Timmy Lea returns to big screen

1970s heart-throb Robin Askwith is set to return to the big screen next year, starring as Timmy Lea in the new Baz Luhrmann epic Confessions of a Project Manager.

Askwith as viewers remember him

In the same fun-filled vein as the classic 1970s 'Window Cleaner' and 'Driving Instructor' films, the new film will feature Lea as a junior project manager working for a New Media Consultancy - a position which affords him plenty of opportunities to have sex with a variety of beautiful women and inadvertantly inflict slapstick injuries on his co-workers.

The original Confessions movies were massively popular in their 1970s heyday, and director Luhrmann has made no secret of his desire to revive the unique format that documents the real-life sexual escapades enjoyed by people who have various different jobs.

While younger actors such as Leonardo Di Caprio and River Phoenix were considered for the part of happy-go-cheeky-chappy Lea, it was decided early in the casting process that Askwith should reclaim the role that he made his own in the 1970s.

Unexpectedly

'We just had to have Robin back as Timmy', Luhrmann told us, 'So it's not the 1970s any more, and he's a little older, but, hell, Robin is Timmy Lea, and he always will be. No-one else could impart the same magic when shimmying naked down a drainpipe after an angry husband returned unexpectedly. No-one.'

But fans are likely to be upset that Tony Booth, who played Timmy's brother-in-law - the hapless straightman - Sidney Noggett in the 1970s films, will not be returning to reprise his character.

Greer: Controversial Choice

'Tony feels that it would be inappropriate to appear in a sex comedy, what with him being related to the Prime Minister now, and we respect that', said Luhrmann, 'But Sidney's an important character, and I'm delighted to have another true icon of the 1970s on board to play the role.'

However

However, the choice is perhaps a controversial one, for while feminist writer Germaine Greer may broaden the appeal of the British Sex Farce beyond it's traditional 1970s audience, there are concerns that she may find it difficult working alongside the misogynistic Askwith again, following an 'incident' 25 years ago when both appeared as guests on the same edition of That's Life.

'Germaine's cool with the project', Luhrmann assured us, 'and actually makes a very good Sidney Noggett. You should hear the way she's been saying "I'm gonna get you Timmy" in rehearsal after being hit with a ladder in comical 1970s fashion. She's a natural for the genre, and she's forgiven Robin for the prank with the herring.'

Currently in production, Confessions of a Project Manager is set to open in early to mid 2003.