While escorting an American visitor around Elstree Studios, who should we bump into but Ken Branagh emerging from his dressing room.

Our colonial cousin insisted on shaking his hand while exclaiming "I loved your movie of Hamlet and have seen it about eight times".

The ever modest Mr Branagh replied, "that's more times than even I've seen it".

Ken has been working long hours at Elstree starring in a new movie, Alien Love Triangle, sometimes leaving home at 5am and not finishing filming until midnight.

Still I guess the pay cheque at the end of it helps to make it all worthwhile.

The film is a science fiction movie divided into three segments. The part currently being filmed at Elstree is directed by Danny Boyle of Shallow Grave and Trainspotting fame.

Producer Andrew MacDonald describes it as being about sexual relationships and more akin to a Woody Allen movie than Independence Day.

Apparently, Alien Love Triangle is about a man who discovers his wife is in fact another male from a distant planet.

The film also stars Courtney Cox of Friends fame but sadly we failed to bump into her in the corridor despite walking up and down it 200 times!

Like most films nowadays Alien Love Triangle is operating a strict closed set policy during shooting and no publicity during production.

Come back the days when I could sit and chat with the likes of David Niven for an hour between takes.

Still it is good to have a sci-fi picture back in Elstree. It's been a long while since the Star Wars trilogy.

This week's photo flashback is Sir Alec Guinness who featured in those movies. A couple of years ago he told me, "I am amazed to think I was born the same year that movie making came to Borehamwood in 1914."

Nowadays Sir Alec declines attending film functions including the premier of the re-released Star Wars commenting: "I am getting a bit too old to come to events and prefer not to get involved with all the hype that surrounds such occasions."

Sir Alec has enjoyed such a long and distinguished career -- I fear we may not see the like again.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.