The Film And TV Folk On The Queen's New Year Honours List For 2012

[Brendon Connelly]

It's the last day of the year - at least it is in Britain - so the government have published The New Years Honours list, the roster of those who will get to meet the Queen next year so that she might bestow some kind of formal title upon them.

The ceremony involves kneeling and a sword and it's the stuff tourists' dreams are made of. It pretty much seems to have no place in the twenty first Century.

And this is where Knights and Dames are made, and where people get awarded CBEs, OBEs and MBEs and some other things that essentially all amount to badges.

Just really posh ones that I assume it's completely illegal to put on eBay.

In the order of the official honours list, then:

• Peter Bazalgette, head of Endemol, the producers of Big Brother, is now a Knight. So that's Sir Peter. As in "Sir Peter, please don't. We've had enough."
• Helena Bonham Carter is to get an CBE for "Services to Drama." I hope she takes Tim and the kids to the palace for her ceremony. He'll look so beautifully out of place there.
• Ronnie Corbett, diminutive "digression artiste" par excellence, and seen recently in John Landis' Burke and Hare, will also receive an CBE.
• Clive James, the journalist, broadcaster and player in the beloved Barry McKenzie "Ozploitation" movies is another CBE.
• Another CBE for Paul Andrew Smith who founded Celador, the creators of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and, as a result, co-producers of Slumdog Millionaire. His is for "Services to the Media Industry" overall.
• There's an OBE for Remi Adefarasin, cinematographer of Match Point, the first Johnny English, Cemetery Junction and many more. I'm very pleased to see a film craftsman recognised, particularly if it helps him in any sense.
• Murray Grigor, director of several films about architecture, landscape and regional culture, sometime director of the Edinburgh film festival and, from 1995 to 1999, director Channel 4. He has received an OBE for "Services to Architecture and the Film Industry."
• We'll soon be seeing David Harewood as Billy Bones in the new TV Treasure Island (I think it's on tomorrow night, in fact). He's been awarded an MBE. Incidentally, Harewood has also been a Doctor Who player - he was Joshua Naismith in The End of Time.
• MBE recipient Vidar Hjardeng has produced TV shows for people with vision impairments. He is himself blind.
• Lyndie Wright is founder of the Little Angel Theatre, the puppet theatre I blogged about last month. She is also the mother of Joe Wright, director of Atonement. And she's soon to be an MBE.

Still no recognition for Services to Film Blogging, eh?

Well, we don't do it for love and medals anyway. We do it because we can't help it.

Those desperate to get down to Buck House for an honour of their own should note: Sandy Powell and Harriet Walter, two of last year's honorees, had been involved with The Young Victoria. This year, The King's Speech star Helena Bonham Carter has made the cut. There seems to be a system.

Right, I'm off to:

a) Work on my screenplay The Queen is Ace

b) Try and get that eBay law changed

[AndyLuke]

Cue 500 jokes from TV hacks asking does Ronnie Corbett need to kneel. Thanks Endemol. I've really enjoyed your Big Brother show and I'm putting in Wikipedia entries on all the characters and developing a range of plastic figurines to go alongside my Chris Tarrant and his LightningDome set. Of course, as Endemol is largely owned by Silvio Berlusconi's family, I'll have to go and re-watch episodes of Dollhouse to study the poses and costumes to put them in. That could be tiring. No, I've changed my mind now. Goodnight, hoppers.

[ScotiaNova]

Still nothing for Alan Moore . . .

[AndyLuke]

And Paul Ruddock, Tory donor, hedge-fund manager, beneficiary of the Northern Rock collapse was also named.

It's safe to assume Alan Moore would turn one down. They wouldn't risk the embarrassment.

[Dave Wallace]

It's safe to assume Alan Moore would turn one down. They wouldn't risk the embarrassment.

With the way these things work, you probably wouldn't know if he had. They contact nominees in advance to ask if they're happy to accept the honour, and if they don't want to accept it, the honour isn't awarded and their name isn't announced.

Of course, he could go public and reveal that he'd been offered one (or that he hadn't) but that's the only way we'd know either way.