Pandora: Nunn's Asian project goes with the wind

Alas, it appears that Sir Trevor Nunn's much hoped-for revival of his stage show Gone With The Wind is not to see the light of day.

The multimillion-pound production, which starred the singer Darius Danesh alongside the Broadway actress Jill Paice, closed after just three weeks when it aired in London in 2008. Following a savaging by the critics, it was widely dubbed one of the biggest flops of recent years.

Shortly afterwards, however, the revered director assured Pandora that, in contrast to the hostile opinions expressed at home, the feedback he had received in the Far East was nothing but positive. "It's funny," he said at the time. "It came in for so much criticism here but over there people loved it. I got a lot of praise."

So different was the eastern opinion that Sir Trevor was approached about the prospect of taking his ill-fated production over there, where it would be unveiled in a "bigger, much more spectacular" style.

A year after the idea was first mooted, though, negotiations appear to have ground to halt. Following several months of uncertainty, we are told that Sir Trevor has abandoned the plan. "Indeed, he is not involved in any plans to take Gone With The Wind to the Far East," a spokesman confirmed yesterday.

Ashcroft gets a turkey (not for gobbling)

An act of festive goodwill, now, from Richard Ashcroft. Shortly before Christmas the gloomy musician could be seen venturing into his local butcher's and requesting a turkey. Alive.

"My son has turned vegetarian and he said that he wanted a turkey for Christmas," explains the former Verve frontman. The fortunate bird has since been named Lucky. Quite so.

Mitchell protects his precious copy

What's this? A spot of writer's rage from David Mitchell? The usually placid Peep Show star appears to be suffering from a bout of the Giles Corens, after an unwitting web editor altered his latest column for The Observer. "I'm not posting a link to my column today as they've made lots of annoying changes to the online version. I'm cross," huffed Mitchell to his Twitter followers on Sunday. "Web-version diffs aren't crucial but v noticeable to me." Needless to say, they were removed pronto.

Harrying favour...

No back-to-work blues at Harriet Harman's office. Yesterday, Labour MPs from the East and West Midlands received invitations to the deputy leader's "return from recess" drinks reception. How kind! Of course, the Midlands constituencies are notoriously chock-a-block with marginal seats. Time to get campaigning?

Conway plays piper

Who would've thought? The latest addition to showbiz impresario Clive Conway's books is ... himself. The agent, whose previous clients include John Prescott and Vince Cable, is to give a flute recital with the award-winning pianist (and client) Christine Croshaw. Whether or not Prezza & Co will be in the audience remains to be seen.