The Dark Castle Lords and Hollywood lay siege to Lancashire

King Henry VIII earned a place as the most monstrous monarch in English history for his willingness to lop off the heads of his many wives.
Now, the cutting room has a totally different meaning as cameras roll on a movie about the country's most famous divorcee, right here in Lancashire.

A film crew has jetted into Samlesbury Hall from the United States to film a trailer which it is hoped will help raise the $1m budget needed to shoot the first of a six-part series of movies about the king and his wives.

It is based on a script 'The Dark Castle Lord's Secret', which was inspired by retired Lancashire schoolteacher Ray Irving, a dead ringer for King Henry.

And the 55-year-old Euxton man has been picked to play the King alongside a cast of youngsters from the Preston area.

He said: "In the story, Henry and his six wives are all ghosts, but he cannot go to heaven until he has eased their sorrows for what he did to them.

"The plan is six full-length movies, one for each wife. We picked the second one first because everyone knows Anne Boleyn, and everybody loves her – everybody except me."

If funding can be found for the first movie, the profits will be ploughed into making the rest of the series.

Hollywood director
Mark Johnson believes the fourteenth century surroundings of Samlesbury Hall will give the movie an unsurpassed authenticity.

A team of actors and actresses from across the Preston area have been hired to play Henry's wives, including Lady Dorothy Southworth, whose spirit is said to haunt Samlesbury Hall, and who will be played by 14-year-old actress Sally Eccles from Longridge, near Preston.

**story courtesy of Lancashire Evening Post 31 Jan 2007


To learn more about the Dark Castle Lords movie adventure and see who is playing in the staring roles, visit www.thedarkcastlelords.com/dcl_movie.htm




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The Dark Castle Lords
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