you need huge stamina and total application. My husband needs me at home, so writing is an easier career path to follow although I travel quite a bit giving talks and conducting research.

11. Away from your creative endeavours, can we discuss some of your other loves and interests: Anthropology, your love of animals, charity work and archery.

My family have kept tame otters for almost forty years, hand-rearing abandoned babies and lecturing on conservation. I am now Patron of the UK Wild Otter Trust. I emigrated to southern Africa in 1992 and ended up volunteering on a number of projects, helping to set up a charity to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic. One million people still die from AIDS every year. We continue to run HIV prevention and awareness in schools, employing a nurse to care for those on anti-retrovirals and keep an eye on the orphans, many of whom are in their teens.

I learnt to shoot with a long bow on the set of Swallows and Amazons. This was pivotable as it led to a leading role in an adventure movie, The Copter Kids, with Sophie Ward and Vic Armstrong. The sport also introduced me to my husband. He was Chairman of the archery society my parents belonged to.

Sophie with her husband on the coast of South Africa

Can I also ask you what made you decide to emigrate to South Africa and can you tell us about your 12-years living there?

You’ll have to read my books, ‘Funnily Enough’ and ‘Ride the Wings of Morning’. Every details lies within the pages.

Final Questions to Finish Interview

1. What’s your favourite past time? Walking along beaches

2. What’s your favourite film and why? I have to admit that Swallows and Amazons (1974) is a nostalgia trip for me. It’s been described as ‘mesmerizing’.

3. Who’s your favourite novelist? Karen Rosario Ingerslev

4. If you could have had a different profession what would it have been? Mother

5. Who has been your greatest inspiration in life? Jesus

6. Do you read a newspaper? If so which one? The Telegraph

7. What’s your favourite food? Black cherries

8. Who is your favourite cultural icon? Virginia McKenna

9. What’s your favourite curse word and why? I try not to swear

10. What’s your favourite place or holiday destination? The Okavango Delta

11. Who is your favourite music artist and what’s your favourite album? Cat Stevens greatest hits

12. What’s your greatest achievement to date? Publishing Funnily Enough and finishing my historical novels.

13. How do you wish to be remembered? As an inspiration to others.

Sophie Neville is interviewed by New Media Film Festival’s director Susan Johnston.

Having won a Top Three Scripts award at the New Media Film Festival in Los Angeles, Sophie was asked about her screenwriting.

Can you tell us a little about how you got started?

I began writing for BBC Television at the age of twenty-two. It was a disaster. Instead of presenting a polished script, I produced a rough draft that I thought we could develop in the rehearsal room. Developed it was – by Nicholas Parsons, one of the stars. He rewrote his own soliloquy, taking all the credit and a substantial fee. I’ve welcomed harsh feedback from beta readers ever since.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming a writer? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?

Instant success with my first book was challenging. My illustrated memoir FUNNILY ENOUGH was at number 1 in Humor on Amazon Kindle in the UK (after free copies had been downloading at the rate of 250 a minute) but I had self-published, and had no team support. Instead pressing the go-button with a PR firm and marketing team, I was weigh-laid by the small stuff. Writers need skilled networks in place, especially in the age of New Media.

Funnily Enough – the paperback has black & white illustrations

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I began my career in television by working with children. I could see the potential and it gave me a niche, but the hazards were numerous.

A teacher opened one scene for me by saying, ‘Some people believe the world is flat.’
A five-year-old called out, ‘No, but it’s not! It’s bumpy.’
The mistake was that we had too much camera judder – my cameraman had dissolved in hysterics. A lesson learned: I used a tripod when capturing the opinions of eleven-year-olds. The results were so amusing that they were repeatedly endlessly when Daytime TV was launched in the UK.

