No Cunning Plan

A frank and funny memoir by a hugely popular actor, presenter and author. From playing the Artful Dodger to turnip-loving Baldrick, Tony Robinson’s extraordinary career has lasted over fifty years. Now he shares his best and worst moments in this funny and entertaining autobiography. He was terrorized by Steve Marriott, snubbed by Liza Minnelli and pushed into a stinking London dock by John Wayne. Nevertheless he went on to write and star in the much-loved Maid Marian and Her Merry Men and filmed four series of Blackadder. All this he describes with self-deprecating humour as well as taking us behind the scenes of Time Team, where he corrals a group of quirky academics hell-bent on digging up people’s gardens in the name of archaeology. He also writes about his passions and commitments, his friends and family, and the sadness of losing both his parents to dementia. Never shying from the truth – whether it’s the time he was caught peeing behind a tree at Buckingham Palace or was locked naked outside a theatre on the Who Dares Wins tour – No Cunning Plan is as honest and engaging as Tony himself. Packed full of incident and insight, No Cunning Plan is a funny, self-deprecating and always entertaining memoir by Sir Tony Robinson.Sir Tony Robinson is a much-loved actor, presenter and author with a stellar career lasting over fifty years. In this autobiography he reveals how the boy from South Woodford went from child stardom in the first stage production of Oliver!, a pint-sized pickpocket desperately bleaching his incipient moustache, to comedy icon Baldrick, the loyal servant and turnip aficionado in Blackadder. It wasn't all plain sailing though. Along the way he was bullied by Steve Marriott, failed to impress Liza Minnelli and was pushed into a stinking London dock by John Wayne. He also entertained us with Maid Marion and Her Merry Men (which he wrote and starred in) and coped manfully when locked naked outside a theatre in Lincoln during the live tour of comedy series Who Dares Wins. He presented Time Team for twenty years, watching countless gardens ruthlessly dug up in the name of archaeology, and risked life and limb filming The Worst Jobs in History.