SOMETIMES chance is a rather wonderful thing.

When the Colchester Arts Centre decided to run their season of retro horror film nights they never suspected one of the actual stars to e-mail in and ask if they could come along.

But that's exactly what will be happening this week when actress Madeline Smith pops into the screening of Theatre of Blood to give a question and answer session afterwards.

And it's all thanks to a Colchester history teacher. Bill Lawrence, the head of history at Philip Morant, who was hosting his daughter's birthday a week back when he mentioned to cousin Madeline she should check out the Colchester Arts Centre because 'they have really good events there'.

"I only mentioned it to Bill in passing," she begins, "because the week before a friend of mine was driving me to do a talk to the Women's Institute in Walthamstow and also mentioned the Colchester Arts Centre. He had seen a folk singer there and told me what a lovely venue it was. Then when Bill said I should seek it out, I went on their website and what was the first thing I saw, a night showing one of the films I was in."

So Madeline did what any self respecting actor would do and contacted the arts centre to see if she could come along and talk about the film.

I suppose it's a bit like Alan Titchmarsh asking the Colchester Allotment Association whether he can come along and judge their largest marrow contest. Why would you say no.

And having just spent one of the nicest hours of my life chatting to the lovely Madeline, I can assure horror fans they're in for a real treat.

Theatre of Blood was one of four horror films Madeline was in, three of which were for the world famous Hammer Studios.

"We should point out Theatre of Blood was an independent," she tells me,"not one of the Hammer films and was shot entirely on location, which was very usual in those days. We shot in old gas works, graveyards and of course burning theatres. They were long and tiring days but it was an incredible experience, mainly because of the people I was working with.

"It was the character actors that made those films. They were the ones holding them up like Atlas and for little inexperienced me, that was the main attraction.

"I'd always wanted to act. From an early age I was writing little plays to perform and so when I started work in London and saw this advert in The Stage for a film part I went along and auditioned for it."

By her own admittance, she was pretty dreadful in it, but after a spell modelling, her agent contacted Madeline again with another part, this time opposite Ava Gardner in Tam Lin.

"I couldn't believe it," she adds, "Ava Gardner no less and then when I got a small part in Taste the Blood of Dracula what was really thrilling for me, as a fan of those children's Saturday morning serials, was getting the chance to work with dear Peter Sallis, John Carson and Geoffrey Keen. I was well aware who they were."

And she was more than aware of the actors on Theatre of Blood.

"What a cast list," she enthuses. "Jack Hawkins, Michael Hordern, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Eric Sykes. That's before you even get to Vincent Price and the wonderful Arthur Lowe. I loved every second of it and everyone was so gracious to me."

As well as the horror films, Madeline is perhaps best known as the very first Bond girl in the Roger Moore era, legendarily playing the Italian spy who Bond undresses with his magnetic watch at the start of Live and Let Die.

"Although it was at the start of the film," Madeline explains, "it was one of the very last things they shot so Roger was very relaxed about the whole thing.

"I was personally recommended for the part by Roger himself after I had a sweet little role in The Persuaders with Roger and Tony Curtis.

"The whole scene was quite something because they built an entire set just to film it and as someone told me later it's only the second time you saw Bond in his own home. The only real problem with that scene was the blasted blue dress they made me wear, which I hated. Taking the zip down was actually quite a simple thing because there was a special effects man underneath pulling at it with a wire. It was as simple as that."

Now having taken a step back from acting, Madeline spends most of her time going around the country talking about her film career to captivated audiences, the latest of which will be Colchester.

"I'm really looking forward to coming back to Colchester," she says. "My family has had a long association with the area from Harwich to Wivenhoe and further up the East Anglian coast. A few years back I helped out Bill on a school history trip to the battlefields of northern France and I remember talking to a lovely young girl on the ferry. A few years later and I saw her again at a signing and she said 'oh you're the lady from my history trip'."

Theatre of Blood and Q & A with Madeline Smith

Colchester Arts Centre,

Church Street, Colchester.

Thursday, June 29. Doors open 7.30pm, show starts 8pm.

Pay What You Can Afford. 01206 500900.

www.colchesterartscentre.com