Sophie Neville directing a sequence with BBC cameraman Lorraine Smith

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I felt compelled to write A BOY CALLED FREDDIE when I discovered Freddie Mercury, escaped from the violent 1964 Zanzibar revolution at the age of seventeen. If a year older, the man who became an international rock idol would have been forced into slave labour on coconut plantations. As it was, his family fled to London where his talent flourished and found stardom. Born Farrokh Bulsara, he became known as Freddie at school. The story of how he chose the name Mercury involves NASA but is only revealed in my screenplay – right at the end. Freddie’s father, Bomi, was a Parsee who worked as a cashier at the law courts where my Great-uncle Ronnie served as Chief Justice. I’ve been able to draw on my cousin’s stories of life in the heady days before a convicted rapist from Uganda brought mayhem to the archipelago of tropical islands, forcing the Sultan to escape by sea, along with my aunts and a plucky English women who had set up free and fair elections a month before mass murder broke out akin the movie HOTEL RWANDA (2004).

I’m also developing THE MEETING HOUSE, an exceptional true story from WWII about an East African serviceman I met who was airlifted out of a POW camp in Japan by his boyhood friend just before America bombed Tokyo. They landed in Silesia in the snow, which he’d only seen previously on the peak of Kilimanjaro, where he was born.

Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?

Film fans love to hear about disasters that befell us while making the EMI movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ before the advent of CGI. I was persuaded to write THE MAKING of SWALLOWS and AMAZONS, now published by The Lutterworth Press.

'The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville' — Editions of ‘The Making of Swallows & Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’

Although it’s been screened on television more times than any other British movie, it remains a classic that some have never heard of. ‘Why are you here?’ I was asked at the 50th Anniversary screening.

‘I’m giving a couple of talks on how the film was made,’ I muttered.

‘How would you know how it was made?’

‘I was there.’ In almost every scene. ‘I worked on it.’

‘You couldn’t have been,’ the man insisted.

I could only take this as a compliment, but he looked aggrieved.

Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Kit Seymour setting up for BBC Breakfast — Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Kit Seymour in Cumbria

StudioCanal also thought I was an imposter as Dame Virginia McKenna had the star billing. Then the marketing executives watched the movie. When the DVD was launched they had me hosting Q&As at twelve cinemas and provided footage for all manner of TV programmes from CINEMANICS with David Wood the screenwriter to BBC BREAKFAST with my co-star Suzanna Hamilton.

Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Kit Seymour on BBC Breakfast

I’m currently working on an inspiring comic tale: BANANA MAN, THE TRUE STORY about Phil-the-Geek, a shy but good looking physicist, who increased the national consumption of bananas by 20% after exploiting a supermarket deal and making 8 pence on every bunch he bought – and gave away. His story hit international News headlines and won him the heart of a beautiful girl. I was her bridesmaid. Last week, their daughters have just graduated from Yale and Harvard, respectively. I intend to present the family with a fruit bowl.

Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer”? Please share a story or example for each.

Focus, forbearance and a five am start to the writing day are key, but I often come up with vital twists while soaking in the bath tub. I guess this is because my brain works best at periods of least resistance. The problem is that I end up groping for a notebook with wet hands.

Please share a story or example for each.

Personality, productivity, perseverance, patience, and a broken heart. We need to touch the audience with humor, in small ways that are easily identifiable. I have a scene in one novel about a man on the cusp of falling in love who loses his car keys in the heat of the day and is left feeling a fool in front of the girl he wants to impress. It’s based on the time I found my ignition keys with my feet. They had fallen into sand beneath the door of my car when I was driving through Botswana. The relief following this small miracle is etched deep in my soul.

In your opinion, were you a “natural born writer” or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?

I would describe myself as a ‘natural born story-teller’. Having a visual brain, I became a television director, attracted to Mike Leigh’s emerging art of improvisation on film. When on the converted BBC Drama Director’s Studio Course, I gave my actors the task of flirting whilst erecting a tent. It worked exceptionally well, except that they enjoyed the exercise so much it went on a little long. I should have provided them with earpieces to bring the story to a timely end.

We all need to hone the craft of writing. I had the amazing opportunity of assisting on drama serials such as ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Eastenders’. Looking back, I could have become a BBC script editor. Instead, I’ve spent the last twenty years attending Curtis Brown Creative novel writing courses and acquiring the art of writing about love under the Romantic Novelists Association’s New Writers’ Scheme. Entering writing competitions has proved an incentive and the wins help build my CV. The competition is such that we need to build a pedigree and provide consumer confidence.

Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?

I write true-life stories set in the 20th century, so draw on any memoirs or biographies I can find. I love amusing autobiographical novels, such as Fran Hill’s trilogy on life as a teenager in foster care. She is a master craftsman and a truly inspirational writer. I feed off her infectious humour poured out to the world on Substack.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Forced marriage needs to be recognized as conjugal slavery and made illegal worldwide. Female circumcision (FGM) needs to stop before more lives are lost to infection. I have no personal experience, but feel we must all speak out to support those unable to do so.

How can our readers further follow you online?

Instagram @sophienevilleauthor

X – Sophie_Neville

Facebook sophie.nevlle.3 on Follow my Facebook author page

Susan Johnston can be found on IMDb

Sophie is currently a double-finalist in the Page Turner Awards

‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ – a book review

Chloe Williams has just written from Ontario in Canada, to say, “Some books entertain. Some enlighten. And some, like The Making of Swallows and Amazons and The Secrets of Filming Swallows & Amazons, manage to bottle something impossibly rare: the feeling of looking back through a child’s eyes and realizing it was all real; the lake, the sails, the laughter and somehow, you were part of it.”

“These aren’t just behind-the-scenes diaries. They’re sun-dappled time machines. Your voice, both in memory and in your original childhood notes, is a miracle of tone: witty, observant, buoyant, and deeply human.”

Of the original movie, she wrote: “What A Christmas Story is to snowglobes and childhood winters, Swallows and Amazons (1974) is to summers on the water and you’ve preserved that magic with charm, heart, and astonishing detail.

“What makes these books unforgettable isn’t just nostalgia. It’s how alive they are. We feel the smell of old sails and camera tape, the blur of location shoots, the uncertainty and excitement of being a child caught in a grown-up world of filmmaking yet utterly at home in it. We meet legends like Virginia McKenna not as distant stars, but as fellow travelers in the adventure. And it’s a joy.”

The Making of Swallows and Amazons seems to resonate with:

Readers of nostalgic memoirs that celebrate childhood, nature, and storytelling
Adults who are captivated by the lake-country magic of Arthur Ransome
Film lovers who cherish insider views of filmmaking
Educators and parents seeking real-life adventure stories for young readers
Fans of Call the Midwife, The Durrells, and 84, Charing Cross Road

“The joy and authenticity in your books mirror exactly why Swallows & Amazons (1974) still has such a hold on people’s hearts. The memoirs don’t just tell the story of making the film, they recreate it, letting readers smell the lake air and see the magic unfold through a child’s eyes.”

The audiobook of 'The Making of Swallows and Amazons' — The new audiobook

I’m hoping the audiobook will also amuse readers. It’s now available on all the online platforms including Audible, where isis being offered for free on their membership trial.

Letters from the Lake District written whilst making the movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) that was broadcast on RTE over Easter and is now streaming on Amazon Prime

Whilst clearing out my mother’s house recently we found a few letters written by my parents to my great aunt in June 1973. They report on the progress of making the original EMI movie of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in the Lake District.

Sophie Neville as Titty Walker with Stephen Grendon as the Boy Roger and Simon West playing Captain John Walker on Derwentwater — Stephen Grendon as the Boy Roger, Sophie Neville as Able-seaman Titty and Simon West playing Captain John Walker beside Derwentwater in 1973 ~ photo: Daphne Neville

My mother had been given headed writing paper designed for members of the production to use on location by Brian Doyle, who managed the film publicity.

It looks as if my father used his children’s felt pens.

It is interesting to learn how much my sisters earned as film extras when they appeared in the scenes shot at Rio (Bowness on Windermere).

