Die Hard : To me it's one of the great Christmas films, if a little unusual. I love a bit of John McClane & Hans Gruber! The legend of the filming of Hans Gruber's death scene grows more epic with each new telling. Somewhat shockingly, Alan Rickman agreed to perform the stunt himself, and with that knowledge in mind, the distance the actor was said to have fallen took on a life of its own, growing from around twenty feet to thirty to, eventually, forty feet. The truth of the matter is that Die Hard's director, John McTiernan, asked Rickman to fall backward onto an airbag from what was most likely a distance of about 25 feet in the air in the hope of catching a close-up of the actor's face that would sell genuine fear. It wasn't the distance that Alan Rickman fell that gave this moment its juice. It was a decision made by Die Hard's stunt coordinator, Charlie Picerni. Rather than drop Rickman on the count of three as had been predetermined, Picerni had his stunt crew drop the actor on the count of one instead, resulting in the expression you see on Alan Rickman's/Hans Gruber's face. That look of fear isn't acting at all.

Was a lovely misty morning when I headed out on Laz early today.

Let's settle a Christmas debate Real tree or fake tree?

Words of wisdom from Jo Winfield, at our June Dressage/Flat camp. Jo is with on Wednesday for our next Expert Talk.