Newcastle comedian Dave Johns is the lead actor in Ken Loach's latest film I, Daniel Blake which won the Palm D'Or at Cannes Film Festival this year. He has appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, 8 out of 10 Cats and on Harry Hill as God. With Eoin O' Neill he adapted Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption for the stage for the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. They also rewrote it for a smaller cast for a rerun at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I was cast in a role for that version of The Shawshank and during that run I shared a pokey little flat for a month with him and my two children and for a while Dave's daughter also. Needless to say we got to know each other quite well during that period. It wasn't all fun and games but I grew to really care for the man, still do and always will.