Kit Seymour and Jane Grendon watch the filming on the jetty whilst Tamzin and Perry Neville eat ice creams with the one man in Cumbria willing to have a short-back-and-sides. You can just see the period cars parked in the background

They made £5 a day, which was the same amount as the green parrot. I calculated that those of us with leading parts, who he describes as ‘the 6 children’ earned £7.50 a day. This was probably because we were only meant to be on set for a couple of hours. As Dad mentions, I effectively worked twelve-hour days but seemed to be thriving.

Until reading this letter, I didn’t know that the movie (or ‘picture’ as Mum called it) was originally due to be released in time for the Christmas holidays. It was launched in ABC Cinemas but not until April. You can read about the film’s release and premiere at what was then the ABC in Shaftesbury Avenue on my website here.

You can read more in ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’, which is now available in paperback, as an ebook and audiobook narrated by me, Sophie Neville.

What are your favourite lines from the 1974 film ‘Swallows and Amazons?’ Screenwriter Brian Sibley’s hilarious Q&A with the cast of the classic movie made in location in the Lake District 50 years ago.

On 6th April, the original cast of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) gathered to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the film’s release in London with David Wood who wrote the script.

It was unexpectedly amusing as can be seen in this recording kindly brought to us by Lee Pressmen and volunteers of the Cinema Museum where the original movie was shown before we were invited on stage by Brian Sibley.

The cast of 'Swallows and Amazons' (1974) gathered for the 50th Anniversary - photo Lee Pressman of the Cinema Museum — Brian Sibley talks to Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton, Sophie Neville, Sten Grendon, Kit Seymour and screenwriter David Wood – photo Lee Pressman of the Cinema Museum

As soon as self-confessed ‘super fans’ arrived, the venue began to buzz with the question, “What was your favourite line from the film?”

“They’ve got India rubber necks.”

“They’re girls!”

“… must be a retired pirate. He’s working on his devilish plans.”

Sten Grendon, who played Roger, said it was undoubtedly: “I said – ‘Yes’.”

I’ve always liked: “X marks the spot where they ate six missionaries.” Although I often use, “Here we are, intrepid explorers making the first ever voyage into unchartered waters,” I think “I’ve got her. I’ve got her!” is the most appealing.

One viewer on Instagram claimed their favourite line was: “Titty that way.”

What is your favourite line?

Do add your line to the Comments below.

A recording of Brian’s interview with the screenwriter David Wood can be watched on this website here.

Photos of the event can be found on an earlier post on this website here.

For those who couldn’t make it to the Cinema Museum in London, here is a brief profile:

Speaking about 50th Anniversary of the classic film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on Radio Calon this Thursday 29th August at 9.00pm

Sophie Neville spoke to Luke Durnell on Screen Facts, his hour of music from the big screen, on Thursday 29th August at 9.00pm.

Catch up on recent Radio Calon broadcasts via their website – with further details on how to listen here

The full ‘ship’s log’ relating to the adventures we had making the film can be found in the illustrated paperback published by The Lutterworth Press or ebook entitled ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons’. This can be downloaded this onto your phone and used as a guide book if you can grab a chance to visit the locations.

David Wood who wrote the screenplay of the classic film ‘Swallows & Amazons’ (1974) interviewed by Brian Sibley at the Cinema Museum

On 6th April 2024, the author and screenwriter Brian Sibley interviewed award-winning writer David Wood OBE at the Cinema Museum for the 50th Anniversary of the release of the classic film ‘Swallows and Amazons’. This can now be viewed on YouTube. I read a special letter from Dame Virginia McKenna towards the end.

Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton & Sten Grendon with David Wood and Claude Whatham in 1973

Until I listened to this interview I didn’t know that Peter Hammond was originally going to direct the film or that Bernard Delfont was behind financing the movie at EMI. He also brought out ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ in 1974 and ‘The Deer Hunter’ in 1978.

Other secrets are revealed. Mrs Ransome (who held the rights) wanted all the Swallows to have blonde hair and blue eyes.

I’ll feature the Q&A with the cast on another blog in a few days time. Do sign up so you don’t miss it.

You can watch an excellent recording of Brian Sibley’s Q&A with the cast and David Wood on this website here and find photos of the event here.

