EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Potty mouth Baldrick lashes out at showman

A put-upon servant Baldrick in Blackadder, Sir Tony Robinson would be ridiculed for his ‘cunning plans’ by his master, played by Rowan Atkinson.

Theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh is similarly unimpressed by the actor’s comments off screen.

I can reveal the pair are embroiled in an acrimonious row after Sir Tony called him ‘tight-fisted’ for allegedly failing to improve the West End theatres he owns.

Sir Tony, 79, who made his stage debut as 13-year-old in the original West End production of Oliver! at the New Theatre, described how a recent visit to the same venue, now called the Noel Coward Theatre, which is owned by Sir Cameron, had left him shocked and disappointed.

‘I went to see Stephen Fry doing The Importance Of Being Earnest at the Coward Theatre, which was where we opened in Oliver!. We came in through the stage door and it was all just like it had been.

‘They hadn’t changed the theatre in all those years. Tight-fisted Mr Cameron Mackintosh, he hasn’t changed his theatres in 60 years.’

Speaking to an audience at the Park Theatre in north London, Sir Tony says: ‘I find West End theatres so uncomfortable, so I don’t go there often. I still can’t understand why they don’t get some efficient and adroit architects around to redesign the building to include more lavatories, and the seats aren’t very comfortable. I don’t find it a happy experience.’

He adds: ‘I went to the Old Vic recently. The tickets were about 109 quid, and it was s***. I’d rather have given that money away and stayed at home and watched Traitors.’

A spokesman for Sir Cameron’s company, Delfont Mackintosh, hits back, telling me: ‘Cameron has masterminded and curated a programme of major restoration, refurbishment and ongoing maintenance throughout his eight West End theatres, investing a total of approximately £230million.’

Martial arts fan the Duchess of Northumberland has discovered an unusual way to attract teenage boys to her family’s ancestral home, Alnwick Castle – cage-fighting bouts in the gardens. ‘You try to get a 17-year-old boy into a garden,’ says the duchess, a friend of King Charles. ‘The cage-fighting nights have been the biggest of all. It was heaving.’

A sparkling new year for Sophie

Prince Harry’s friend Sophie Stanbury is on such good terms with her ex-husband, Alex, that she went on holiday with him and their two children while he left his partner behind.

Now, Sophie, who appeared in the TV series Ladies Of London, has a new man in her life.

The interior designer, 50, has got engaged to Mark Wilson, 59, the former chief executive of insurance giant Aviva.

He went down on bended knee in his wellies at the Cotswolds estate of JCB heir Leo Bamford at the weekend. ‘A very special day, in a very special place,’ Sophie says. ‘How did I get so lucky?’

Perhaps they could take Alex on their honeymoon?

Gavin And Stacey star Ruth Jones has cut business ties with her husband at their TV company. The move follows her separation last year from David Peet. 

The parting of their business interests has been reported in documents filed at Companies House. They reveal that Jones assumed full control of Tidy Media Group last November, while David stepped down as a director last month. According to its latest accounts, it held £852,000. 

The new paperwork comes one day after Jones set up her first business venture with Gavin And Stacey co-writer James Corden, called TidyTwo. It reports its business as ‘television programme production’.

Midwife star’s frosty review of Lapland hols

She’s been waving ‘Burn your bras!’ placards on Call The Midwife, but in real life Helen George is protesting about her Lapland holiday.

The actress, 41, has been left cold by the Kakslauttanen resort in the Arctic Circle which she visited with her boyfriend, businessman Dan Innes, 52. ‘Very disappointed,’ she wails online. ‘Quality of the cabins really poor, as is the food and service. A real disappointment.’ No one at the resort could be reached for comment.

Desperate for some positive publicity after her tears in the Commons and disastrous tax-raising Budget, Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves begged pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor to appear on her podcast. 

‘Rachel reached out to me,’ admits the Murder On The Dancefloor singer. ‘Well, I should say the Downing Street press office did. I must confess I had some reservations and trepidations about having Rachel Reeves on my podcast.’ Nevertheless, Sophie invited her on.

‘I was super-curious,’ she explains. Among the ‘revelations’: that Reeves’s son turned down the chance to watch her Budget speech from the Commons public gallery. Who can blame him?

Revolt over Dave’s ‘Mar-a-Lago’ pool plan 

David Cameron’s new plans for a swimming pool at his Cotswolds home are belly-flopping with his neighbours.

Last month, I disclosed that the former prime minister had applied to dig a pool, five years after he withdrew similar plans. 

Now, a local, Bryan Sykes, has complained to the council about Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton’s ambitions: ‘I must object in the strongest terms to his application for a swimming pool in a beautiful Cotswolds village. 

There is no need. We live in the UK – not on some Mar-a-Lago tropical compound. The community wishes to enjoy their gardens in peace and not listen to raucous pool parties.’