Another chance to see Thank You For Smoking

The BBC yesterday used the term 'Merchants of Death' in an article about the "father of the modern cigarette".

It wasn't the first time it's been used. In Thank You For Smoking, a satirical novel by Christopher Buckley, Merchants of Death was the name adopted by the fictional representatives of the tobacco, alcohol and gun lobbies who met regularly for lunch.

Effectively they were the heroes (or anti-heroes) of a book that in 2006 become a critically acclaimed film. I read the book first and loved it.

By coincidence former Telegraph leader writer Alex Singleton has organised a special screening of the film in London on Saturday 24 November. Alex has attended many Forest events so it's only fair that we support his.

If you missed Thank You For Smoking first time around I strongly recommend it. It certainly brings back a few memories.

To be begin with it was the first time I had been invited to a special advance screening. It took place in a small private cinema off Oxford Street.

A few days later PR Week ran a special feature, Why lobbyists still arouse suspicion. Forest got a brief mention:

Several more journalists asked for my opinion of the film (another first). Although the fictional Nick Naylor worked for the tobacco industry (and earned a lot more than me!!) they seemed to think I was the nearest thing Britain had to a Nick Naylor type figure, which was amusing but a bit weird in view of what happens to him.

SPOILER ALERT: Naylor gets kidnapped by anti-smoking fanatics who torture him by sticking nicotine patches all over his body. At least, I think that's what they did. It's a long time since I read the book or saw the film.

The following year, when the film was released on video and DVD, The Times asked me and a couple of people from the Tobacco Manufacturers Association to review it.

For reasons best known to the paper we had to watch it on a flatscreen television in what I recall was an empty pub. At ten o'clock the morning. (I think they provided breakfast.)

A journalist sat next to us and noted our comments as the film progressed. We looked forward to reading our 'review' but it was little more than 50 words in a long-forgotten 'listings' section of the Saturday edition.

Nevertheless, I marked it down as another first. However insignificant the result, I had never been asked to review a film for a national newspaper before.

Thank Your For Smoking will be shown at the Everyman Cinema in Baker Street. "The cinema," says Alex, "has a fully stocked bar and will will open for coffee and gin and tonics etc at 10:30am. The film will be shown from 11.00am and lasts approximately 92 minutes."

Tickets are still available. Visit Alex's website for full details.