An appearance by Tony on Sky News this week led to a reunion of sorts with Colin Brazier, now one of Sky’s premier presenters.

Both Colin and Tony worked at the Yorkshire Post in the mid-’90s. So it was with some amusement that Tony found himself being interviewed by his former colleague about the increasing number of Hollywood blockbusters being shot on location in the North of England.

The item, which went out on Tuesday, marked Tony’s second appearance on Sky this year.

Tony’s book Beating the Devil, an examination of the making of the classic ’50s horror movie Night of the Demon, continues to pick up great reviews almost five years after it was published.

The latest praise for Tony’s most successful and acclaimed book, headlined “A Demon of a book”, can be found on the website Xenoramic Musings, and is re-printed here in full:

“I got a wonderful book for Christmas this year- Beating the Devil, which is all about the making of one of the best horror/monster movies ever made. It’s written by Tony Earnshaw, and until they have a seance and call up the artists who have passed away, there will be no finer source about this film. Ever. It has everything you would want to know about the movie. Some people would like to have this sort of thing on the DVD, but I’m one of those Luddites who would rather read a book than read material off a TVor computer screen. Much more leisurely and much less eyestrain. It’s really well written and contains tons of interviews and archival history from the movie and from England as well. It also makes me want to read the source material for the movie, the short story “Casting the Runes” (which made Dana Andrews eat prunes, I’ve heard tell).”

Beating the Devil is still available in limited quantities from Tomahawk Press.

Tony has completed two long days of shooting on the new historical drama The King’s Speech, which filmed in Leeds and Bradford earlier this week.

The movie stars Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham-Carter, Derek Jacobi and Timothy Spall. Tony, cast as a policeman, took part in a key scene in which Firth, playing the Duke of York (later King George VI) delivers an excruciating speech at the British Empire Exhibition in 1925. The moment was a pivotal turning point in the young prince’s life as the world discovered for the first time that he had a pronounced stammer.

Filming took place in near-freezing temperatures on the terraces at Leeds United’s Elland Road ground. It was Tony’s first experience of life as a background artiste on a major motion picture and follows his involvement in Peter Kershaw’s short subject Cinema of Horror, Werner Schweizer’s documentary Von Werra and the forthcoming feature Cricket, the eagerly-awaited debut from the Austin Brothers, in which he plays a Russian gangster.

The King’s Speech is scheduled for release in late 2010 or early 2011. The director is Tom (The Damned United) Hooper.

Tony will join the multitude thronging Odsal Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday this week as a massive crowd scene is recreated for the new period drama The King’s Speech.

Having previously acted in a feature film and a short, appeared in a documentary and provided a voice-over for a stage play, Tony has never provided his services as a ‘background artiste’ - or movie extra as it’s commonly known. He’ll be marching, hopefully in time, as a marine officer as Prince Bertie (later King George VI), played by Colin Firth, takes the salute prior to making his infamous speech in 1925.

An estimated 600 extras will be massed for the sequence. Approximately 200 will be soldiers with the rest gathered for a big crowd scene. Early weather reports forecast snow.

It’s all glamour in the movies, you know…

Tony was delighted to see colleagues from the Yorkshire Post collecting a bunch of gongs at the Yorkshire Press Awards.

The haul included best photographer, best business writer, best political writer and, to top it all, newspaper of the year.

Many congratulations to all concerned.

Tony and his wife, BBC journalist Danni Hewson, will be guests of the Yorkshire Press Awards on Thursday, November 12, at the Cedar Court Hotel, Wakefield.

The theme of the evening is Yorkshire Hollywood, and Tony’s book Made in Yorkshire will be among the prizes handed out to the various winners.

Special thanks to David Wilkinson at publishers Guerilla Books for donating the books.

Sheffield’s superb Showroom Cinema has become the latest regional film theatre to programme Tony’s Lion of the Welsh lecture on Richard Burton.

The date is Tuesday, November 10 - what would have been Burton’s 84th birthday. The evening kicks off at 7.15pm with the lecture followed by a screening of Under Milk Wood, directed by Andrew Sinclair. The event will conclude with a Q&A session with Mr. Sinclair, hosted by Tony.

Further dates to be announced soon.

As a pre-release plug for his new movie The Firm, writer/director Nick Love will be appearing at the Cineworld, Didsbury, tonight for a screening and Q&A session hosted by Tony.

Nick previously helmed The Business and Outlaw, among others, and is a serious cult figure among fans of lads’ films.

The screening begins at 6.30pm followed immediately by the Q&A.

The latest edition of Cinema Retro magazine (Lee Marvin features on the cover) contains a piece by Tony on the forgotten history of the classic ’60s movie Billy Liar.

John Schlesinger’s movie stars Tom Courtenay and Julie Christie as arch fantasist Billy Fisher and his free-wheeling love, Liz. Yet Christie was a late replacement for Topsy Jane, an unknown actress who had to quit the film due to illness.

The story is retold in Cinema Retro, and features an exclusive image of Topsy Jane and Schlesinger on location in Yorkshire in 1962. The picture was published for the first time in Tony’s book Made in Yorkshire, published last year by Guerilla Books.

Tony’s next commission for Cinema Retro is a report on the legendary unfinished film The Story of William Tell, starring Errol Flynn. The report is based on an exclusive interview with the late Jack Cardiff, conducted at Bradford Film Festival in 2002.

Peter Kershaw’s short film Cinema of Horror, in which Tony cameos as a zombie, has been included in the line-up for Horror UK.

The event, to be held in Fareham, Hampshire, on Friday October 29, is being tagged as a non-stop horror marathon under the banner ‘28 Hours Later’.

More information from www.horroruk.com