great canal journeys ian mckellen

Timothy West, Prunella Scales, Sheila Hancock and Gyles Brandreth embark on spectacular canal journeys across Britain and abroad

Timothy and Pru explore London's Union and Regent's canals, from Brentford to Limehouse, meeting with friends Andrew Sachs and Sir Ian McKellen

Series 13 Episode 4: Peak Forest Canal

Sheila and Gyles boat the beautiful Peak Forest Canal and have a go at dry stone walling

Series 13 Episode 3: Grand Union and Stratford Canal

Sheila and Gyles learn about brewing ale and brave the 500-foot-long Edstone Aqueduct

Series 13 Episode 2: West Lancashire Coastal Plain

Gyles takes on the world pie-eating champion in Wigan. Then all canals lead to Liverpool.

Series 13 Episode 1: Cambridgeshire Fens

Sheila and Gyles explore the Cambridgeshire Fens and make a pilgrimage to Ely Cathedral

Best of Wales and the West Country

A look back at Tim and Pru's adventures on the waterways of Wales and the West Country

Best of Scandinavia

A look back at Timothy West and Prunella Scales' 350-mile journey across Sweden by boat

North of England

Tim and Pru look back over their many great adventures along northern England's canals

Best of Scotland

Tim and Pru look back at one of their favourite locations

Global Adventures

Tim and Pru share a stash of memories of their canal journeys overseas

The British Isles

Tim and Pru go on a voyage through the beautiful Cherwell Valley

Series 10 Episode 2: Asian Odyssey (Part Two)

Timothy and Pru complete their tour of South East Asian waterways on the Mekong Delta

Series 10 Episode 1: Asian Odyssey (Part One)

The 'ancient mariners' travel the waterways of Vietnam - from Halong Bay to Hanoi

Series 9 Episode 6: Rideau Canal, Canada

Tim and Pru embark on an epic journey along Canada's Rideau Canal

Series 9 Episode 5: Lancaster Canal

Tim and Pru navigate the Lancaster Canal, an early masterpiece of the waterways

Series 9 Episode 4: Argentina

Tim and Pru take a boat ride in the Argentine jungle

Series 9 Episode 3: Manchester

Tim and Pru explore the waterways of north west England, from Manchester to Ellesmere

Series 9 Episode 2: North Italy

Tim and Pru cross Italy's largest lake and travel down Europe's oldest working canal

Series 9 Episode 1: The River Nile

Tim and Pru explore one of the world's great waterways

Series 2 Episode 4: Forth and Clyde and Union Canals

Timothy and Pru travel through the stunning scenery of central Scotland

Series 2 Episode 3: Canal du Midi

Timothy and Pru explore the picturesque Canal du Midi in the south of France

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All Seasons

S01e01 the kennet and avon.

• March 10, 2014

Tim and Pru travel along the 21-mile Kennet and Avon canal, from Bath to Devizes, meeting canal-side characters and wildlife along the way. Back in 1990, to promote the fully restored canal, Tim and Pru were invited to be the first boat in 42 years to travel the full length of the K&A. To complete this magical trip, Tim and Pru, take on the infamous Caen Hill - 16 locks in close succession - which takes five hours to navigate. It's a daunting prospect for any crew, let alone one in their 80s.

S01E02 The Rochdale

• March 17, 2014

Prunella and Tim travel the Rochdale canal, past once mighty mills, the epic beauty of the Pennines and the longest and highest canal tunnel in Britain. The Rochdale was a main artery for the textile industry at the height of industrial revolution. Beginning in Sowerby Bridge, Tim and Pru head west through Mytholmroyd (the birthplace of Ted Hughes) and past the once mighty textile mills at Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, before journeying up over the Pennines to more than 600 feet above sea level. It's the most physically demanding canal journey they have ever taken, with the second deepest lock in the country, vandalised bridges and ancient lock gates to negotiate. But it's also one of the most stunning, with the epic beauty of the Pennine hills. To help them along the way they are joined for part of the journey by their son Sam, himself a successful actor. Along the way, Tim and Pru meet some of the fascinating characters that live and work on the Rochdale; recite Ted Hughes poetry in the exact spot where he found inspiration; and pass on some thespian guidance to the cast of a local playhouse.

