Lenny Henry is correct!

You know, making films involves more than just pointing a camcorder and editing the results ... and I'm not thinking about microphones, tripods, lighting, optical filters, music licenses and the such like ... I'm thinking of the journey to and from the event that is the subject of the film.

In recent months I have filmed in a great number of varied and, in the main, beautiful places. They may not be that far from home to visit and enjoy but when it's on business with filming starting at around 9.30am and finishing at, say, 10.00pm, locations as near or as far away as Leicestershire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Surrey, West Sussex and the like are simply too far to travel to on the day.

It's all very well getting stuck in a traffic jam on the M25 when I'm on the way home ... that's just "flipping" annoying but, to be stuck en-route to a client and to be late, that's a no-no in my book. To that end I have become a great fan of the Lenny Henry endorsed Premier Inn chain of hotels.

I know that even the best that Premier Inn has to offer won't, as likely as not, pamper me like the Oakley Court in Windsor, The Randolph in Oxford or even the Roxborough in Edinburgh but then I'm not paying their prices ... neither are my clients via their bill! That said, I still wake up refreshed and then well fed ... the Premier breakfast is great, just be careful not to 'eat as much as you like' which is their offer. It is possible to indulge in too much bacon you know?

I must congratulate the Premier Inn at Banbury, what a welcome. The one at Ashby De La Zouch was poorly signed but sat nav got me almost to the door. Inside the bar was open and the atmosphere was just right.

In High Wycombe all was well and so to in Sevenoaks and in Ashford, both of these in Kent and again both a good place to stay when traffic chaos was to be avoided at all cost ... well at reasonable cost anyway!

Keep safe on the road,

Derek Halls, DHP Digital Video