to sir ian mckellen. just over four years ago i drove to chichester to interview a titan of stage and screen. he was starring as king lear in the local theatre and he told me it would be his last big shakespearean role. i should not have believed a word, because last year, at the age of 82, amidst the pandemic and some five decades after his first public turn in the role, sir ian mckellen played hamlet. it was typical of him — surprising, mischievous, pure thespian charisma. above all, it showed that in his ninth decade, he seems indefatigable. undoubtedly one of the greats this country has produced, he is a pioneer, a game—changer, who rewrote the rules of acting and helped britain confront