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I Told You I Was Ill: The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan (2004)

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clip 'A special place'

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Spike Milligan’s daughters describe the 'fairy letters’ – tiny letters in miniscule handwriting – their father used to make for them as children and leave around the house for them to find. As they talk about the magical world he created through his stories, some of the fairy letters are shown. Home movie footage of Milligan’s young family on holiday at sea is accompanied by one of his nonsensical songs. His eldest daughter Laura talks about their trips to Australia and Woy Woy where Milligan’s parents lived. According to her, it was the place where his heart was.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

This clip beautifully illustrates the way in which Spike Milligan creatively engaged with his children throughout their childhood and the importance of family in Milligan’s life. Despite the difficulties of bringing his children up on his own for a number of years (see clip two) and his battle with bipolar disorder (see clip three), his four children continued to provide a source of inspiration and creativity which flowed into his work. The intricate and playful 'fairy letters’ are a strong example of this. Even as adults, Milligan’s two eldest daughters, Laura and Sile, affectionately remember the 'special place’ their father took them to through his stories, games and drawings.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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