Sophie Neville films – Sophie Neville

Sophie and the sex symbols – acting in ‘Kidnapped’ opposite Ekkehardt Belle and David McCallum

Sophie Neville in 'Kidnapped'(1978) — Sophie Neville in ‘Kidnapped'(1978)

After being lucky enough to play the heroines in both ‘Swallows and Amazons’ and an adventure movie called ‘The Copter Kids’, a transgender role came my way.

I was asked if I would mind playing a Dutch messenger boy in ‘Kidnapped’ produced by HTV and Tele München Fernseh Produktionsgesellschaft (TMG) in 1978. It was a high profile television series at the time–a TV movie made in glorious locations, but my part was tiny.

Sophie Neville in 'Kidnapped' — Appearing as a messenger boy in ‘Kidnapped’ produced by Patrick Dromgoole for HTV.

I was literally given five minutes notice. They happened to be using a film location in Bisley, near my home in the Cotswolds, and had forgotten to cast the boy who brought a key message to the hero played by the German actor Ekkehardt Belle.

The formidable producer, Patrick Dromgoole, knew my little sister Tamzin had played Elka in ‘Arthur of the Britons’, which he’d produced in 1970. Tamzin had been carried out of a Saxon longboat in Oliver Tobias’s arms and rode over the hills with Michael Gothard.

Tamzin Neville with Oliver Tobias in Arthur of the Britons — Tamzin Neville with Oliver Tobias in ‘Arthur of the Britons’

Looking back, Patrick Droomgool may have asked if Tamzin had been available but any child under sixteen, including his own boys, would have needed a licence to act from the Department of Education. These took at least six weeks to come through. Being seventeen I had no need of one and yet was in the rare position of possessing an Equity card. Did my smart London agent broker the deal? No, my mother did. I knew the Robert Louis Stephenson’s story, put down my A’Level revision and agreed to take on the little part. I had nothing to lose.

The Scottish actor David McCallum was on set, starring in the series as Alan Breck Stewart, the Culloden hero. I had seen ‘The Great Escape’, ‘Colditz’ and knew him as The Invisible Man but had no idea that he had played The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a role that had made him something of a sex symbol in America. He is said to have received more fan mail than any other actor in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s history. He went on to star in ‘Saphire and Steel’ with Joanna Lumley and played the pathologist Dr “Ducky” Mallard in 460 episodes of ‘NICS’, the popular American crime series on CBS-TV. I gather he really disliked being famous. I was surprised to find that at 5’7″ he was shorter than me.

Ekkehardt Belle was only a few years older than me and gorgeous. He played the modest but handsome young David Balfour in search of his rightful inheritance. The ensuing adventure took him to the Netherlands where our scene was set. It was Sophie and the sex symbols – only I was made up to look like a grubby guttersnipe in tattered clothing and looked most unattractive.

My job was to dart across a courtyard and present the hero with an important message sealed with wax and wait for instruction before disappearing down an alley. I had to react to his response but had no lines, nothing to say.

The only difficult thing was coping with the cold. It was freezing and I was dressed in very little. No thermal vest or longjohns were provided. The peculiar item in the left hand side of the photo above is a snow machine. Real snow would not have been unexpected. Patrick Dromgoole was sympathetic and offered moral support as we waited for camera track to be laid.

The scene took a while to shoot thanks to various set ups that included a top shot of me running though the snow as the end credits roll.

Sophie Neville as a messenger boy in ‘Kidnapped’. There were very few female parts in the epic series

‘Kidnapped’ can now be watched on Youtube. It takes you back to the ‘seventies but is pretty clonky. I had to sit through the whole series to find our scenes at the end of the story. You won’t be able to spot me. I recognise the location and can just see myself dashing though an establishing shot . The delivery of the message – once thought so vital – seems to have been cut. I do not appear in close up, I was given no credit. It was all for nothing, apart from the fact that I was paid rather well for a teenager.

The theme music was memorable. You can see me briefly with the ducks in a single shot after Christopher Biggins (playing the Bonnie Prince) sends David McCallum packing. Watch if you dare. It all looks so dated.