Brian said he drew his knowledge from ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’, which is now available on audible.

A copy of the paperback is currently being auctioned to raise funds to help a little boy called Max who is very ill. You can see how the bidding is going on jumblebee

Channeling Titty’s unique style with the help of costumes designed by Emma Porteous.

Sophie Neville and Sten Grendon in Swallows and Amazons 1974

When I played Titty Walker in 1973, I tried to capture something of the style of the 1920s and portray her as the nine year-old girl in the illustrations Arthur Ransome’s drew in his book Swallows and Amazons. Although I shared the Scots/Irish/English ancestry of Titty Altounyan, a real little girl who the character had been based on, I lacked her Armenian heritage and dark, bobbed hair. However, Mrs Ransome had insisted that in the film Titty was to be played by ‘an English Rose’. Dame Virginia McKenna had accepted the part of our mother, who grew up in Australia, it seemed right that one of her children might have fair hair.

Virginia McKenna and Sophie Neville on Peel Island ~ photo: Daphne Neville

My Scottish grandmother would have been aged sixteen in 1929. She loved clothes and had great style. People say that I look like my mother but I bear a greater resemblance to Granny in her youth.

I’d inherited my father’s long legs, which made me a couple of inches taller than Simon West who played my elder brother, John. Since this would clearly look wrong on screen, I was encouraged to devise ways of disguising my height, but this was difficult to do in boats.

Sophie Neville as Titty and Simon West as John

We often had to sit on the ground in Swallows and Amazons. The long legs needed to be folded up, exposed as they were by the short dresses or divided skirts designed by Emma Porteous.

I remember meeting Emma at a fitting at Angels Costumes on Shaftesbury Avenue in London when I tried on the original silk dress worn for our arrival at Holly Howe. It came with a straw hat similar to one I’d worn as a child.

Simon West, Stephen Grendon, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville as the Walker children dressed as they arrived at Holly Howe at the start of their holiday in the Lake District ~ photo: Daphne Neville

I had no idea how well known Emma Porteous was to become. She designed the costumes for the James Bond movies, along with Aliens and Judge Dread. Finding the boy’s school uniforms must have been a bit dull for one so talented but she found elegant vintage dresses for Dame Virginia McKenna who looks elegant in every scene.

Stephen Grendon, Simon West, Virginia McKenna, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville, trying not to look as tall as she was in 1973 ~ photo: Daphne Neville

Emma had most of my clothes made up for me. These included a brushed cotton nighty, worn at Holly Howe, pajamas for camping, and a swimming costume with little legs. Mine was far from glamorous being red, wooly and apt to ride up in the most unflattering manner. I was given a smart yellow coat to wear in the train, but it was too hot in the compartment and, although pretty, it was never seen in the finished film. It had buttons in the shape of flowers and may have been an original garment from 1929.

Sten Grendon, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville

The silk dress revealed my ‘passion killers’. These navy blue elasticated gym knickers were an item of clothing requested by Claude Whatham, the film director, who remembered wearing long underwear himself. He insisted that I tucked my dress into these voluminous knickers, which the crew called ‘passion killers.’ This seemed natural as it was common practice. I’d done it myself, as had the Altounyan girls, but the tucking in became difficult to maintain and my legs were too gangly to warrant exposure. The knickers contained a hanky, used on two occasions. Growing up in the 1960’s – with a Scottish grandmother – I’d keep a hanky in my own over-knickers so found this quite natural. Even aged eleven my school uniform listed gym knickers (brown) and underpants.

Emma admitted to my mother that the dresses she’d had made for me would have been longer in 1929. She chose shorter, ‘out-grown’ hemlines as a nod to ‘Seventies fashion but these made my skinny legs look even more alarming.

Mum liked the pale yellow dress with scalloped detail. I didn’t then, but do now, although I don’t have the right colouring wear either yellow or green.