S01E03 The Llangollen Canal

• March 24, 2014

This third canal journey takes Pru and Tim back to their honeymoon destination, Llangollen, in north Wales. They cross from Shropshire, via the Llangollen canal - one of the most picturesque canal journeys in the world. The trip includes the mystical hills of the Vale of Llangollen and the extraordinary Pontcysyllte aqueduct, the longest and highest aqueduct in Britain, and no place for the feint hearted. The couple also take a detour on the Montgomery canal, once an industrial thoroughfare, now an area of outstanding natural beauty. Tim visits the Llangollen steam railway and they travel on a horse-drawn barge up to the famous Horseshoe Falls.

S01E04 Canal du Nivernais

• March 31, 2014

For the last stage of Tim and Pru's canal odyssey, they head to France's burgundy wine region to visit the Canal du Nivernais, which runs through some of the most picturesque scenery in northern France, passing towns and villages steeped in medieval history. The canal was critical in helping to ship wine north from the vineyards to Paris and beyond. The journey is a gastronomic pleasure trip for Tim and Pru. They visit the market at Chablis and help out at the annual grape harvest. They visit their youngest son, Joe and the medieval city of Auxerre; and also reflect on what the journey has meant for them as a couple.

S02E01 Oxford Canal

• March 15, 2015

Timothy and Pru take a journey on the Oxford Canal through the Cherwell Valley, meeting author Philip Pullman and their son Samuel West on the way.

S02E02 The London Ring Canals

• March 22, 2015

Timothy and Pru explore London's Union and Regent's canals, from Brentford to Limehouse, meeting with friends Andrew Sachs and Sir Ian McKellen.

S02E03 Canal du Midi

• March 29, 2015

Timothy West and Prunella Scales explore the most picturesque stretch of the Canal du Midi in the south of France, eating lamb's brain fritters and drinking 200-year-old brandy.

S02E04 Forth and Clyde and Union Canals

• April 5, 2015

Timothy West and Prunella Scales travel along the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal, against the stunning scenery of some of central Scotland's most glorious countryside.

S03E01 London's Lost Route to the Sea

• October 25, 2015

Timothy West and Prunella Scales go in search of the lost route between London and the sea, which has not been fully open for over 200 years and requires four different boats to traverse now. They leave the Thames at Teddington and travel through the Surrey and Sussex countryside before arriving at Guildford, and a canal-side theatre where they have both regularly performed. The final leg of the trip brings them to the River Arun before reaching the English Channel.

S03E02 Birmingham to Braunston

• November 1, 2015

Timothy West and Prunella Scales travel from Birmingham to Braunston to attend a festival of vintage canal boats, aided on the tricky journey by their son Sam and Juliet, Timothy's daughter from his first marriage. Along the way, they meet a 78-year-old boatman, who reveals how he was born on a canal boat, and unveil a plaque dedicated to a woman who dedicated her life to preserving Britain's canals.

S03E03 Shannon Erne Waterway

• November 8, 2015

Timothy West and Prunella Scales go to Ireland and travel along the Shannon Erne Waterway, a canal linking the North to the South. Along the way, they try some traditional dancing and folk singing, visit historic sites including Crom Castle and Bloody Pass, and meet a genealogist with a fascinating story to tell.

S04E01 Göta Canal

• March 20, 2016

Timothy West and Prunella Scales embark on more waterway adventures. This time, they head into uncharted waters to attempt one of the longest canal journeys in the world - 350 miles coast to coast across Sweden. The first leg of their voyage begins in Gothenburg, where they link up with the historic Göta Canal, taking them into the heart of the Scandinavian country and toward the Baltic Sea

S04E02 Stockholm and the Archipelago

• March 27, 2016

Tim and Pru follow the ancient route of the Vikings, visiting Stockholm and the nearby islands of its archipelago.

S04E03 Stratford-upon-Avon

• April 3, 2016

Timothy and Prunella take a trip down the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, one of Britain's most picturesque waterways, and also pay tribute to William Shakespeare

S05E01 Venice

• August 17, 2016

Timothy West and Prunella Scales embark on more spectacular canal journeys. This time they travel to Venice. The journey begins 14 miles west of Venice on the Brenta, a river that was first canalised in the 13th century. Lined with palaces that were once holiday homes for Venetian nobility, they follow the route that Casanova and Lord Byron took to the city. After crossing the Venetian lagoon, Tim and Pru arrive at St Mark's Square, where they escape the busy Grand Canal and discover the tranquillity and beauty of the smaller canals that tourists rarely see. Their journey's end is on the marshy island of Torcello, the place where Venice began.