To finance my way through university, I registered with an agent in Bournemouth called Lenny and appeared in the background action of about sixty dramas including ‘Tenko’ and ‘Agatha’. You can read a little more about my brief career as a film extra if you scroll down on this website here. It was a good, if humbling, way to gain experience in film and television production, but I never worked with David McCallum again. I can’t remember any more sex symbols but I played a guest at ‘Murder at the Wedding’ with Christopher Biggins, and found myself in Ronnie Barker’s arms. That was fun.

I’ve written more about my adventures in film and television in my book ‘Funnily Enough’, which is now available on Audible and other audio book platforms.

Funnily Enough – the paperback with black and white illustrations

Story strips that accompanied the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ when it was launched in cinemas in 1974

“The graphic novel version of ‘Swallows and Amazons’?” Not exactly. These illustrations made up a five-part “serialisation strip” or “picture strip” provided for cinemas to include in promotional material advertising screenings of the original movie. They were designed to be, “particularly suitable for running on the Children’s Page of your local newspaper for the five days proceeding the film’s premiere.”

These were distributed in April 1974 along with colour photographs, black and white stills and background information on the characters and the actors who played them. The quotes are quite fun: ‘Ronald Fraser has few illusions about either his face or his dramatic abilities. “…it’s the old hooter that does it you know… I read Swallows and Amazons many years ago as a young rip and seem to remember imagining myself as John, leader of the Swallows. Now it turns out that I’m Uncle Jim after all.”‘

Dame Virginia McKenna said how much she loved the books, explaining that she was on a family holiday in Sardinia when she was offered the part of mrs Walker. Her husband, the film actor Bill Travers, accepted on her behalf, knowing she would love working in the Lake District.

Swallows and Amazons story strip featuring Sophie Neville as Titty

The film director, Claude Whatham was also profiled. He had previously made the movie “That’ll Be The Day” with Ringo Starr and David Essex, which was released in cinemas with an LP featuring pop songs of the 1950s.

The LP that accompanied ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was narrated by David Wood, the screenwriter who had adapted Arthur Ransome’s novel. It is rather wonderful to have a recording of Wilfred Joseph’s iconic score. I was amazed to find pictures of myself on the cover.

Specialist advertising material such as this, being over fifty years old, is both rare and collectable. Four jigsaw puzzles and the Puffin paperback were produced, featuring film stills taken on location by Albert C Clarke.

There were puzzels, such as this maze, along with pictures to colour and “spot the difference” blocks, which you can see on an earlier post on this website. All these ideas were probably generated by our wonderful film publicist Brian Doyle. I’ve written about the preview screenings and his work on an eariler post here.

Brian was on location the entire time we were filming, showing around journalists almost every day. You can read the full account of how we made the film in ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’, which is now available as an audiobook, narrated by me, Sophie Neville.

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

We had a full house for the last illustrated talk on The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)

Sophie Neville, who played Titty in the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’, gave a special talk on what is was like to take the lead part in a feature film at the Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster, on Saturday 21st February.

Richard Pilbrow, who produced the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ had been married to Vicky Brinton whose family donated many of the items on display at the former mill, along with a huge poster in the conference room.

Sophie was born in Worcestershire, seven miles from the venue. Her great-grandfather, Canon Hastings Neville, was a curate in Kidderminster and one of his ten sons, the Olympic athlete Dick Neville, pioneered the manufacture of woolen carpets in New Zealand, developing a crossbreed of sheep for the purpose. In 1960, he employed Richard Pugh-Cook who returned to the Midlands and founded the Museum of Carpet thirteen years ago.

About seventy people packed into the conference room to listen to the talk, which enjoyed a great response. “The degree of factual information contained in it is amazing…all those details of 50 years ago conveyed with such clarity and enthusiasm!”

“….such an inspiration to so many people especially younger people who have such different lives these days – another era then, it seems, but one we should not forget.”

“a great success – everyone seemed to have throughly enjoyed your talk, hearing about the other side of filming!”

Sophie signed copies of her books after the talk when she had a chance to meet ‘Swallows and Amazons’ enthusiasts and a little girl hoping to become a film actress. The event was covered in the local news.