Simon West and Sophie Neville in Swallows and Amazons (1974) — Simon West and Sophie Neville on Peel Island in 1973

By the time I was pretending to be Robinson Crusoe, the yellow dress had been paired with a grey cardigan buttoned up to my neck for warmth. The quality of the material gave it a more natural, scruffy look than the white spotty dress with a Peter Pan collar. This looked a bit new for Titty, although it was much like the dresses Granny made for me, by hand, when I was aged nine. There was a little bit of smocking below the shoulders. I rather preferred Susan’s low-waisted gingham dress.

Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville reading BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS IF NOT DUFFERS WONT DROWN — Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville

Did anyone find jackets for us to wear out on the water? No! We froze but the flimsy costumes we wore sailing to the island do give them impression of an idyllic summer holiday.

Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Simon West sailing Swallow in 1973

Emma only ever made one visit to the location, early on when Dame Virginia McKenna was on set. Our clothes were looked after by the wardrobe master Terry Smith who kept them crumpled up in suitcases rather than on a costume rail. He had no assistant or dressers except for my mother who helped him fit the film extras with costumes and had me wriggling into mine.

Terry Smith, Sophie Neville and Daphne Neville on location in the Lake District — Wardrobe Master Terry Smith with Sophie Neville and her mother Daphne Neville outside the Make-up caravan on location near Keswick in Cumbria

Apart from the school shoes I arrived in, we wore white(ish) gym shoes, which were forever getting wet. I would have preferred gumboots but the Swallows wore ‘sand shoes’ in all the books, so that was that. Terry dried them with the help of a gas heater, which once leaked dangerously in the Routemaster bus that was used as our dressing room. There could have been an explosion.

People often ask what my favourite costume was. This undoubtedly consisted of the floral blouse and dark divided skirt, which equated with the illustrations in the books. I went to such an old-fashioned convent so was used to wearing a tailored divided skirt on the school games field and found it always hung well. Mum buttoned up the collar so that I could wear a vest underneath when we were sailing. It was in this Tomboy-ish outfit that I discovered the treasure and bordered the houseboat. Ultimately this style sold the movie, although my blouse was painted an alarming shade of pink on the film poster designed by Arnaldo Putzu. I got away lightly. He depicted Virginia McKenna in orange.

Sophie Neville as Titty in 'Swallows and Amazons' (1974) by the film poster artist Arnaldo Putzu — Sophie Neville in ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) by the film poster artist Arnaldo Putzu

I was asked recently if I was able to keep any of my costumes. I was told they would be used in other films and wonder if they could still be at Angels Costumes.

I do still have the dress I wore to the premier, along with a pink gingham prairie dress that my mother wore to the wrap party that has shot back into fashion.

The Neville girls off to the premier of Swallows and Amazons in 1974

My mother wore Donny Osmond caps on location. One of these sunk to the bottom of Derwentwater, but I wear a purple velvet one of the era. It should probably be on display at the V&A but I find it useful in the rain. The film producer, Richard Pilbrow, sent me Swallow’s flag. It is the very best of accessories anyone could wish for.

The navy blue woolen hat that I wore to the original sailing audition has been attacked by moths but was stuffed into a cupboard with other memorabilia from the film. I’ll bring as much as I can along to Windermere Jetty for the 50th Anniversary of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on 29th and 30th June 2024. Join us there if you can.

‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons‘ is available as an ebook here, while the audio book of The Making of Swallows and Amazons, narrated by me, Sophie Neville, can be found on all the usual online platforms. Let me know how you get on.

Speaking about Richard Pilbrow at the National Theatre

Swallows and Amazons (1974)

Richard Pilbrow told me that the most difficult thing he ever had to do was to persuade Mrs Ransome to grant him the rights to make ‘Swallows and Amazons’ into a movie.

But he did. He found funding from EMI Films and asked Dame Virginia McKenna to play Mother.

