Took the train from Woking to London Waterloo yesterday, and wandered across to County Hall where a long queue of hopeful Nancys and Olivers greeted us.

I was with my friend Nicky and her youngest son Finlay who was desperate to audition for the BBC’s “I’d Do Anything” show in which they will be searching for three Olivers and a Nancy for a new West End production.

It was great fun, but the queueing was tiring. We arrived at 11.30am for our supposed noon audition slot. While Nicky and Finlay were queueing in the cold (though thankfully not rain) I queued for a while across the street in Starbucks for a couple of hot chocolates, then queued in Tesco opposite Westminster for lunch, and then (with Finlay) queued for yet another half an hour in Starbucks again – this time for the loo! (There was only one.)

Anyway to cut a long story (queue) short, after traversing many a wood panelled and parquet floored corridor and various holding rooms with a view of the Thames (and a car in one of the pods of the London Eye), we were shepherded into the registration area and waited some more, though thankfully this time with a chair to sit on.

Many a boast of boys were signing (opps, that should be singing!) “Consider Yourself”, needless to say without considering anybody else and when Finlay’s name was finally called he joined a group that would number 30 and was whisked off to audition. It was 3.30pm and we’d been queueing for four hours!

Desperate by then for some fresh air and a fag Nicky was able to pop outside, only to be pushed aside by some woman clearing the way for the arrival of none other than himself – the Lord who was stepping out of a cab and waving to the crowd.

About half an hour later most of the boys in the group including Fin appeared again and there were a few tears. With so many young boys auditioning (oh and a girl – well it didn’t say anything in the audition pack about what sex they had to be) it was obvious there had to be some sort of criteria for sorting out the hopefuls.

Call me cynical, but it was very clear from the look of the boys in Fin’s group (having sat with them in the registration area) that the ones that came back without going through to stage two were like Fin in that they either weren’t tall enough and blond, or of a PC ethnic minority. Having said that, they did at least give the boys half an hour of fun doing various things in front of a couple of cameras.

Fin soon perked up. We took him to the ammusement arcade on the other side of County Hall, spent an hour bowling and feeding ten pence pieces into a Sponge-Bob Square-Pants machine (where Fin had an uncanny knack of winning) and then finished the day off with a trip on the London Eye.

It was supurb, not to mention free, since Nicky had annual Thorpe Park passes. Although I have done it a couple of times, this was my first night flight and it was a very clear night so we could see for miles and miles.

I waved at Richard when we reached the top and then sent him a text to tell him!

A great day. Thanks Nicky!