To the Ivy for an Alan Bleasdale/Diplomat Films evening. An eclectic mix of TV execs, actors and directors. Alan looks the same as ever, but leans on a stick and claims that his knee has deteriorated to the point where it causes him ‘excruciating pain’. But he manages to stay upright at the podium for a long, very Alan-ish monologue. He thinks that Liverpool’s year as European City of Culture is fatally fl awed. ‘Liverpool was always corrupt,’ he growls. ‘Now with all this money coming in it’s just going to get much worse. If Derek Hatton were still around he’d be laughing.’

Sit next to Julie Walters, who is a real treat. Very unassuming and down-to-earth and presently writing her autobiography. I feel she’s one of those rare people you could talk to about almost anything.
Helen encourages Alan to have his knee done asap. He says he’ll do it if she’ll hold his hand whilst they give him the anaesthetic.

Tristram [Powell] and I were talking about Alan Bennett and honours, and how he’s turned down everything. I’m of course compromised, already a commander – what would I do if a knighthood were proposed? I always liked Michael Frayn’s reason for declining, simply that he wanted just to be Michael Frayn for the rest of his life. Tristram tells me Francis Bacon’s reservation about a knighthood being that it was ‘so ageing’.