Musical Man of Del Monte

QUESTION Did Brian Jackson, the actor who played the Man from Del Monte in the TV adverts, perform with Ginger Rogers?

The respected British character actor Brian Jackson has had a varied acting career encompassing film, TV and stage, including working with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

But he is famous for one thing above all else: playing the white- suited fruit inspector in a Panama hat — the Man from Del Monte, ‘he say yes’ — in the longrunning TV adverts.

Jackson joins a select band, including the Milk Tray Man, the Milkybar Kid, the Cadbury’s Flake lady, the Gold Blend couple and the Volkswagen girl, who have left an indelible impression on television viewers’ memories.

The Man from Del Monte ad campaign ran from the eighties to 2000, when the company decided to mothball him. There were 25 ads in all, shown in 32 countries.

Jackson did perform with the hollywood legend Ginger Rogers, on stage in the musical Mame at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, for a 14-month run starting in 1969.

With music and lyrics by Jerry herman (also famous for hello, Dolly!, and La Cage Aux Folles), Mame tells the story of a young boy who is sent to live with his glamorous aunt.

Ginger Rogers played the lead in the West end production and Jackson, as a wealthy book publisher called M. Lindsay Woolsey, shared many scenes with her.

he was born in Bolton, Lancs, in 1931, and his film and TV career has been ongoing since 1958, with appearances in famous films including Revenge Of The Pink Panther with Peter Sellers and Burt Kwouk, and The heroes Of Telemark with Kirk Douglas and Richard harris.

I’m happy to report that at the grand old age of 86, Brian is still acting. he was last seen on our TV screens in Casualty in 2017 and tells a funny story about the experience.

After a fall on the set, in which he injured his arm and leg, he was taken to a nearby TV studio to be checked over. There they were filming holby City, which has a real Feeling fruity: Brian Jackson in the advert doctor on set acting as a consultant on the show. Brian, who was slightly concussed and woozy from the painkillers he was given, at first thought he was in a real hospital.

Danny D’Arcy, Reading, Berks.

QUESTION Could any of the UK’s countryside be described as Arctic tundra?

TunDRA comes from the Finnish word tunturia, meaning treeless plain. By definition, it refers only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost — permanently frozen soil.

Tundra areas are restricted primarily to the northern extremes of Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, Iceland and Scandinavia. It is noted for its landscapes moulded by frost, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor soils and short growing seasons.

The closest match in the British Isles is the high land (above 2,000ft) of the Cairngorms national Park in Scotland, which is defined as a sub-arctic or montane zone. It does bear a striking resemblance to tundra as the harsh conditions, caused by a combination of altitude, exposure, snow and poor soils, are home only to extremely tough plants and animals.

Many of the plants have a rosette or cushion form, with flowers and leaves adapted to withstand cold, wind and water loss. These include dwarf shrubs, sedges and grasses, moss and lichen.

The gamebird ptarmigan and mountain hares have adapted to the conditions by developing a white plumage or coat in winter for camouflage.

Tundra and montane plants are internationally important for the longterm monitoring of global warming and pollution trends, because of their sensitivity to environmental change.

Dr Ken Bristow, Glasgow.

QUESTION Is there a speed limit on the River Thames?

SPeeD limits on the River Thames are covered by the Port of London Thames Byelaws 2012. Byelaw 16 describes the various speed limits, the parts of the Thames on which they apply and any exemptions.

There is a 12-knot speed limit for central London, between Wandsworth Bridge and Margaretness, which is just east of London City Airport.

There is an eight-knot speed limit west of Wandsworth Bridge, in all creeks and the inshore area off Southend.

Mike Dann, London N13.

QUESTION Did a doubledecker train run from London to Southend in the Fifties?

WhAT memories the previous answer, stirred up! As a small boy, double-decker trains were one of the daily highlights, passing by the end of my grandparents’ house in Kent.

We nicknamed them banana trains on account of the curved upper windows.

My family home was near Reading, so visits to my grandparents were often accomplished using these trains and crossing Waterloo to make the Thames Valley connections.

As an eight-year-old, I was deemed to be sufficiently old enough to do this journey unaccompanied, and always insisted on taking the banana train from Gravesend.

The biggest challenge was ensuring that I was in the correct section, because the Thames Valley trains split midjourney in order to reach their different final destinations.

Grahame Drain, Droitwich Spa, Worcs.

IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT; fax them to 01952 780111 or email them to charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.