S05E02 Netherlands

• August 24, 2016

Tim and Pru explore a network totally new to them as they embark on a voyage across the Netherlands. Travelling from the Windmills of the Kinderdijk to the vibrant city of Amsterdam, they explore a country that was partly created by its canals. Half the land was once under water, and it's the combination of windmills and canals that over the centuries prevented the Netherlands from flooding. The voyage takes them to the gardens of Keukenhof, where seven million tulips are on display. There they discover why in the 17th century, one tulip bulb cost the same as a house in Amsterdam. In the city of Haarlem they visit the Teylers Museum, which agrees to open up its archive of rare Rembrandt self-portraits for Tim and Pru to admire. Arriving in Amsterdam, they explore the capital's historic canal district known as the Grachtengordel. Braving Amsterdam's crazy canal traffic they visit one of the most elegant canal-side mansions of Holland's Golden Age.

S05E03 The Leeds and Liverpool

• August 31, 2016

Timothy West and Prunella Scales embark on a journey into their pasts, via the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year. Despite living most their lives in the South, they both have Northern roots, and as the canal winds over the Pennines and down through the Dales they're transported back to their Yorkshire origins. Starting at the highest point of the canal, they're immediately faced with the challenge of a bumpy ride through Foulridge Tunnel. Emerging on the other side, Pru steps back into her childhood memories when they visit the country's last surviving steam-powered textile mill. Meandering through the 'curlies', the canal's most winding and beautiful stretch, they are joined by the acclaimed poet, Simon Armitage, whose work is inspired by the rugged beauty of the Yorkshire landscape.

S06E01 Bristol and North Devon

• October 23, 2016

With Tim playing King Lear in Bristol, he and Prunella Scales tour the city and also some West Country waterways further afield, including Devon. They also take a paddle steamer.

S06E02 The Caledonian

• November 6, 2016

Timothy West and Prunella Scales cross the Scottish Highlands on a sun-kissed voyage along the spectacular Caledonian Canal, a waterway that links the North Sea with the Atlantic. First part of a Scottish odyssey.

S06E03 The Crinan Canal

• November 13, 2016

Timothy West and Prunella Scales island-hop their way through the Hebrides, visiting Tobermory, Iona, the Isle of Jura, and lastly the magical nine-mile Crinan canal. Conclusion of a Scottish odyssey.

S07E01 India, Kerala

• June 18, 2017

Tim and Pru explore the extraordinary backwaters of Kerala, with spices, dancing and a visit to a temple

S07E02 India, Brahmaputra

• June 25, 2017

Tim and Pru strike out for the rarely navigated Brahmaputra river in the far north of India, where they meet a community of monks and hitch a ride on an elephant

S08E01 The Norfolk Broads

• October 29, 2017

Tim and Pru explore one of Britain's most ancient and picturesque waterways, discovering the area's unique way of life, its ruins, fens, marshes and woodlands.

S08E02 Marne-Rhine Canal

• November 5, 2017

Timothy West and Prunella Scales set off on their adventure along the French canal system, as they travel down the Marne-Rhine Canal in Alsace and Lorraine, close to the German border. Their journey takes in enchanted forests and fairy-tale castles; mountains and valleys; the baffling French lock system; local wines; and a visit to Strasbourg and the European Parliament.

S08E03 Rio Douro, Portugal

• November 30, 2017

The Douro's dramatic geography is unlike any of the other waterways Tim and Pru have experienced - with the deepest lock in Europe and sites of ancient historical importance. Tim and Pru visit the Factory House, a very traditional English gentlemen's club that lies in the heart of bustling Porto. They also follow the water route taken by Baron Forrester, the Yorkshire born port entrepreneur, and visit some stunning wine estates.

S08E04 Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal

• December 7, 2017

Timothy West and Prunella Scales return to Wales to explore a canal that has eluded them for over half a century. The famously beautiful Monmouthshire and Brecon canal is cut off from the rest of Britain's network of waterways by the Black Mountains. The isolated gem meanders its way through the tranquil Usk valley. Tim and Pru visit the old iron works at Blaenavon, where children as young as five were once put to work; and the beautiful 15th-century castle at Tretower - rumoured to be haunted. They also lend a hand with some lock restoration work.

