by Neil Baldwin
I worked very closely with Neil during the run-up to his degree. I wanted to make sure it was an extremely special event for him.
It’s the same as it was with the alumni dinners: on the few occasions that one of the Keele administrators has tried to block Neil in some way, he’s just outlasted them. It is the award of the honorary degree that gives the view of the university.
Sara added:
Neil is Keele, and Keele is Neil. Everyone remembers him and always fondly. I am extremely proud of Neil and also of Keele, the fact that Keele is a family and has nurtured him over the years is testament to the staff and students. Neil is a friend of the family now and anything I can do to help him is done.
Neil met my nephew, Joe Clarke, who is one of Britain’s canoe slalom team, at the Sports Personality of the Year awards. Richard Callaway is Nike UK director of marketing, but is also an alumnus of Keele. Nike have recently taken Joe on as one of his sponsors and Richard is also on our council here at Keele. We got round to talking about Neil and Marvellous. Richard said he remembers being accommodated in Barnes Hall and Neil would come into their flat during the day, just chatting and sitting. They would eventually have to leave and go to lectures, and when they came back he would still be sitting there. But, again, this gives me a warm feeling, because where else would that have happened?
CHAPTER NINE
NEIL: THE BIOPIC
MALCOLM
In 2010 Francis Beckett and I had a late-night conversation about Neil’s fiftieth-anniversary celebrations of his time at Keele, what he has achieved and what he means to Keele. The result was a Guardian feature on 9 March 2010, under the headline ‘How Neil Baldwin became Keele University’s mascot’. Francis’s piece began:
Last weekend, Keele University celebrated Neil Baldwin’s 50th anniversary there. It was a splendid two-day affair, with speeches from distinguished alumni, a dinner, a testimonial football match, and a service of thanksgiving for his work conducted by the Bishop of Lichfield, a Keele graduate.
But Baldwin has never worked at Keele in any capacity, or been a student there, or had any formal connection with the place. He walked into the students’ union in 1960, an engaging schoolboy with learning difficulties from the local town of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and became a fixture.
Television dramatist Peter Bowker saw the piece and thought it the perfect subject for a drama documentary. It was drawn to Peter’s attention by his wife, who thought he would be interested in it – before he was a writer, Peter had worked for many years in the learning-disability field.
Peter spoke to Patrick Spence, the managing director of Fifty Fathoms Films, and Patrick, via The Guardian and Francis, found his way to me.
Patrick wanted to make it. He was hoping to persuade the BBC to buy it, and was quite confident that he could do so, because of Peter’s reputation with the BBC.
Patrick asked me if I thought that Neil would agree to a film being made of his life, because, if he wouldn’t, there would be no point in taking the idea any further. I replied that there would be many questions about such a film, but the one question I could be sure I knew the answer to was that Neil would definitely love the idea of a film being made about his life. I could vouch for that.
NEIL
I was very pleased when Malcolm told me that the BBC were thinking about making a film about my life – because it’s been a great life. I couldn’t wait for it to get started.
MALCOLM
I met with Patrick and Peter in London to discuss the project. My major initial concern was that I didn’t want a film to be made that in any way mocked Neil. I realised, after meeting Patrick and Peter, that there was no way they would want to do that. Peter wanted to make a positive film about Neil’s life and his remarkable achievements. It would be funny, and at one level that humour might be seen to be at Neil’s expense, but it would present Neil’s remarkable achievements in a positive light, and he would emerge triumphant. I returned to Manchester reassured.
But first they had to sell the idea to the BBC. It was more than two years before we learned that BBC2 had commissioned it and it was all systems go. Neil was impatient for news. ‘Have you heard any more about the film?’ would be his weekly question outside Britannia Stadium, and on the phone between games. ‘No, Neil, I haven’t. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.’
We agreed that the next step would be for me to introduce Peter and Patrick to Neil at Keele. The captain of the Neil Baldwin Football Club turned up at the meeting. Neil said, ‘Do you mind if Angad, my captain, is here?’ ‘Not at all,’ I said, but I was mildly surprised that he had come. After about twenty minutes, Angad made his apologies and left.
I then realised that he had probably come just to check us out. When Neil had told him that he was meeting some people who were making a film about his life, he probably thought that this was an unlikely event, although anybody who knows Neil well should, of course, learn to be cautious about making such an assumption. I think he wanted to make sure that this was not some sort of a scam and that Neil was not being exploited. I felt that this perfectly summed up Neil’s relationship with Keele students. For over half a century there has been a real sense in which he has looked after them, but they have also looked after him.
NEIL
I don’t know why it took a long time for the film to be made. This was very frustrating. I think Malcolm got fed up of me always asking him when we were going to hear something.
Anyway, when it started, Malcolm brought Patrick and Peter along and introduced them. Peter is a great writer and he was pleased to have the chance to write about my great life. Patrick is a very nice man, and asked me if I was happy to have the film made. I said, of course I am. My life will make a great film.
A bit later, Peter brought the director, Julian Farino and Toby Jones, who was to play me, up from London. We sat in a private room in Keele Hall and they started to discuss the project with me.
