At least he knew enough to bargain with the stall holders in the market and got them a good price on the beautiful embroidered jackets for their wives, or silverware for their sideboard. His popularity was so universal that when the crew left Persia a couple of stall holders clubbed together and gave him a silver casket in appreciation. He wondered if he had not bargained hard enough.

          Years later a friend to whom he had given a silver casket came with her husband and told him they had had their silver collection valued for insurance, and although the assessor had valued everything less than they thought it was worth, George’s casket had been valued much higher. Did he want it back? George was delighted, as he had the one that the stall holders had presented him with which was very like it.

          George found Persia very surprising. Although the regime would tolerate no criticism, somebody was thinking what was best for the country. They realised that the rest of the world was going to learn Fasi, so promoting English in order that the population could travel, and engage in international trade.,

          There was universal conscription, for women as well as men and if you were educate you could do your service in the Education brigade. Consequently you often came across a poor village in the desert with one decent building which was the school, administered by a young man or girl dressed in a karkee and green uniform. There were several very ambitious hydro-electric seems, but they had also reinstiigated the ancient Persia  technique of canats which allowed for irrigation in otherwise useless countryside.

          Isfahan was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen and the Shar Abas Hotel, in which they stayed, was straight out of the Arabian Nights, with the rooms round a courtyard filled with fountains, and palm treesand frequented by peacocks. Even the headed notepaper in the rooms was embossed with gold and blue, in the very best of taste. The food was excellent and the crew rationed themselves to caviar only once every other night, in case they got too used to luxury.

          It was a job they need not have been paid for. It was the experience of a lifetime. A trip to Persepolis was something they would probably never thought of.

          In Shiraz George had a bet with the cameraman that he could write Farsi as well as speak it. Farsi is an Arian language and close to all European languages, but the script is alien. In fact it was the Persian scribes that adapted their script to Arabic which was until the Arab conquest of Persia, illiterate.

The camera man had a bet that George could not write his signature. George wrote it on the back of a menu and they called over the waiter.

          “What does that say?”said the cameraman

          “Jorje Blak.”

Except for the cameraman, who paid up. The rest of the crew fell about laughing.

          Having been supported by him, George felt an affinity with the waiter, so he called him over. “You are Moslem and yet you produce this wine, which is as good as anything you could find in France. How Come?”

          “We were producing great wine long before we were Moslem,” came the reply.