Actors who love ‘Swallows and Amazons’

“They’re pirates!” Sophie Neville as Titty in the EMI movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ made in 1973 and shown on ITV, Channel 4, BBC TV and Amazon Prime

“I hated you!” I was told after giving a talk at Denville Hall, the actor’s retirement home, this January. “I’d always loved the books and was upset when the film came out because I would have loved to have played Titty. I had been Titty as a child. Was Titty, and yet you got the part!” This left me wondering how many actors saw themselves as characters from Arthur Ransome books.

Julian Sands claimed to have had a Swallows and Amazons childhood, as did Dame Judi Dench who has mentions this in her audio book on Shakespeare and in interviews “…Swallows and Amazons, I remember that very well indeed.”

Timothy West and Prunella Scales talked about various Arthur Ransome books while on their canal barge series.

Alfred Enoch told Caitriona Balfe and Jack Edwards that he loved the series when they were reviewing the Booker Prize in 2023.

It was the late Sir Micheal Hordern admitted to be a devotee of Arthur Ransome and shared his love for fishing:

Miranda Hart, known for her work on Miranda, Call the Midwife, andNot Going Out, said, “Oh, I love these wonderful stories about outdoor life in one of the most beautiful parts of our country – the Lake District. Camping, sailing, exploring, discovering – it’s still the stuff of dreams for me. My favourite character was Peggy. She was shy and a little nervy but always kept up with her sister, who was captain of their boat. It was rather like me and my sister; although I was the elder, I was the shyer one, and often had to rely on my little sis to do the grown-up things. And I have to say Peggy is my favourite character still, because that’s partly who my dog is named after. I love that this book celebrates the importance and joy of friendship. But above all it harks back to a time when children had to use nature and their imagination to have fun through the long summer holidays. No iPads on tap here. I hope it inspires kids and adults who may have forgotten about the bliss and thrill and beauty of nature to rediscover it.” You magazine.

Samuel West said of his mother, Prunella Scales, ‘She introduced me to the novel Swallows and Amazons and to big walks in the woods. The fact I spend a good amount of time in nature would please her.’

Victoria Wood and Martin Cloones have both referred to characters from Swallows and Amazons in spoofs.

You can read more about Griff Rhys Jones and other television and radio presenters who love ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on an earlier post on this website.

Dan Stevens said of ‘Swallows and Amazons’, ‘It’s a book that was very very dear to my heart when I was young.’ He was going up for the part of Captain Flint at the time.

It would be easy to list those who have played characters in the films and television adaptations of ‘Coot Club’ and ‘Swallows and Amazons’ such as Dame Virginia McKenna or Ralph Spall who first loved the books, but I’d love to know more about Ransome’s fans.

Do you know of other actors who treasure his books or who have been influenced by any of the dramatised versions? Please add suggestions to the comments below.

Finding the scrapbook I kept whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973

I thought I’d lost it! But, on clearing out our mother’s house, my sister found the cuttings book I kept whilst making the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973.

It includes a plan of the London double-decker bus where we received rudimentary lessons on location. Three bunkbeds on the top floor were meant to be used so we could rest after lunch. Mum said she forced me to lie down everyday but I can only remember a couple of occasion, once when I was reluctant, once when I was freezing cold after a swimming scene.

We changed into our costumes at the top of that bus, enjoying warmth from a gas stove that leaked rather alarmingly on one day necessitating an evacuation.

The exterior looked liked a conventional Routemaster with added curtains.

Lesley Bennett's photo of the double decker buses at Bank Ground Farm in 1973

Once sitting at my desk, I found my italic fountain pen and began keeping a diary. One version of the first seven days spent in Cumbria is pasted into the scrap book. I later re-wrote a slightly more detailed and interesting version in a couple of notebooks and wrote about how I got the part of Titty, and the filming from different perspectives.

These pages describe the day spent travelling to Ambleside and a couple of days spent getting to know each other along with Dame Virginia McKenna, who played the Swallows’ mother, the producer Richard Pilbrow, David Blagden who was in charge of the sailing and the film director Cluade Whatham.

Encouraged by my mother, we began pasting in newspaper cuttings.

Newspaper cutting published in May 1973 detailing the beginning of filming the original movie 'Swallows and Amazons' in Cumbria

The Times and the Guardian were at Havethwaite Railway Station to take photographs on the first day of filming. The BBC Radio 4 newsreader, Alan Smith, who grew up in Cumbria, was a film extra that day and can be spotted standing in train doorway with his brother. He wrote to me with his memories of the day.

