Summaries

The life of Neil Baldwin, a man who has shrugged off his perceived limitations to live an incredible life.

Neil Baldwin, born just after World War II, is considered to have learning difficulties but he has an appetite for life and, encouraged by his mother Mary, leaves his butchery job to join the circus as Nello the Clown, being undaunted when the circus moves on without him. He moves to Keele University, where Mary has a cleaning job, appointing himself the unofficial greeter to new students, a role rewarded by an honorary degree in 2013. He also gets to manage its unofficial football team, named after him, and in 1992 talks his way into becoming the kit man and mascot of his beloved football team Stoke City. For Neil there are no boundaries - his interest in religion leads to his becoming a lay preacher whilst he presents himself at the House of Commons for tea with MP Tony Benn and at Cambridge University, where he strikes up a friendship with Prince Andrew, which results in his being on the queen's Christmas card list. With his indomitable attitude overcoming early set-backs and the death of his beloved mother for Neil life is - marvellous.—don @ minifie-1

Details

Keywords
  • friendship
  • man wears eyeglasses
  • circus
  • university
  • mascot
Genres
  • Drama
Release date Sep 24, 2014
Motion Picture Rating (MPA) Not Rated
Countries of origin United Kingdom
Official sites Official BBC page
Language English
Filming locations Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK
Production companies Tiger Aspect Productions Fifty Fathoms Productions

Box office

Tech specs

Runtime 1h 30m
Color Color
Sound mix Stereo
Aspect ratio 16:9 HD

Synopsis

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