S09E01 The River Nile

• October 7, 2018

Timothy West and Prunella Scales travel down the River Nile from Luxor to Aswan.

S09E02 North Italy

• October 14, 2018

Timothy West and Prunella Scales explore the Naviglio Grande Canal in Italy, which runs from Lake Maggiore to Milan.

S09E03 Manchester

• October 28, 2018

Timothy West and Prunella Scales explore the waterways of North-West England, from the suburbs of Manchester, through Britain's first purpose-built canal, to the port at Ellesmere. They discover how canals played a vital role in transforming Britain during the Industrial Revolution, and have subsequently become a central point of Manchester's gay community.

S09E04 Argentina

• November 4, 2018

Timothy West and Prunella Scales take a boat ride in the Argentine jungle. There's gin and tonic with some remote Anglo Argentines, hummingbirds, honey, and a spot of tango.

S09E05 Lancaster Canal

• November 11, 2018

Tim and Pru navigate the Lancaster Canal, an early masterpiece of the waterways - travelling up along the coast of Morecambe Bay and visiting Carnforth and Lune Aqueduct

S09E06 Rideau Canal, Canada

• November 18, 2018

Timothy West and Prunella Scales start their journey in Kingston, Canada, where the Rideau begins. They follow its 125-mile course, all the way to Canada's capital.

S10E01 Asian Odyssey (Part One)

• June 9, 2019

Prunella Scales and Timothy West embark on a final canal journey in the first of two programmes exploring Vietnam and Cambodia. The trip begins in the limestone islands of Halong Bay, before travelling along the Red River to Hanoi and the ancient citadel of Hoa Lu. They also attend the famous lantern festival in the trading port of Hoi An.

S10E02 Asian Odyssey (Part Two)

• June 16, 2019

Timothy West and Prunella Scales' final journey takes them through Vietnam's Mekong Delta and across the border into Cambodia. They visit the capital city of Phenom Penh, and conclude their travels at Angkor Wat, an ancient temple built by the clever use of canals.

SPECIAL 0x1 The British Isles

• October 20, 2019

Timothy West and Prunella Scales return to the Oxford Canal for a voyage through the beautiful Cherwell Valley, as they recall their favourite waterway trips around the British Isles.

SPECIAL 0x2 Global Adventures

• October 27, 2019

Timothy West and Prunella Scales share some memories of their canal journeys overseas, including their first trip, which was to France on the Nivernais Canal. Tim is reminded of the time he tried to park his boat in Venice, at St Mark's Square, and the couple reminisce over a moonlit gondolier trip down the Grand Canal. Having successfully mastered the waterways of Europe, Tim and Pru then set forth on even more ambitious and remote journeys across the world - to India, Canada, Argentina and a trip down the Nile.

SPECIAL 0x3 Best of Scotland

• November 17, 2019

Tim and Pru look back at one of their favourite locations, with its epic vistas, dramatic feats of engineering, stunning landscapes, and a coast-to-coast adventure.

SPECIAL 0x4 North of England

• November 24, 2019

A look back at Timothy West and Prunella Scales' waterway travels in Lancashire and Yorkshire - including the Rochdale Canal and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The pair also reminisce about the Lancaster canal, which led Pru back to her roots as she visited the village of Near Sawrey, where her family lived during much of the Second World War and which had another very famous resident - Beatrix Potter.

SPECIAL 0x5 Best of Scandinavia

• March 15, 2020

A look back at Timothy West and Prunella Scales' Swedish travels where they made a 350-mile journey coast-to-coast by boat, taking in the mighty lakes, canals and islands.

SPECIAL 0x6 Best of Wales and the West Country

• August 24, 2020

A look back at Timothy West and Prunella Scales' adventures on the idyllic waterways of the Avon, Bristol Channel, Llangollen Canal, and the Mon and Brec.

