The city’s quota of femme-fatales, crazy stunt artists and menacing assassins went through the roof over the weekend.
Between June 3-4, Peterborough saw the long-awaited Octopussy reunion event take place, with stars and crew from the 1983 Bond movie descending upon the the city to mark the 40th anniversary of it’s official theatrical release.
Organised by Marc Hernandez, Anders Frejdh and Martijn Mulder, and facilitated by local historian and fundraiser Del Singh, the glitzy two-day event invited legendary 007 actors, directors, stunt artists and crew members, as well as legions of James Bond fans, to revisit former filming locations and reminisce about old times.
More than 150 Bond fans were delighted to see revered 007 director John Glen and Swedish actress (and Octopussy femme-fatale) Kristina Wayborn in attendance.
Twin brothers David and Tony Meyer – who played fearsome knife throwing assassins in 1983 – were also on hand, as were ‘Bond Girls’ Carole Ashby, Helene Hunt, Alison Worth and Safira Afzal.
A number of the film’s editors, stunt coordinators and special effects wizards came to join in with the nostalgic festivities, too.
Co-organiser Del Singh, who worked on the film as a teenager, described the event as “phenomenal.”
The industrious facilitator was the movie’s official ‘turban expert’ back in 1982. He noted that the weekend lived up to its billing as “a truly international Bond fan event,” as fans made their way to Peterborough from as far afield as Japan, Canada, America, Germany, France and Scandinavia to meet the film's key stars, stunt artists and magic-makers.
The reunion kicked off on Saturday (June 3), when cast, crew and stars of the film returned to the Nene Valley Railway (NVR) station at Wansford, the base of most of the film’s principal filming in Peterborough in 1982.
After enjoying a stately ride aboard a rather familiar-looking vintage steam train, the gang of ‘83 threw on their glad rags for a swanky anniversary gala dinner & dance at Peterborough's Delta Marriott Hotel, where a Q&A with the stars and a Del Singh-helmed disco took place.
The following day (June 4) the stars and crew travelled back to NVR Wansford to mingle with fans, sign autographs and let people take photographs.
Asked to single out a particular high point of the event, Del responded coyly: “The highlight of the weekend for me was connecting with Kristina Wayborn again,” he said: “it's fair to say I had a bit of a schoolboy crush on her back then.”
The event saw a number of special dedications made by organisers to the NVR, including the presentation of an Octopussy Circus sign which will be mounted on one of the carriages at NVR. A large, framed photograph of the late Sir Roger Moore in a still from the movie at Wansford will also go on display.
An autograph signing session held in one of the train carriages raised over £4,000, all of which will be donated directly to Nene Valley Railway.
Take a look at photographs taken of the former Octopussy cast reuniting in Peterborough, below:
1. Octopussy 40th anniversary reunion
Event co-organiser Del Singh with Octopussy director John Glenn and some of the film's 'Bond girls.' Photo: David Lowndes
2. Octopussy 40th anniversary reunion
The reunion event's organiser, Marc Hernandez, with his new book On The Train Tracks', which tells the stories of Bond films that have been shot on location at Nene Valley Railway. Photo: David Lowndes
3. Octopussy 40th anniversary reunion
Co-organiser Del Singh with Kristina Wayborn, Octopussy's memorable femme-fatale and Del's schoolboy crush. Photo: David Lowndes
4. Octopussy 40th anniversary reunion
Twin brothers Dave and Tony Meyer made a big impact playing menacing knife throwing assassins, Mischka and Grischka in the 1983 film. Stunt artist and actor Andy Bradford, centre, was Bond's colleague 009, the doomed British Secret Service agent they ruthlessly despatched. Photo: David Lowndes