Absolute Pandemonium

Brian Blessed, Absolute Pandemonium, Pan Books, 2015

Co-written by James Hogg

What more can be said about the amazing Brian Blessed? He has written five books already, and this one is a sort of summing up of the most interesting episodes of his life in one volume. It is not chronological, and jumps around a fair bit, and is full of LOUD CAPITAL LETTERS that really encapsulate the man. In the credits at the end he makes no bones about the fact that he was assisted by a fellow Yorkshireman and journalist James Hogg, and that he more or less told the stories and they were written down. It doesn’t take away from the book and Brian Blessed’s voice comes through loud and clear. He even asks the reader to imagine his voice when reading. It is not hard to do.

New things that we learn about the dear Mr Blessed in this book: he was once an undertaker’s assistant, he punched Harold Pinter (and many other famous people besides), and he has got death sorted in his head (mainly thanks to Tibetan thinking).

The most illuminating chapters are the ones in which he talks fondly about working with other famous actors and filmmakers. He adored Katharine Hepburn and loved working with her in The Trojan Women. He had great fun making Flash Gordon. He absolutely adored being involved in Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace and it fulfilled many of his dreams to work so closely with George Lucas.

He obviously loves his wife deeply, and is quite private about his life with her. She has a chapter to herself but he gives little away. He describes his courtship and that’s about it – which I think is quite a stylish way to deal with it.

He rubbed shoulders with Peter O’Toole in the early sixties, and appears to be one of the few people that O’Toole ever met that he was unable to bully. The chapter about O’Toole is touching and you get a real sense of the affection he felt for him and the wasted opportunities that O’Toole had, largely through excessive drinking. Blessed himself does not drink.

It is crazy to think that Brian Blessed is soon to be eighty. He remains an amazing person, full of emotion and love. He has had some lucky breaks in his life, but also faced great adversity, and you are left with the overriding impression that most of his success comes from sheer bloody hard work. He deserves all the joy that his talents have presented him.

A last note – he is quite a sweary man. He apologises at the start of the book for his transgressions. But like Billy Connolly, he swears often and swears well, and it is never over the top.

“Bloody marvellous, love!”