THE REUNION BY GEORGE CHRISTOPHER
I awoke on the Saturday morning and as usual when going away on trips
it was a mad rush, packing things and ironing my clothes etc etc.
When ready I jumped a cab to Liverpool Lime Street and caught the
train to Euston London around 12pm. I spent the whole journey in the
quite zone section of the train so I could read my book Papillon.
Luckily the hotel wasn't too far away from the station as it was nearly
5 o clock and I was being picked up at 6pm so knew I had to get ready
quick (which I'm an expert at).
20 minutes later I was in the bar of the hotel and met Andy from
Grange hill online who was sitting there in a school uniform, nothing
strange about this as the reunion was set in Hammersmith Palace
on school disco night. We had a little drink then set off together
in the private car from Channel 4. On arrival we were greeted by
the shows presenter Justin Lee Collins and a camera crew asking
how I felt about the night. Then inside I was taken up to the VIP
bar and met Lee and Erkan better known as Zammo and Roland, who
I hadn't seen since 1997. Soon we were joined by Alison (Fay) and
the presenter Justin, where he interviewed the four of us, soon
the stories came out and the laughter flowed throughout. Before
long the rest of the gang joined us who were Fleur (my arch enemy
Imelda) and Ruth (Helen) Tim (Banksie), Lisa (Julie), Joanne (Jane)
and someone I didn`t instantly recognise as I`d never met him which
was Mark (Gripper).
Before long we were all chatting about all things that have came and
gone in our lives, what we`re doing now, our children (and showing
pictures of them) are we in touch with so and so still, how different
or how not different we all look etc etc were just some of the subjects
we shared. Then we enjoyed a nice meal in a nearby Restaurant, Andy
from GH Online was the only non member of the cast who sat in the
company, but was by no means out of place.
My only regret was I'd ordered Duck from the menu, and when the
food came I noticed Lee had a prime 12 ounce steak he`d sneakily
ordered from another menu,which he enjoyed while I picked at a useless
half duck. More memories were shared over old times, the laughs
and the people we wonder what are up to now. I rang John Drummond
(Trev) and got everyone to leave a message on his answer machine.
I wished he could have been there and John Alford but they couldn`t
make it so I rubbed salt in the wound by letting them know what
a good time we were having! After the meal the stage was set for
the cast to get up and sing Just Say No, Erkan took the lead and
could possibly be the next Daniel Bedingfield after his performance.
I stayed in the background with a few others. Over 2000 people watching,
I felt a bit nervous but it was all in good spirits and glad I done
it as I wasn`t going to get up, Lee and Justin talked me into it
after I`d had a few beers!
The rest of the night was spent in the VIP bar were we chatted and
got interviewed for the TV again, more photos etc. One by one the
gang departed, some were overwhelmed by the occasion and got a bit
upset, I too felt sad saying goodbye to some of the best workmates
I`ve ever had, not knowing when or if ever I`ll see them again. But
like all good things they have to come to an end and so did this night.
A one off which I fully enjoyed. We'll have to do it again sometime! |
