Why has the Guardian has got itself in such a tizzy about the Prince of Wales writing to government ministers (Report, 25 November)? Surely we should be concerned with whether the government ever took any notice of what he wrote?
David Thornton
Newcastle upon Tyne
• I feel compelled to point out the absence of certain acknowledgments in the article about the making of Illuminatus! (Make it wilder!, 19 November), starting with the lead photograph, which featured Pru Gee, mother of Daisy Eris Campbell, Ken being her father. Pru was, in fact, hoisted atop a forklift truck for this breathtakingly beautiful scene. The photograph was one of a series of production photographs taken by Alan Bell, commissioned by the National Theatre. Illuminatus! was co-written and co-directed by Ken Campbell and Chris Langham, who should be given equal credit. For the record, the production starred Neil Cunningham, in a glittering performance as Hagbard Celine.
Richard Adams
London
• When Ian Jack (Saturday, 22 November) bemoans the length of modern films, it should be remembered that when people went to the cinema in the 1950s and 60s, for their entrance fee they would see two films plus a news feature. The main film would last an average of 100 minutes, the second feature perhaps 86 minutes, and then advertisements maybe eight to 10 more. Single film screening means when a film is now made it has to be long enough to justify people spending the £10 or £12 ticket price. This time is padded out by adverts and promos, and can extend these up to 30 minutes. The problem is, that few stories can justify the length of time the market dictates, hence the extended special effects. These will get louder and of course longer.
Charles Cronin
London
• Not all football terrace chants are brutish (Is Britain’s beautiful game really so nasty?, 24 November). Last Friday at Griffin Park, Brentford’s supporters celebrated a last-minute victory against their west London rivals by adapting the tune of Knees Up Mother Brown with the joyous ode “Bees up Fulham down”.
Richard Tippett
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
• This seems to me to be tinkering with the problem of social division. Why doesn’t the Labour party stop faffing around and remove the charitable status from private schools? And while they’re about it get rid of selective schools: grammar and faith schools.
Maggie LeMare
Birmingham