I liked Toby and I was very pleased that he was playing me, even though he is not quite as good-looking as I am. He’s a great actor, one of the best. He did a great job. I originally thought the part ought to go to Rowan Atkinson, and that’s who I recommended when they asked me who should play me, but I think Toby was a lot better than he would have been.
MALCOLM
I was fascinated by the conversation. Julian, as the director, was very interested in how events came to happen, what caused them and how they were linked to each other, and Neil’s relationships with the people in his life.
Toby was clearly trying to get inside Neil’s head, to understand what makes him tick, what makes him happy, what makes him angry and what makes him sad. Because of Neil’s unfailing positivity, this proved to be something of a challenge and at times I could feel Toby struggling to get underneath Neil’s contented exterior. What he probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time was that this is actually who the real Neil is.
At one point he asked Neil a question that slightly took me aback because I had never asked it myself or heard anybody else ask him before: had he ever had a girlfriend? Neil replied that he had one once, many years ago, when he was working at the pottery, but it hadn’t come to anything. And that’s where it was left.
I felt that Julian and Toby were understandably a little nervous about meeting Neil for the first time. I am not an actor, but I could see that, if you are playing a living character, you would be concerned that they like you and are happy with you. That would be true for any living character, but probably more so when you are playing someone as unusual as Neil. Also, while playing Neil was an exciting and colourful undertaking, it was a role that could also present considerable challenges.
Tiger Aspect filmed at Neil’s honorary-degree ceremony. Over tea afterwards, I was talking to Patrick and the Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett. Patrick was explaining the budgetary constraints that might apply to making a film like this and at one point indicated that it might be necessary to film the university scenes at a
college in London. The Vice Chancellor replied, with an appropriate degree of slightly understated firmness, ‘We would be very disappointed if it wasn’t filmed at Keele.’
Good for you, I thought. I too would have been very disappointed if it had not been filmed at Keele, as most certainly would Neil. Patrick reached the same view, and it was.
Peter undertook extensive research in writing the script. He spent a lot of time with Neil’s friends, including me and Vic Trigg, as well as, of course, Lou Macari, members of Mary’s Christadelphian Church, and others.
The result was an outstanding script, which has recently been recognised by the Best Writer award at the Royal Television Society. Iain McCullum, Tiger Aspect’s head of publicity, says:
I first read Peter’s script en route from Glasgow to London on a packed train in January 2014. I have read many hundreds of scripts over the course of my career as a publicist but none affected me quite so deeply as this one did. Peter’s wonderful narrative resonated from its first beat. I was carried along from scene to scene, never daring to put it down. And then I burst into tears. A lady opposite me asked what was the matter. I said I had been reading a wonderful story and felt already that I knew the characters and wanted to know them more.
I knew that Marvellous would be a hit from Page One and texted Patrick Spence to say as much. Our Marvellous journey continued and over the course of the next ten months I became part of a wonderful cast and crew, led by brilliant producer Katie Swinden, all of whom embraced this project with open hearts and great creativity. I watched Toby Jones work with Julian Farino and saw the magic they were creating.
And of course I met Neil Baldwin and also got to know those close to him for many years. Their devotion to Neil further reassured me that this story had to be told and when it was I was delighted to learn that Marvellous had the same affect on millions of others as it had on me on that train journey.
Tiger Aspect decided to set up their filming HQ in an office in Keele village, with almost all the filming done at the university and in North Staffordshire. The furthest they went afield were the football grounds at Crewe Alexander FC and Wrexham FC. Once the show was on the road, it was very intense. Filming took place throughout May 2014 at various locations.
Katie Swinden, the producer, said to Neil when we met her for the first time in the North Staffs hotel, ‘You must come and join us on the set for one or two days, Neil.’ Neil replied instantly, ‘I’ll be there every day,’ which was a statement, not a request. And so it proved. He was there every day, keeping an eye on the proceedings.
NEIL
It was great that it was all filmed locally. Before it started I sat in the office in Keele village stencilling some of the signs used in the film. They gave me plenty of tea and biscuits and I made them all laugh with my jokes.
I watched nearly all the filming. I had my own director’s chair and my own private dressing room with ‘Real Neil’ on the door, next to Toby and all the other actors. I really enjoyed having my meals in the catering trucks with all the actors and crew. They were very good meals.
MALCOLM
Toby DeCann, a Stoke City season-ticket holder, who played Paddy in the film, says:
When my agent called me I don’t think I had ever heard so much excitement in his voice. ‘They’re looking for [actors to play] Stoke City players for a film about a kit man. This has you written all over it.’ Like most people I was amazed to discover that the BBC were going to shoot a film in Staffordshire, but I was even more surprised to find out that the subject was going to be Neil ‘Nello’ Baldwin. Neil was a stalwart of Lou Macari’s red-and-white army in the early nineties and was just as notable and legendary as some of the players of my boyhood club in that era.
