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Unusual Bond and Mamma Mia! props up for auction

Tony FisherBedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Living Props Two men standing next to each other surrounded by large green plants. They are both wearing blue coats with zips. The man on the left is balding with a short black beard and moustache. The man on the right is older and has black hair with a light grey moustache.Living Props
Blake Maslin (left) with his father Brian, who set up Living Props 35 years ago

Props used in James Bond films and the musical Mamma Mia! are up for auction on Monday.

For the past 35 years, Living Props in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire has worked on some of the world's best-known films and television productions.

The business, located near Pinewood Studios, was founded in 1991 by Brian Maslin, who was later joined by his son Blake, and Mick Lambert.

It is now closing and selling its stock including props, statues and benches as well as selected plants and specimen trees through an online auction.

Brian said he was sad to be leaving it all behind, but "we are leaving at the top of our game".

Giving the reasons for closing, he said that a company was keen to buy the site and work was now coming "in fits and starts" - either very busy or very quiet.

Ricky Harris/BBC An olive tree surrounded by large pots with plants in them. There are other trees and plants in the background.Ricky Harris/BBC
The olive tree in Mamma Mia!, which the cast danced around, is estimated to fetch £8,000-£12,000 at auction

One of the most recognisable pieces in the sale is an olive tree that appeared in Mamma Mia!

The Greek village in the musical was recreated inside Pinewood Studios' famous 007 Stage, with the olive tree positioned at the top of the village.

"The designer came up to me and she said 'but we want big branches on it. We want to be able to dance underneath the tree'," Brian remembered.

"And I said 'well, olives don't do that'."

However, Brian and his team fitted metal girdles around the trunk, supporting additional branches and foliage to create a wide canopy.

This allowed the cast to dance beneath the tree, while the lighting department could position lights within its branches.

Ricky Harris/BBC A rotunda which was used in the Bridget Jones's Diary films. It is in what appears to be a park with a bench in the background and surrounded by trees and bushes.Ricky Harris/BBC
A rotunda, made by Brian Maslin, which was used in the Bridget Jones's Diary films is estimated to fetch £2,000-£4,000

During the filming of the Bond film No Time to Die, Brian was tasked with creating a house and garden on a frozen lake in Norway.

"But it wasn't the normal Norway winter and the ice started melting and the house started slipping off the ice," he recalled.

The Living Props team brought fresh snow down from the mountains by the digger-load to maintain the winter setting.

Ricky Harris/BBC Two cloud-pruned yew trees in large pots with a large fern shaped plant in front of them. There is a large greenhouse in the background.Ricky Harris/BBC
Cloud-pruned yew trees used in the James Bond film Die Another Day - each tree is expected to fetch up to £9,000

Among the other pieces coming to auction are three cloud-pruned yew trees, originally purchased as part of a group of four for the James Bond film Die Another Day.

They stood either side of a pair of imposing gates in a Japanese garden set, as a hovercraft came "hurtling towards these two big doors," said Blake.

Brian said that AI and CGI would "naturally make inroads into the industry" but at the end of the day actors liked working with physical props and scenery as they "felt more at home".

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