S11E01 London's Waterways (Part 1)

• November 8, 2020

Veteran actors and married couple Prunella Scales and Timothy West pass the tiller to Sheila Hancock and Gyles Brandreth, who are celebrating 40 years of friendship by making new memories together and learning new skills. Sheila and Gyles learn the ropes with Tim, and set out by themselves along the upper reaches of the River Thames. It's the same river that roars past their homes in London, but just 50 miles upstream it's an Arcadian paradise of unspoiled nature, royal retreats and river regattas.

S11E02 London's Waterways (Part 2)

• November 15, 2020

Sheila Hancock and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth tackle their first manual lock and some terrifyingly tight turns, but find themselves relaxing into life at 4mph, and marvel at how secret histories reveal themselves. They visit the Royal Gunpowder Mills, which built its own canal system to transport volatile ammunition - vital to Britain's success in both world wars.

S12E01 Staffordshire's Waterways (Part 1)

• March 15, 2021

Sheila Hancock and Gyles Brandreth embark on their tour of Staffordshire's waterways, navigating the Caldon and the Trent and Mersey Canals to the Potteries.

S12E02 Staffordshire's Waterways (Part 2)

• March 22, 2021

Concluding their tour of Staffordshire's waterways, Sheila and Gyles uncover the history of Stourport and get a taste of the Desi pub in Wolverhampton.

S13E01 Cambridgeshire Fens

• August 25, 2021

Sheila and Gyles explore the Cambridgeshire Fens, make a pilgrimage to Ely Cathedral and pay homage to an early 20th-century poetry great - Rupert Brooke

S13E02 West Lancashire Coastal Plain

• September 1, 2021

Sheila and Gyles boat from Wigan to Liverpool across the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. In Wigan, Gyles takes on the world pie-eating champion.

S13E03 Grand Union and Stratford Canal

• September 8, 2021

Sheila and Gyles journey to Stratford-upon-Avon, where Sheila performed at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Gyles once lived with his family

S13E04 Peak Forest Canal

• September 15, 2021

Sheila and Gyles boat the beautiful Peak Forest Canal to Manchester, where they have a go at dry stone walling and discover the hatting history of Denton

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• TV Listings

Ian McKellen

Birth Name: Ian Murray McKellen

Birth Place: Burnley, Lancashire, England

Profession Actor

Subject (person only)

Screenwriter, executive producer, assoc. producer.

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London Ring

Great canal journeys.

• Timothy West and Prunella Scales have lived all their married life in London, but have never explored the canals on their doorstep. In this episode, they journey along the London Ring, as it's known to narrow-boaters, in a voyage of discovery through their home city. Starting in Brentford, they follow the Union Canal, and then the Regent's Canal, through the heart of the capital, until it meets the Thames at Limehouse. They meet up with Andrew Sachs and Sir Ian McKellen, and visit the cemetery at Kensal Green, and the grave of friend Harold Pinter. It's a tale of two cities: from the urban edge of Kentish Town, to the glorious grandeur of Regent's Park; from idyllic daylight moments, when they encounter nature and wildlife, to the darker night times when they become strangers in their own city. — Anonymous

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Ian McKellen by Garry O’Connor review – from Richard III to Gandalf

A fascinating biographical study of a stellar acting career – including the secrets that lie behind it

G arry O’Connor’s book about Ian McKellen is as much involved with ideas as it is with facts. It makes no claim to be an exhaustive account. O’Connor has been writing more or less experimental biographies of actors for many years, starting with his classic account of Ralph Richardson , continuing with Paul Scofield , Alec Guinness (twice) and a fine double portrait of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh . A former drama critic, he is fascinated by the mystery of great acting. Of the present volume, he says, quoting Hamlet, but sounding more like a fairground barker: “Here is the height, the presumption of my endeavour: to ‘pluck out the heart’ of the Ian McKellen mystery – how such a single being could create a monumental career of such depth and span; where the ever-charging source of his energy comes from; and how his personality and character have continued to develop and change throughout his life. All in all to make it speak as it never has before, to sound him from his lowest note to the top of his compass.”

There is a McKellen mystery and at its centre is his duality, his paradoxical capacity to be both/and. He is simultaneously “deeply secretive, intensely private”, as his former partner Sean Mathias says, and perhaps the most open and accessible personality British theatre has ever produced.

