21 AUGUST 1993, Page 22

Nothing changes

Sir: The Ealing films of the Forties had more in common with life today than Simon Heifer may think (`Back to the bad old days', 7 August). Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne — though featured on the cover — are not mentioned in the article; but their most famous film was vintage John Major: grey men outwitting 'the bas- tards' against the perilous background of England's fate in the Test match.

Margaret Thatcher could even have been the inspiration of the film's very title: The Lady Vanishes.

Gerard Noel

St Anne's College, Oxford