When I read the early draft of Peter Bowker’s fantastic script it truly brought a tear to my eye. It captured not only the essence of Neil as a human being but also the values of the football club and the spirit of the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It’s the people of the Potteries that make the area what it is: a friendly, warm and welcoming place with family at its heart – and Neil is one of its favourite sons. It was then that I realised I had to be involved with this production.
Fortunately, on the eve of my audition, I was able to get in touch with the former Stoke defender Lee Sandford, who was so generous with his time. He recounted dozens of tales about dressing-room banter, pitch-side pranks and away-day shenanigans involving the players, Lou and Nello. He said, ‘I remember regularly being in tears and doubled over with the constant laughter that Nello brought to the team.’
So, with plenty of determination, a nineties Stoke shirt and a few stories in my pocket, I headed to London the next day to audition for Marvellous. It was here that I met the director, Julian Farino, who approached me in the waiting room and commented on my football top. ‘Where did you get that?’ he asked. His face lit up when I explained that it was a hand-me-down from my dad.
Now, as an actor, when your audition for a role in a film lasts forty-five minutes, you get the impression that you’ve made an impression. We talked about Stoke City, Crystal Palace (Julian is a fanatical supporter), Tony Pulis [a former Stoke manager], ‘Delilah’ [a song featured in the film], oatcakes and of course, Neil Baldwin. When we finally got to reading the script, Julian smiled at me and said, ‘I hope this is going to be good.’
Julian is meticulous as a director but is also a great leader and motivator of a team. His catchphrase ‘We can do this!’ is one that lives long in my memory from working on Marvellous, and is one that I pinch off him and use from time to time. He’s the best director I’ve ever worked with.
So, after a few weeks of waiting, I was delighted when my agent called to tell me that I would be playing the part of Stoke player Paddy in the film. About a week later I visited the set at Keele University to do a costume test and, the night before, the producer, Katie Swinden, phoned me with a strange request.
‘You’re a season-ticket holder at Stoke, aren’t you Toby?’ she quizzed. ‘Would you be willing to stand in front of the Boothen End at this weekend’s game against Fulham and get the crowd going with some “There’s only one Neil Baldwin” chants?’
Without hesitation I agreed. But I could hear some trepidation in her voice. It wasn’t until I was on the set at Keele during a break in filming, having a quiet chat with Julian Farino and Peter Bowker, that I realised what the apprehension was. ‘Will they know who he is?’ asked Julian. ‘They won’t shout abuse and not go along with it, will they?’ said Peter. I assured them that the Stoke supporters never forget and if they put Neil Baldwin on that pitch then they were sure to get one heck of a reaction.
Sure enough, just before kick-off on Saturday, 3 May 2014, a packed Boothen End stood up in unison to salute Nello. I have to admit that standing there nervously with a microphone in my hand with Neil Baldwin at my side in front of the most vociferous section of the Stoke City faithful was one of the proudest moments of my life. I think I said something cheesy like ‘Good afternoon, Boothen End. Let’s show a national television audience how we do it in Stoke-on-Trent. Let’s do it for Nello!’
The roar was deafening as the crowd joined in as I led with the ‘There’s only one Neil Baldwin!’ and ‘Nello! Nello!’ chants. Julian, Peter and Katie were absolutely delighted that they were able to get the footage, which became the bookend to the film. They thanked me hugely, but for me it was the fans that deserved all the credit. They were the ones who turned up early in their seats to show their appreciation for Nello. It was definitely a turning point in the production and there was no question that the Stoke City family was on board with Marvellous.
The shooting of the film was an absolute dream. Many highlights stick out for me, such as standing in the tunnel and running out onto the pitch at Wrexham (which doubled as the Victoria Ground), working with the genius that is Toby Jones and witnessing the remarkable performance of Tony Curran – who I still call ‘Boss’ – as Lou Macari. From day one Marvellous felt
like a team effort and everyone, from the talent to the production team to the catering staff, was passionate about telling Neil’s story, which turned out to be one of the best television dramas of 2014.
Sometimes during a production magic happens and you can’t quite put your finger on why it’s occurring. I think maybe it was Neil’s positive outlook and fifty years in show business that rubbed off on everyone. I congratulate you, sir, for the well-deserved recognition that Marvellous has brought you and thank you for being an honest and true friend.
NEIL
The first time all the actors came together was at the first read-through. This was held in the Putney Boat Club building next to the River Thames. I love Putney and it was strange that it was held there, because I’ve been there many times for the Boat Race. Malcolm and Vic came along, too. I showed them all the Boat Race places.
MALCOLM
Before the read-through started, I was chatting with Gemma Jones, who was playing Mary. Gemma said she was tired, as she had just flown in from New York, and would I mind if she sat down, so I thought that the read-through might have to be rather a mechanical process for her. How wrong could you be? As soon as it started, Gemma came alive. Afterwards, I told her that it felt quite spooky as I almost felt that Mary was back with us in the room. I thought all the actors in the film were brilliant, but for me Gemma’s performance as Mary was a standout. Of course, unlike the position for the other characters, neither Peter, the writer, nor Gemma could speak to the real Mary, which made her portrayal even more remarkable.