What Michael Crawford did on the Isle of Sheppey
- Jan 9
- 7 min read
Michael Crawford, who was brought up on Sheppey by his nan, has been honoured by USA President Donald Trump alongside Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor and the rock band Kiss.
Trump says it was for the actor's work on Barnum and The Phantom of the Opera.
But here on Sheppey we know it was really about his BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and, in particular, the 1975 Christmas special filmed on the Island.
Many still remember with fondness the day the TV star drove a Hillman Imp off Neptune Jetty and into the sea at Sheerness.
Previously, he had been filmed marooned in the car on top of the Kingsferry Bridge.
Scroll down to watch a behind-the-scenes video and see how many Islanders you can recognise.
We spotted the ubiquitous Ray Featherstone, who popped along to try to get footage for his Stones Film Productions and ended up becoming Crawford's "minder" for the day.
Ray recalled: "I had popped out for a walk along the seafront and spotted a huge crowd and a TV crew. I didn't know what was going on but I rushed back home to get my 16mm Bolex cine camera.
"Whenever we staged a premier for one of our films we always had a B-film and a newsreel. I thought this would be great for the newsreel."
But when he returned ready for action he was in for a surprise.
"I asked the production manager if he minded me filming and he said it was fine but added that he was in big trouble because of the size of the crowd now lining the promenade.
"He said he thought Sheppey was a sleepy place and hadn't expected such an interest. He admitted he didn't have enough crew to cope and asked if I could lend a hand."
Ray stowed his cherished camera in nearby Wood and Sons fishmongers for safekeeping and presented himself for work.
"I thought I'd be asked to carry a tripod or something. Instead, he asked me to look after Michael for the rest of the day. I was quite aghast. Until then I hadn't even realised what the show was they were shooting.
"I'd never met Michael before but my mum used to tell me he lived in The Crescent at Halfway with his gran. I used to watch him playing a cabin boy in a children's TV show about pirates."
Ray escorted Michael to the Roman Catholic church hall which the star was using as a changing room.
Ray said: "I waited outside as he got into a wetsuit and put his clothes on over the top. Then we walked to the jetty and I helped keep autograph-hunters away. At times, Michael signed some on the bonnet of the car.
"We walked to the end of the jetty to check on the tide and I made the mistake of leaning on one of the guard rails. It fell off in my hand. They had taken all the metal ones out and replaced them with rubber ones so the car could crash through them. They also created a trellis wall for the car to drive through.
"At the end of the jetty was a ramp and a cannon which fired the car into the water at high speed. "Until then, I'd just seen Michael playing an idiot on television. Now I realised how professional he was as he checked every aspect of the stunt.
"There was even an oxygen cylinder in the car in case he ended up trapped under the surface and needed to breath. It as pretty dangerous stuff.
"While we waited for high tide, Michael went over the road to the Napier for lunch. There was a huge crowd outside clamoring for his autograph. He let me collect autograph books and signed them in the pub."
After the stunt, which ended with Crawford waving wildly from the open sunroof of the car surrounded by waves, the star returned to the church hall to change.
Ray recalled: "I waited for him outside but unknown to me he was taken out by another door and straight into a waiting car and driven away. I never got a chance to say goodbye and the production crew never even knew my name. I wasn't paid and to this day he won't know who I was."
Ray's brief time of rubbing shoulders with TV royalty was captured by a BBC documentary unit shooting behind the scenes.
A few seconds of Ray walking along the jetty next to Crawford was included in a Channel 5 documentary Michael Crawford: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.
Ray said: "Purely by chance, we were both wearing black roll-neck jumpers and check jackets."
He never managed to get any film of the event which turned out to one of Sheppey's enduring highlights of the small screen.
But one person who caught the deed was Barry Hollis, a 21-year-old photographer on the Sheerness Times Guardian.
Barry, 67, from Waverley Avenue, Minster, said: "I think it was a Sunday. I was definitely not working. Someone mentioned Michael Crawford was filming on the beach so I wandered down and ended up staying the rest of the day."
He snapped away taking both colour and black and white pictures.
He said: "The stunt team spent about half a day checking everything out with Michael before he took the wheel of the car.
"He was very professional, checking out how the car should react when it hit the water. The car was packed with polystyrene to help it stay afloat and had an oxygen bottle and breathing apparatus which Michael tested beforehand.
"People got to hear what was happening and by the afternoon there were hundreds all lined up along the side of the Catholic church but out of sight of the cameras.
"I saw the car crash through the wall, smash through the barriers at the end of the pier and then fly across the water. It all seemed to go so smoothly. It was just luck I happened to be there.
"I don't think any of us realised this would become such an iconic episode."
Many still remember the filming.
In a post on the The Sheppey History Page on Facebook, Mark Soave wrote: "If you watch the film two people, Mick Bronger and Norman Girt, are fishing at the end of the pier. The rumour is that they were asked to move and refused so the BBC paid them £10 each to stand where they were."
Mr Girt replied: "True story! But they paid us £50. We had to sign contracts in the Dolphin Cafe."
Lynda Pearce swears her "other half" still has the gear knob from the Imp. Apparently the car was eventually pushed ashore by a tug from the docks.
Wendy MacKenzie revealed she once refused to go on a date with the star when he was younger.
She said: "He asked me out when he visited his nan. He came into the garage (Vidgens) where I worked and filled up his Lambretta scooter. He wore a blue and white striped T-shirt and was a bit spotty and skinny, so I said no."
Years later he had swapped his scooter for a brand new red BMW.
The episode also created controversy when it was re-shown recently.
When it opens, Frank is dressed as chief of the pixies in Santa's Grotto and is called a derogatory term by a boy. The episode now carries a warning at the start saying the show "contains language and attitudes of the time that may offend."
Former Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson confirmed he once lived in Crawford's old home at 6 The Crescent, Halfway, which is featured in the entertainer's autobiography Parcel Arrived Safely: Tied With String.
Mr Henderson recalled: "I actually lived there for almost 30 years but I never had any fans knocking on the door. However, I remember on one occasion I was working on the roof when this huge Winnebago pulled up outside my home and Michael got out.
"He wandered over and explained he had brought his gran (who he doted on) down to see her old home. He pointed at the front garden wall, which was leaning over badly and which I kept promising to repair, but never got round to it.
"Michael told me proudly that he had built the wall. I said: 'I believe you!' and he gave me one of his Frank Spencer smiles.
"We had a little chat about things and then he drove off. Sadly, his gran passed away a few months later."
Michael Patrick Dumbell-Smith, OBE and CBE, was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1942 at the height of the Second World War after his single mum Doris moved out of London to dodge German bombers.
She later moved back to Sheppey where she lived with her Irish-born mother Edith Pike in what Crawford described as a "close-knit Roman Catholic family". His grandmother lived to be 99.
In a 1996 interview, Crawford said: "My early memories of life were always of large-breasted aunts. I was always nestled in someone's bosom. I thought life was wonderful.
"They were some of the best years of my life. I didn't get near another bosom until I was 19 or 20."
Crawford, who turns 84 later this month (January 19) now switches between his two homes in south west London and New Zealand.
He lives with his American-born wife Natasha McAller, a former dancer. They met while performing in the 1991 production of The Phantom of the Opera in Los Angeles.
* Quotes first published by John Nurden on Kent Online, November 2022.
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