Oi Duchess! You Should Read This Book

By Dana Gordon

Rags to Richie: The Story So Far by Shane Richie, 2003, Contender Books,
ISBN: 1843570998, hardback, 288 pages, Ł17.99

A Google.com search for Shane Richie provides no fewer than 121,000 websites celebrating our favourite new Queen Vic bartender's life and career. The good news for Shane fans includes a link to The Sun's report of his Ł750,000 deal to pull pints for the thirsty punters of Albert Square for three more years.

For me, though, a search of the shelves of the Bookends Bookstore in Wokingham, Berkshire last fall provided a more enlightening resource: Rags to Richie, Shane's autobiography (co-written with Sue Crawford and published in 2003). Publisher Contender Books fills shelves with companion books for Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen-BBC series Design Rules and Channel 4's Wife Swap, as well as unauthorised surveys of TV hits like 24, Six Feet Under and ER. With telly-cred like this, how could they go wrong with our lad?

We were visiting our friend Anita who has been amused by my pursuit of all things EastEnders since well before she moved to England several years ago. So our little visit brought us to Bookends where the shopkeepers pretended to be unaware that Shane was in nearby Reading a few days before to sign copies of his book.

Although I missed an autograped copy, I headed right over to the checkout with my prize.

And later that same chilly evening in November, as we waited for the train back to London, I opened Rags to Richie and dove right in.

Fulfilling Rags to Richie's subtitle, the book starts with a flying leap into the "Story so Far‚" and if even half of it is true, there's not a woman in England between the ages of 25 and 50 he hasn't shagged. No wonder his character is so popular-the women in the British TV audience are reminiscing on days gone by and the men are checking in to see just what their partners are remembering!

Of course, the many American viewers of EastEnders who are fortunate to have seen the episodes broadcast by BBC America before Sept. 27, 2003 (known as 'Black Saturday' to us brokenhearted fans) were completely bowled over by Shane's portrayal of Alfie Moon from the minute he was kicked off the London Underground at the Walford Station.

After falling into the square and bouncing from the market to the caff and from Bridge Street to the Arthur's bench, Alfie blagged his way into the job of manager of the Queen Vic by keeping his ears open and his mouth open wider.

Shane admits to being able to convince anyone in the position to employ him that he can do anything. And Shane gave Alfie more than his share of confidence. After convincing his Duchess-Peggy- that he was in fact Chris Wright, the well qualified new bar man, Alfie runs right out and moves his young brother (the dreamy Spencer played by Christopher Parker) and his wonderful Nana (Hilda Braid) into that small flat over the pub.

Although his book reveals little news about our friends in the Square, Shane is candid about how he ended up behind the bar. Shane's ability to put modesty aside was the first requirement for telling his story.

He'd need this skill-how else could he describe his early days as a bingo caller for his local social club which led to a gigolo phase which seems to have continued in one form or another until getting his act together on a six-week tour of the U.S. straddling a Harley from which he arrived in Walford as one of the most famous actors on television today?

I wouldn't begin to guess what motivates celebrities to write their life stories. Shane has been candid in several interviews since he joined the EastEnders cast about the trouble which his drinking caused to his first wife and their kids and how after he fixed his life, the good bits started to stick with him.

I can suggest that readers who are curious about how Shane cleared his head will be glad that they stuck around to see how his remarkable drive to entertain reveals a man with genuine love of his audience and deep regret at the mistakes he's made along the way.

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