Hang on

Why not build film studios there? After all, to many people, Cricklewood is a vibrant, cosmopolitan, glamorous place.

TUC delegates at Blackpool voted to ban smoking from the confcrcncc hall.

The life of Lord Shinwell is to be turned into a major drama serial by the BBC ... "One usually needs a pause after someone's life to work out whether it's important enough to do-but Manny is still alive and there's no doubt it is," said BBC Scotland drama head, Roderick Graham. "Not only is he alive, but so are a lot of the people he knew. We are obviously going to have to take great care."

ALAN BRIEN's London

The motor vesse! Benjamin Bowring, under Sir Ranulph Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, has set off on the first circumnavigation of the world by the polar route. The expedition has 650 commercial sponsors and the organisers will hold nine transglobe trade exhibitions. A few poignant pages from a diary of the expedition have already reached

He could always give away a "Free Practical Joke" . The first issue of Jackpot, the new magazine for juvenile delinquents, did just that in its first issue, back in May. The second issue, of course, armed its seven-to-twelve-yearold readers with "Free Squirt Ring" . In the previous month, it was the first number of Penny which was the collector 's item as far as their sisters were concerned, if only for the "Free Mouse with Cheese Pendant" attached to its ftimsy, fun-filled pages.

Poor Jack Lynch ! The Irish Prime Minister is most unfortunate to find himself reviled by British newspapers and treated rather like a particularly obtruse and obstinate schoolboy by Mrs Thatcher. Britain might at least be grateful for the fact that Mr Lynch is in office at ail. He is a fairly sick man, and is thought to be hanging on only in order to dash the hopcs of the heir apparent, Mr Charles Haughey. Mr Haughey, who was once fired by Mr Lynch for bis connections with arms running, is nota nice man. He would also be extremely bad news for Britain. Altogether we ought to thank Mr Lynch for keeping him out, and not attack the poor follow for finishing his holiday in Portugal, which was no doubt richly deserved.

Six ships, a tenth of the Royal Navy's frigate fteet, are to be transferred to the standby squadron within two years. In t he event of war, the civilians who will maintain the ships will also operate them.

One of the most foolish remarks ever made by a businessman was Roy Thomson's boast that running a TV station was a "licence to print money'' .

Two of my un-favourite cinema themes are united in Allen ! X, Odeon Leicester Square ) : space-adventure and horror. Of course I struggle to overcome my bias. 1 make exceptions-an exception for 2001: a Space Odyssey, an exception for Solaris . I am indulgent to horror movies in which Peter Cushing displays his beautifully straight face. But on the whole I find that Space docs more than affect the sense of physical balance; on the screen it reduces the human being to a blank, and everybody cornes out a brave bonehead. As for horror, it is the enemy of character, leaving no room for anything except prolonged screams. You might say that for me Alien has everything against it-well, nearly everything. How corne, then, that I admire the film? It can't be (I must declare my prejudices) that a member of my family is associate producer. Clearly Alien must have more than a nephew to recommend it.