Old Rage: 'One of our best-loved actor's powerful riposte to a world driving her mad’ - DAILY MAIL

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So refreshing to read a book with a person's views and opinions written down exactly how they said them and felt them - she wrote the book as herself and didn't try to be anything or anyone else - loved it! She also worries, in the book’s opening pages, that she is undeserving of the damehood she was awarded in 2021. Her analysis of the political environment in the UK as well as the rest of the world is thoughtful and passionate.

It was the best thing for her that he left, because she went to university and became a very reputable scholar. Loveable and forthright character that she is, Sheila lays it on the line and it’s all from the heart, which is why her prose is passionate and interesting. There was much to admire about the diary style reflections of Sheila in her 80s eg rants about Brexit and the impact of Covid. This tale is happy and sad in parts - just like life, and made me smile and also cringe in places - and it also made me think a bit more about how I behaved during our "lockdown" phases. However, I didn't enjoy the ramblings about famous people that I don't know and repetitive references to her war upbringing.

Sheila doesn’t mince words in giving her opinions on the state of world and national affairs, while at the same time coping with advancing age (which doesn’t please her either). In her latest book, the grand dame of British acting, Sheila Hancock, takes vicious yet educated swipes at Brexit, bereavement, British television and the state of the nation compared to her wartime childhood. But she can at least take a good long look at life – her work and family, her beliefs (many of them the legacy of her wartime childhood) and, uncomfortable as it might be to face, her future. Today is particularly piercing on this score, the death of Denis Waterman, Thaw’s co-star in The Sweeney, having just been announced. Having just gone through the Covid Pandemic on my own myself I did find it a bit depressing but her spirit is still going strong.

I realised that maybe I wasn’t as much of a wordsmith as I thought I was, as she uses a lot of words that I didn’t understand and had to look up, so prepare yourself for feeling like an English language novice. She had weathered and even thrived in widowhood, taking on acting roles that would have been demanding for a woman half her age. But every page of Sheila Hancock's new memoir shimmers with laughter, defiance and profound insights into life as an old RAGE pensioner ― Mail on Sunday --This text refers to the hardcover edition.In Old Rage, she asserts that The Wildcats of St Trinian’s, in which she starred in 1980, is one of the worst films ever made, and that appearances as Senna Pod in Carry on Cleo and as a version of Margaret Thatcher in a “weird” episode of Doctor Who will “not get me listed on anyone’s roster of great performances”.

As Billie was in a ward of her own Sheila sat with Billie day and night singing to her and saying a childhood prayer to her, one that I truly loved, that was one my favourite parts in the book for loving the prayer. Amidst all this Hancock perseveres and describes the ups and downs of her life with wit and humor and always honesty. Following the death of her husband, John Thaw, she wrote a memoir of their marriage, The Two of Us, which was a number one bestseller and won the British Book Award for Author of the Year. I really enjoyed the book but found it really quite angry and sometimes found that hard to merge with Sheila Hancock's Quaker faith but then I guess I learnt something there too - being a pacifist most definitely doesn't mean you're a walk over.Sheila has also been made a dame (a proper one), an accolade she took in her stride while reflecting on the type of society that created such things, which leads me to mention that her political views are expanded upon here. She has suffered loss and sadness, and currently has rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, but doesn't stop her maintaining a firm grip on life and learning. I liked the diary style of the book and her feisty approach to the huge challenges of the pandemic for an older person with health issues living alone. The book opens well with some cracking stories and I settled down for what I thought would be a really good read. Her gift for directly communicating the open-heartedness and spirit of adventure with which she confronts her life .

Big Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for a digital copy of this book this book was a real treat and I loved it. Reading about the lockdowns brought back a lot of memories as well as anger and a sense that we need to change. View image in fullscreen Hancock in her Gucci leather jacket, once owned by her late husband John Thaw. She remembers the war, she has direct memory of how people behaved and cause that we, as a human condition, caused one another and how long it took to rebuild bridges. An excellent book which is good therapy if you need a good rant along with some interesting stories and anecdotes about her past and present.Names familiar and less familiar all get mentions into how their paths crossed and the impact those others have had on the arts. She is irreverent and funny when she refers to politicians and entertaining when she looks back at different actors that she has worked with over the years. During The Sweeney, John began to make a bit of money, and at that time we went to Rome, and we went to Gucci, and we bought this jacket for him. Following the death of her husband, John Thaw, she wrote a memoir of their marriage, The Two of Us , which was a no. so rapidly over the last few decade but Sheila’s “Old Rage” is a steadfastly honest piece of writing.