All taken from the early chapters of Absolute Pandemonium by Brian Blessed, which I have been listening to as a wholesome soundtrack to making my bunting.
- Brian Blessed’s first word was “bugger”, during an altercation with another baby over a rattle.
- Brian Blessed is a “fully trained cosmonaut”.
- When he was a little boy, Brian Blessed built a mega catapult and terrorised his least favourite teacher by flinging stones at her arse. He was never discovered, but the mystery assailant was known around school as “the phantom”.
- Brian Blessed can see the molecular structure in leaves.
- The night Brian Blessed met Peter O’Toole, he also punched Harold Pinter down a flight of stairs. Pinter punched him first, but not very effectively.
- When Brian Blessed first started working, he was so poor he had to steal food and trousers from his theatre.
- When Brian Blessed started doing Z Cars he couldn’t drive, so a stuntman had to crouch under his seat, working the gears and pedals. The BBC paid for driving lessons after Blessed became overexcited by his performance and kicked his stuntman in the bollocks.
