Burke and Hare
The idea of Reece in a feature film again was very exciting for anybody who is a fan. The film was based on the events of the murders comitted by the Irish serial killers William Burke and William Hare in Edinburgh in 1827, and starred Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis in the title roles. Ronnie Corbett had a fantastic role as Captain McClintock of the militia. Reece had a small role as Mackenzie, one of the guards. His lines and scenes were few but he made them count with excellent yet subtle physical comedy. Nice to see him briefly reunited with Andy too, being his "The Cottage" co-star. A very enjoyable film with the great John Landis at the helm, and a deliciously funny role for Reece.
Psychoville Halloween Special
When we were last at Ravenhill in summer 2009, all the principal characters had been lured back to the hospital by the mysterious black gloved stranger. Who it turned out was Mr Jolly. He'd planned to blow them all to kingdom come, for the death of his mother, Nurse Kenchington... who then walks in alive and well. One explosion later - who survived? The special took us back to Ravenhill, only this time we were seeing the place through the eyes of a young man - Drew, who was showing the place as a prospective location to location scout Phil - played hysterically by Reece. Phil is excited by his new project - Dale Winton's Overnight Ghost Hunts - but is keen to let us know that it's "nothing like Most Haunted". Drew then recounts stories of horror involving the characters from S1. Mr Jelly has an unfortunate incident with a lady of the night and two spooky trick or treaters, and Maureen is out changing into a werewolf! Back to Ravenhill and Drew runs into Nurse Kenchington again. She shoots Drew, and Phil tries to help him. We are then shown this is the same night as Mr Jolly's Big Happy McBomb. Drew and Phil are killed in the explosion. Reece did an excellent job with Phil - we only had him for an hour, and yet I really hated the character being killed off, Reece made you instantly take to him and care about him. The writing was superb, full of laughs yet with a gloomy undertone.
Spring/Summer 2011 will see Psychoville S2 broadcast, and I for one am looking forward to learning who died and survived and having some questions answered - the most important being about that locket?....
The League of Gentlemen's Ghost Chase
July saw Reece reunited with his Gent friends and the four travelled to Wotton-under-Edge to investigate the infamous Ancient Ram Inn - the supposed site of devil worship and witchcraft practice, for a special BBC Radio 4 programme. All four Gents are skeptics, so this was particuarly interesting. They were shown around by John Humphries the owner, who pointed out where various spirits are meant to manifest. The Gents took part in a ouija board session where a spirit allegedly came through, and when asked how it felt to be dead, answered "Nice.". Reece himself was a brave man and spent some time alone in the attic, where there's an altar. Nothing untoward happened and the Gents left Gloucestershire, still skeptics.
Ghost Stories
In Feburary 2010, Jeremy Dyson's and Andy Nyman's new play debuted at the Liverpool Playhouse, and then at the Lyric Hammersmith, London. The play revolves around a lecture being given by Professor Phillip Goodman, a professor of Parapsychology. He recounts tales of alleged paranormal experiences of three people - a nightwatchman, a young driver and a businessman. As Andy and Jeremy are keen to "keep the secrets of Ghost Stories", I won't be detailing the plot. Reece took over Andy's role of Phillip Goodman on November 9th 2010, for a period of two months. He has done a wonderful job with the character. He's made the character seem even more reluctant to want to believe in the idea of ghosts, and has let more emotion into Goodman. He puts so much into it, breathtaking. It's such a treat to see Reece on stage, and if you get the chance to see him before his final show on January 9th, take it. He's fantastic. My vote for Best Takeover Role 2010.
Another interesting and productive professional year for Reece - come forth 2011!