Peeved about Peeves!

Having the past two weeks been obsessed with Horcuxes and Harry Potter, I have been immersed in fan forums where many a sniffling fan is currently lamenting the end of an era. It seems that many kiddies have grown up with ol' Potts and are loathe to part ways with him, despite the really bad epilogue at the end. I myself enjoyed the seventh book, was pleased to see some of my hunches proven and shed a few tears over Snape and his sad history. Talkie 5 is quite a cracker too, and I thought the reviews were rather harsh. The kids' acting is much improved and I adored Sirius. Bonham-Carter makes a terrifying Bellatrix (and quite pretty too)!

Prior to the first Potter movie, I relished the thought of seeing the naughty, anarchic poltergeist, Peeves, causing havoc, picking his nose, singing rude songs and being beastly to all the students, and at the time I thought none other than the gurning, mad face of Rik Mayall would be perfect for the part. In my Pottersome web wanderings, I actually found out that Wik *was* cast in this role and shot scenes for the first movie, but they were cut! Ye gods! How dreadfully disappointing! The discarded footage is nowhere to be found and is apparently not on the DVD extras. Poo!

I am reminded of the autographed photo of Wik that I received as a teen (now packed away in the loft Back Home) - mine was black and white, but it's the same pic as shown here. He was quite a dish in his day, despite the fish!