Noticed Paddington Bears springing up around London over the past few weeks? Over fifty of them are there until the end of December and for a reason. Firstly, they’re a fund raiser for the NSPCC and, in their various guises – a coat decorated with oranges and a space suit are just two – they also herald the cinematic arrival of the nation’s favourite bear from Darkest Peru. …
The first sighting of Paddington was back in June – the big screen version of a certain Peruvian bear, that is. Then there was all the kerfuffle surrounding the loss of his Colin Firth voice and its replacement by a Ben Whishaw one. So, with the release date of 28 November creeping ever closer, a select group of film writers – me included! – was summonsed to a screening room in Soho…