Filming today on the river Cam which is the river Thames for us. At least we would be were it not for the rain - one of the pitfalls of filming in an English summer!

For this scene Elizabeth, her ladies and Walsingham are travelling down the Thames on the Queen's barge, the same barge that was used for 'A Man for All Seasons' as it happens.

In Elizabeth's London, the Thames was not a barrier but the main highway of the city. With only one bridge crossing the river (London Bridge) it was the easiest route for getting from the north to the south bank and the main transport link between the major palaces, noble houses and churches. Wealthy lords had their own barges at their disposal and Elizabeth's was the grandest of all, gliding her down the river to the accompaniment of her own musicians - the perfect occasion for Walsingham to mention the prickly question of marriage....

Monday 22nd May

Another day filming Elizabeth's state barge on the Cam - and another day of torrential rain.

It's our last chance to get the shots we need however so the show, as they say, must go on. Elizabeth is of course under a canopy on the barge but you have to feel for her eight rowers who have started whistling 'Singing in the Rain', and the art department who have to try to keep the silk hangings and embroidered seats looking suitably regal.

This is also the day the graphics people are shooting their reference 'plates' which they will use to take what is in fact a small part of the Backs and turn it into a vista of Elizabethan London as seen from the Thames. But whilst they can turn the Cam into the Thames, even they can't do anything about the rain....

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