Ken Russell RIP

Farewell Ken Russell. Born in the same year as my mum, joined the merchant navy as a teenager (like my dad), made very good arts documentaries for the BBC, and then became, if not Britain's best film director, then probably its weirdest. I'm not a big fan of his work but you have to say he was original. Well, not quite true - he was (with Jarman) Britain's answer to Fellini. Women in Love, Tommy, Lisztomania and Altered States are all good films by any measure, though nothing since then has really stood out, although Gothic (1986) was passable. I don't think I saw anything after that. And I've never seen The Devils.