My dear friend and one-time London band mate, Peter Charlton, was 80 recently, and we celebrated the event with a birthday bash at a hotel in West Ealing (London, UK).

As well as working for the BBC for many years - producing "Playaway" in particular, Pete performed jug band music with The Egbert Sousé All Stars in the early 1970s in London, and had a second life as a puppeteer. Pete did a conventional Punch & Judy act, but also did several less well-known pupper presentations - one of which was a version of a Pollock style "Penny plain, tuppence coloured" Victorian toy theatre play - but large-scale and on aon a barrow: "The Siege of Troy".

The highlight of the birthday get-together was Pete's inimitable performance of this, assisted by Keith Hill. We decided to video it as it was possibly the last time that he would do it - and the results are on YouTube if you'd care to watch it.

Peter Charlton: "The Siege of Troy"

This sort of presentation is rare these days, so I'm very pleased to have been able to film it - and enjoy it!