centre. There, in the middle, stood Nanny McPhee, Mr Edelweiss by her side, now quite normal-sized and with a shell-shocked expression on his face. The bomb had completely disappeared.

Slowly at first, everyone came out from behind the hut. Vincent spied the ladder leaning against one of the big ricks.

‘Let’s climb up!’ he shouted joyfully, running towards it. All the other children ran after him, yelling and shouting at the tops of their voices and happier than they had ever been, ever in their lives.

‘Three cheers for Mr Edelweiss!!’ shouted Mrs Green, and everyone cheered their heads off as Mr Edelweiss gave a very dignified bow. Then he looked at Nanny McPhee furtively and she gave him a big smile and nodded her head as though she was pleased with him. He blinked with pleasure and gave a single proud squawk before joining the children on top of the barley-rick.

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The Diary 26

We are in the beautiful little village of Hambledon, made even more beautiful by the Art Department, who have moved all the cars and put grass everywhere and planted things and made a shop-front for Mrs Docherty’s and, oh, it’s gorgeous. Lady Hambledon, a delightful Italian person with lilac hair, came out and introduced herself and invited me for pasta at her house. I can’t wait. It’ll be the first square meal I’ve had in weeks . . .

Maggie, Rhys and Sam are doing the first Mr Spolding scene and all being very funny and terrific.

August 16th: Back at Shepperton. Got all dressed up to try for the final shot of the film, where Nanny lets Mr E. get on her shoulder, and of course it was lovely and sunny in the car park when I arrived, and as soon as I got out of the make-up chair to shoot the scene the sun went behind a cloud and declined to come out again. So I took all the make-up off and Read In (see Glossary) for other people as we picked up a few things in the studio. Then at about 5 p.m. I got into all the make-up again and we went and tried to shoot it for the fifteenth time and the sun went in AGAIN and we all swore at the sky like anything and I took all my make-up off again and went home feeling rather daft.

But I do feel now that this shoot will end. It actually will.

It’s when things like this shoot end that you realise life itself will one day end too. It somehow makes that more real.

August 17th: Bright, hot, cloudless day. We’re inside. Enough to make you weep, it is. Feel utterly depressed by weather and my general ancientness.

August 18th: Heatwave all week. The Law of Sod holds evil sway over us all. We are shooting inside and can’t change it around because of people’s schedules (mine, mostly, it has to be admitted). Still feel ancient and depressed.

August 19th: Better today. My husband and daughter came to cheer us on. It’s even HOTTER in the studio, but we are shooting at a tremendous lick and getting fabulous stuff from everyone. Maggie made me cry every time she delivered the line ‘Then it must be true’ when Asa tells her Mr Green is still alive. Lots of Kleenex being used around the monitors. Five days to go. I can’t believe it.

August 20th: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s last day! 40°C in the studio, but everyone on fine form. We all had cupcakes and champagne on wrap! (see Glossary).

Earlier in the day, I passed Oscar’s caravan and saw a notice outside that said: DO NOT ENTER. SICK BAY.

Gaia came out and said to me, very urgently, that they’d had to send for Rachel the nurse because Oscar (Vincent) had just fallen down the steps of his caravan and hurt his head. Oh no! I thought, envisaging wounds and horror and going gently in to see what was up. The caravan was full of very quiet people all sitting around Oscar, who had a makeshift bandage round his head and an expression of deep gloom on his face. I was appalled. I went and sat with him. He was silent.

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‘He can’t speak,’ said Lil (Megsie). ‘He’s in shock.’

‘We’ve called an ambulance,’ said his mum, Lizzie.

‘Oh, Oscar, darling,’ I said, tears coming into my eyes. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of here in no time.’

Guiltily I thought, Help! If Oscar’s injured we won’t be able to finish this week and then it will be