Katy Manning - Sticks and stones won't break her bones!
- Publication: Diana
- Date: 1973-08-11
- Author:
- Page: 22
- Language: English
On the top floor of a block of flats in Chiswick, with a view looking out over half of London, Katy Manning—Jo Grant from "Doctor Who"—lives happily among a steadily growing collection of assorted bric-a-brac.
"I'm a real trickerer," " she grinned. "I've collected bits of stuff from everywhere."
WHITE BEAMS
The flat itself, with dark sloping walls and white beams, is the perfect setting for the bits and pieces.
"It's the only way. I mean, when you look at all the different colours I've got in here you'd tend to expect a real 'ugh, technicolour yawn', but against the dark background it seems to be all right."
Naturally, being an inventive type, Katy doesn't believe in anything so conventional as buying things for the flat, though she does admit to haunting any passing antique and junk shops.
"There's a few things I've spent bread on, but most of them are acquired by other means. You know, stopping the men who are pulling down buildings and saying 'Here, can I have those tiles'. I think things are much more soulful that way.
"I also collect a lot of stuff like sticks and stones (the big one in the fireplace came from a quarry where we were filming) and just arrange them about the place.
CUSHION MAD
"As you can see, I love cushions. I spread them everywhere because the flat's got such a low ceiling you can't really have anything tall. I made some, bought others, and found some up in my parents' attic.
"The bellows in the fireplace are a souvenir that really blows my mind. We did a 'Doctor Who' on a ship and afterwards it was going to be scrapped. I found the bellows lying about and they said I could have them. Probably the only bit left."
The bellows are in their normal place, beside the open fire, but in fact Katy's very fond of getting something and then using it for a different purpose. There's a large glass lampshade upside down with a pot plant in it; a Victorian doorstop stuck half-way up the wall with a candle on it; two sawn-off table legs she found by the river when the tide was out that are also used as tall candlesticks; and an antique Mexican shawl doing a great job disguising a radiator.
"The shawl seemed a good idea when I bought it, but when I put it on at home I thought I looked ridiculous, so rather than just hide it in a drawer, I found another use for it.
PLANTS EVERYWHERE
"Gardening's one of my favourite things, so I've got plants everywhere—in the kitchen, the sitting-room, on all the window-sills, and dozens all over the bathroom."
Even the pictures on the walls came, in part, from an unconventional source. "A friend of mine decided to give up
all his possessions and go off to Ethiopia. He asked me to choose anything of his I'd like to have, so I took a couple of paintings and a lamp. In the end he blew the whole thing out and didn't go, but he wouldn't take the pictures back. Still, he can always come and see them here."
The other important thing about Katy's home is Cass, her brown and black King Charles Spaniel.
CROWSTONE CASKET
"His proper name's Crowstone Casket, but that's a bit much so we call him Gas, or Cass, or Rotter, or anything. He's like two different dogs at once. In the house he's calm and quiet, but take him outside and blink—and he's gone. Just disappears. He's terrible when we're having photographs taken, hogs the limelight whenever he can, adores the flash instead of being frightened by it.
"I also have two cats. The dreaded Smudger, who's very confident and likes being photographed almost as much as Cass, and P.B., who's very shy. He's called P.B. because he's very sick, has been since he was born— he's little and hasn't really any cat habits. If he tries to jump anywhere he's just as likely to fall flat on his face—so P.B. is short for Poor Baby."
Finally, before leaving Katy to settle down to listen to some music (one of her favourite hobbies, though she says she prefers heavy rock and hasn't reached the more 'sophisticated' tastes yet), we talked about her clothes.
HIGH HEELS
"I'm really keen on the very high heels. I'm not very tall but I always wanted to be. Certainly, with these heels I look better in slim trousers.
"I love badges, pick them up anywhere, all sorts. That's the way I dress, I like decorative things. I'm a Libran, and we're all like that. It's terrific, after walking down a wet street with people all in dull macs, to go to a party or somewhere and zap!— there are a lot of people in all the glitter."
In fact, you might say Katy's approach to clothes is like her attitude to her home—you take a nice dark background and then hang bright things on it!
Disclaimer: These citations are created on-the-fly using primitive parsing techniques. You should double-check all citations. Send feedback to whovian@cuttingsarchive.org
- APA 6th ed.: (1973-08-11). Katy Manning - Sticks and stones won't break her bones!. Diana p. 22.
- MLA 7th ed.: "Katy Manning - Sticks and stones won't break her bones!." Diana [add city] 1973-08-11, 22. Print.
- Chicago 15th ed.: "Katy Manning - Sticks and stones won't break her bones!." Diana, edition, sec., 1973-08-11
- Turabian: "Katy Manning - Sticks and stones won't break her bones!." Diana, 1973-08-11, section, 22 edition.
- Wikipedia (this article): <ref>{{cite news| title=Katy Manning - Sticks and stones won't break her bones! | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Katy_Manning_-_Sticks_and_stones_won%27t_break_her_bones! | work=Diana | pages=22 | date=1973-08-11 | via=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=14 March 2025 }}</ref>
- Wikipedia (this page): <ref>{{cite web | title=Katy Manning - Sticks and stones won't break her bones! | url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Katy_Manning_-_Sticks_and_stones_won%27t_break_her_bones! | work=Doctor Who Cuttings Archive | accessdate=14 March 2025}}</ref>