I began adding photos from contact sheets that Albert Clarke, the film’s stills photographer, took of the cast and crew. I wrote about the opening locations here.

There are pages of dictation and a few sketches of the film props. I drew the yellow Austin ‘taxi’ we drove in at the station.

There were some cuttings that I hadn’t seen for years until until I opened the pages of this mislaid cuttings book. Others can be found on earlier posts.

Sophie Neville's collection of newspaper cuttings while making Swallows and Amazons

I took pages of dictation, learning about the plants and geology of the Lake District, about Beatrix Potter and the National Trust, but it’s a wonder any schoolwork was accomplished at all. We spent so much time on set. I fell behind in French and Maths but gained respectable exam grades that summer, gaining 80% in Geography. Perhaps I wrote about glacial lakes.

You can read more about the adventures we had whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in books detailed on this website.

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

There is now an audiobook on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ published by The Lutterworth Press and available on all online platforms including Audible.

A signed and dedicated paperback of ‘The Making of Swallows & Amazons’ auctioned in aid of BBC Children in Need 2025

A book signed by the author always makes a good Christmas present. Each year, I take part in an annual online charity auction organised by Children in Read to raise funds for BBC Children in Need.

You can scroll through the site on Jumblebee. co.uk. and choose from an amazing selection of biographies and other books donated by contemporary authors.

In 2025, I donated a signed and dedicated illustrated paperback copy of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’

It was accompanied by a signed print of Titty Walker played by Sophie Neville in ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) drawn by the artist Caroline Assheton

Sophie Neville as Titty by Caroline Assheton

Funds raised go directly to BBC Children in Need

Paddy Heron, the fundraiser, has been advertising the event on Twitter

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇https://t.co/XC2Jdw7ZEx
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆@Sophie_Neville @BBCCiN pic.twitter.com/xHNrczMoLc
— Paddy Heron 🇺🇦 (@ChildrenInRead) October 7, 2025

Taking part is always great fun and offers authors a bit of publicity whilst presenting readers a choice of signed and dedicated books and illustrations.

There are always many bargains to be had

In 2023, items in the Authors and Illustrators’ auction, raised a total of £24,061 for BBC Children in Need.

This year, authors and illustrators raised £9,766.

Over the eleven years that the annual event has been running a stunning total of £141,766 has been raised. I joined in 2020 and have raised a total of £616 for this cause.

Bidding has now closed but put the event in your diary for next year.

Thank you for supporting this great cause!

Seven odd things that happened on the way to the forum

Like Arthur Ransome, I have ‘lived many lives in one.’ He also wrote, ‘Memory picks and choses’. Here are a few unusual ones:

A photograph of Sophie Neville photoshopped to look like Charlotte Rampling for ‘Broadchurch’

This gave me a fright: I was watching the ITV police series Broadchurch when I saw a photograph of me, aged seventeen, featured on screen. Only it wasn’t me. My face had been photo-shopped to look like a young Charlotte Rampling. Above is a screenshot. Here is the original:

No one had asked my permission, but what can I do but take it as a compliment?

Around this time I was briefly involved in the HTV series Kidnapped. I played a boy. But opposite David McCallum (The Man From U.N.C.L.E), so who was I to argue. And I was paid.

I got the part in an odd way. They had forgotten to cast anybody for the role, but the producer had previously cast my sister in Arthur of the Britons and knew we lived only a few miles from the location. I agreed on the morning the scene was shot.

I later stood in for the little boy who played Gerald Durrell in the first BBC drama series of My Family and Other Animals. Brian Blessed thought it hilarious. I was working behind the camera by that time but was skinny enough to squeeze into the costume.

Sophie Neville standing in for the little boy playing Gerald Durrell getting a kiss from Brian Blessed who played Spiro — Sophie Neville standing in for the boy playing Gerald Durrell getting a kiss from Brian Blessed who played Spiro

I was once on a train when the director of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners asked if I could get to Gloucestershire to clear out my mother’s attic. I ended up filming with him for the next three or four days. It was exhausting – and unpaid – but a lot of de-cluttering got done. Check the apron from Seville. I’d bought it on honeymoon.