Virginia McKenna at Bank Ground Farm in 1973 ~ photo: Daphne Neville

Neville Thompson put together a great crew

The Production Team on 'Swallows and Amazons' in 1973 — Second Assistant Terry Needham, Associate Producer Neville C Thompson and Production Manager Graham Ford with the unit motoroller on a sunny day in June 1973

with Denis Lewiston as DoP,

Dennis Lewiston, director of Photography on 'Swallows and Amazons' ~photo:Richard Pilbrow — Dennis Lewiston, director of Photography on ‘Swallows and Amazons’ ~photo:Richard Pilbrow

the Oscar winning set dresser Ian Whittaker,

The local fisherman, Ian Whittaker, Simon Holland and Gareth Tandy ~ photo: Daphne Neville

and the avant guard director Claude Whatham fresh from making ‘That’ll Be the Day’ with David Essex and Ringo Starr.

Claude Whatham with the children he eventually cast as the Swallows

Filming on location in the Lake District wasn’t easy.

Producer Richard Pilbrow with Neville C Thompson on Derwentwater in the Lake District in 1973 — Producer Richard Pilbrow and Production Associate Neville C Thompson on Derwentwater in the Lake District in 1973

How they lit the scenes on Peel Island I do not know.

Virginia McKenna with Sophie Neville in Swallows and Amazons — Dame Virginia McKenna as Mother with Sophie Neville as Titty Walker

It rained so hard that Simon Holland had to order black drapes from Pinewood Studios so they could shoot the night scenes in Mrs Batty’s dusty barn.

But the film worked because Richard had insisted that the children playing the lead characters could sail.

Filming Swallows and Amazons (1974) from a camera pontoon

The film didn’t make much at the box office but it worked well on television.

Sophie Neville as Titty Walker in Swallows and Amazons — Sophie Neville as Titty Walker in the ITV trailer for the movie of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ when it was first shown on television in 1977

I’m told it has been broadcast more than any other British Film. Having a U certificate it has allowed many parents a lie-in on Sunday mornings.

Swallows and Amazons 1974 - Simon West, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Sten Grendon in Secret Harbour — Simon West, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Sten Grendon in Secret Harbour

Families assure me that they have watched the VHS or DVD thirty times or more. StudioCanal remastered it for cinemascope Blu-ray and we filled the big northern cinemas.

Sophie Neville as Titty with Suzanna Hamilton as Susan — Sophie Neville with Suzanna Hamilton

The good news is that, fifty years after the premier in Shaftesbury Avenue,

Sophie Neville and Suzanna Hamilton with Ronald Fraser in Swallows and Amazons

we are restoring the dinghies: Swallow and Amazon for families to sail.

I wrote up the diary I kept on location as a twelve year-old. Richard sent me the flags.

At the 50th Anniversary celebrations this April a man in the audience stood up to say that as a young doctor, he was working at a hospital on Good Friday. As he walked around he found peace in every ward, sick children snuggled up and happy. They were all watching ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on television. Richard’s gift.

Swallows and Amazons (1974) sepia film poster (c) StudioCanal — Arnaldo Putzu’s poster for the EMI film Swallows and Amazons (1974)

Richard and Molly’s dream became an inspiration to many.

Here you can see Richard and Molly with Claude Whatham, Neville, Fred, Abigail, Suzanna Hamilton and me at the sailing audition held in Burnham-on- Crouch. Simon West who was cast as Captain John went on to win the Optimist British Championships and represented the UK overseas.

Richard and Molly Pilbrow, Claude Watham, Fred Pilbrow, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton, Abigail Pilbrow

Sophie Neville in Hampshire Life magazine

The April issue of Hampshire Life magazine has a four-page feature celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the release of the original movie ‘Swallows & Amazons’ (1974) in cinemas, which you can now read online here.

The link with Hampshire is that my father grew up in Lymington and learnt to sail on the Solent. I met my husband Simon at an archery match in Worcestershire and was amazed to hear he lived on the Lymington River. I came down to the South Coast just before we got engaged but didn’t move in until after we returned from our honeymoon in Spain.

I’ve lived in Hampshire for twenty years now, give talks at the Southampton Boat Show and meet the Nancy Blackett when she sails down to Buckler’s Hard on the Beaulieu River where my parents spent their honeymoon.