Bafta-winning producer Andy Harries was full of stories in his "masterclass" session at Edinburgh. There was the time the casting note for his new Sky1 series Mad Dogs went awry when "Tony Blair" was mistyped as "Tiny Blair" and six midgets turned up for audition. He ended up casting one of them. Or the Italian media executive who is an actor and wanted to be in his BBC1 detective series, Zen. The only way for Harries to convince them otherwise – and avoid hurting feelings – was by suggesting he would have to cast the BBC's Ben Stephenson in the drama as well. Or when – yes, there's more – when he pitched the idea for Henvy VIII to Ray Winstone over lunch at The Ivy, only for the actor to stand up, bang on the table and bellow: "I am going to be fucking Henry the fucking Eighth!" He took it as a yes.