Sophie Neville filming in Gloucestershire with Betty TV

Piratøen – is the title for Swallows and Amazons in Danish – seen here on a flier that I only came across recently. I’d just had my DNA analyzed to discover I am 3% Danish due to admixture a few generations back. Do I look Danish?

Although I’ve worked on over 100 films and tv programmes, I have mostly been behind the camera, so don’t expect anyone to know who I am. They don’t. The marketing executive at StudioCanal had not, at first, wanted me to help promote the remastered DVD of ‘Swallows and Amazons’, which is understandable as Dame Virginia McKenna has the star billing. Then she must have watched the ‘filmen for hele familien’. I ended up giving Q&As at twelve cinemas. Some had audiences of 250 and the screenings were so popular that customers were being turned away.

Sophie Neville speaking about Swallows and Amazons at Kendal cinema — Sophie Neville giving a Q&A in Kendal

And yet when a friend of mine told a lady that I was in ‘Swallows and Amazons’ she smiled apologetically and said she’d keep ‘an eye out for me.’

‘Why are you here?’ I was asked at Windermere Jetty in Cumbria. We had gathered to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the release of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in cinemas. How should I have answered that question? I replied saying, ‘I’ve been asked to give talk.’

Sophie Neville appearing on BBC TV at Windermere Jetty in Cumbria

You can now listen to the story of how the original film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was made on Audible.

The HTV series ‘Kidnapped’ (1978) is available on YouTube. Blink and you miss me, but the music is wonderful.

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.

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

New finds relating to the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974)

Having been released in cinemas in April 1974, the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was not accompanied by computer games but by puzzels, jigsaws and competitions. Here are a couple found recently whilst clearing out my mother’s house. You can see more on a post added to this website here.

Few films are set in 1929, and yet it was that period, nearly a hundred years ago that gave the first film adaptation a certain style.

Graham Potter wrote saying: “I have just finished a DVD of S & A and found how much easier it is to see the details on the TV than in a cinema having to look from side to side. I was surprised to see how little sailing was shown and how the Amazons were not seen much. I think you were 12 or 13 at the time but looked younger. I have to to admit to enjoying the glimpses of the navy blue knickers in the opening scenes.”

One of the set of four jigsaw puzzles made when ‘Swallows & Amazons’
was released in cinemas in 1974, along with a Puffin paperback

Graham goes on to say, “I was surprised to see how you carried all the exciting scenes: left alone on the island, finding the secret harbour , dealing with leading lights , capturing and hiding Amazon, dealing with Mother’s visit during the night sailing, giving Captain Flint a good telling off for blaming John for firework and not listening to his warning about potential theft at his houseboat. Then the great finale when you are able to present him with his stolen life’s work in the trunk. Perhaps it was planned that you didn’t have too many lines to remember, as it enabled a very young girl to contribute such a lot to the film.”

This is very kind but I believe the film was made by the fact that Simon West who played John and Kit Seymour who played Nancy were good sailors. You can tell when they are sitting in a moored boat. While Claude Whatham was an exceptional director, ahead of his time stylistically, the director of photography uplifted the film by insisting we waited for clouds to pass. What else? – a hardworking and talented crew put together by Nevill Thompson. Simple costumes that never dated. Natural, well cut hair and a lack of make up – all the facets of filmmaking that you are not meant to notice.

Maybe our spiritedness as children carries the original film on. We are all in our sixties now, but the characters we played have become imaginary friends to many. As Shakespeare wrote, ‘Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.’ The Tempest Would Ransome have agreed? I only know he discussed Shakespeare with Karl Radek.

I came across an essay in one of my school exercise books that I must have written aged twelve whilst on location. I was trying to explain that only about three minutes of what will be the finished film are captured during a long day’s filming on location. The piece is not well written.

We went on to learn about the Spanish Main, which may have been requested by Claude Whatham, the director of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ so that I would know what Titty was talking about. On 1st June 1973, I was on location in the Lake District filming in the capture of the Amazon in Secret Harbour on Peel Island.

Perhaps I should add these remenants to a future edition of ‘The Making of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974)’. You can order the illustrated paperback from libraries, find it for sale online, or listen to the audiobook:

‘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.”

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.