Even his influences are contradictory, both roundhead and cavalier: on the one hand the Marlowe Society at Cambridge, where he imbibed the principles of rigorous textual fidelity and deep moral purpose; on the other Olivier, living embodiment of the theatrical. His approach is strikingly similar to Olivier’s. Both are great prose actors, resistant to lyricism and displays of personal emotion; both need to root everything in observed reality.

They had opposite journeys: Olivier a beetle-browed, gap-toothed boy with huge eyes and thin lips, physically slight, a whippet who turned himself into a panther; McKellen, built like a carthorse, who, to begin with, when he was concealing his sexuality, hid his underlying power under a carapace of assumed prettiness, which made him seem rather camp. When he came out as gay, which coincided with middle-age, he stripped himself of all that and revealed his earthiness, his masculinity. Coming out, as McKellen has tirelessly insisted, is a wonderful thing: one is finally relieved of whatever mask one has been wearing and is able to acknowledge not just who one wants to sleep with but who and what one really is. And – supreme bonus – it makes for better acting.

There is paradox here, though, even on the physical plane: his sizable feet are rarely still, tracing elaborate dainty patterns across the boards. His physical transformations have been extraordinary, none more so than his semi-paralysed, proto-Mosley Richard III: utterly, chillingly credible, a real threat. But here he differs from his hero Olivier, and also from Antony Sher, both of whom, in that role, created fairytale ogres, figures out of nightmare, dredged, one can only presume, from the actors’ subconscious selves. McKellen’s Richard was a different kind of nightmare, the sort whose hyper-realism is what renders it truly disturbing. Olivier created mythic figures, McKellen full-length portraits. So it was with his King Lear: characterised not by mental befuddlement but by a terrifying clarity of each individual thought, thoughts unconnected but each one perfectly coherent, Nietzschean aphorisms spoken in the glare of a lightning flash.

Where, O’Connor asks, does it all come from? A remote father and a caring but not especially close mother who died early? Well, yes, but more revealing is McKellen’s remarkable comment about the autobiography he gave up writing: “I was getting too emotionally upset that I hadn’t been a good enough child, because I’d not shown enough interest in them.” A devastating assessment, but it suggests that he didn’t allow himself to be close to them because he feared their power over him, feared being hurt or rejected by them, so declared his independence of them as early as possible.

His deep amorous commitments – and there appear to have been few of them – seem to have followed a similar pattern: his first long and stable relationship became stiflingly domestic, so he left; his second, more turbulent relationship, with Mathias, was too unsettling. O’Connor’s revelation is about McKellen’s passionate involvement with the actor Gary Bond , one of the theatre’s grands horizontals , with whom he seems to have fallen deeply in love. But that left him too vulnerable; it would have stopped him from doing what he wanted to do with his life, so it too ended. He briefly flirted with directing, he has been a formidable spokesman for LGBT rights, he has been close to power. But acting is what his life has been all about, and he has done it in an astonishing multiplicity of ways, on stages large and small, metropolitan and regional, in the great companies and in the commercial theatre, at the centre of a large cast and on his own.

Like Maggie Smith, he is, in the end, the great actor he is because it matters so much to him. Not the event or even the play but the fact that he is more fully alive, more fully himself, on stage than anywhere else. Crucial to his art is that we are in it with him. No fourth wall illusions for McKellen: it is all shared with an audience with whom his complicity is very frank – “Did you see what I just did?” being the unspoken question. And in life, when he is not on the stage, he is in the wings – always ready, as actors are in the wings, to share a joke or to become fascinated by some fresh thought, while all the while waiting and ready for the heightened life once they step into the light. His audiences have loved him for it, though few of the characters he has played have been lovable.

It is another McKellenish paradox that relatively late in his career, and on film, he should at last have found himself playing a character who has been universally loved, in a semi-Christian fantasy filled with elaborate pseudo-profundities of the sort that would normally be anathema to him. O’Connor devotes a long chapter to The Lord of the Rings , teasing out tenuous connections between Tolkien and McKellen himself, but the simple truth is that playing an embodiment of wisdom and truth and essential benevolence has made the actor very happy (and very rich).

By the end of O’Connor’s fascinating voyage round McKellen, the author has, as he says, peeled away as many layers as he could. Sometimes strained, the book is a stimulating complement to the most factually informative account of his life – the actor’s own website, www.McKellen.com.

• Biography books
• Ian McKellen
• Laurence Olivier

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