A little later than planned, seeing as the show finished more than half an hour ago, but here's the third and final part of our exclusive interview with Justin Lee Collins, the presenter of 'Bring Back Star Wars'!  If you haven't already, click the following links to read Part 1 and Part 2.

JLC: Certainly, you know, I think it's a shame, I mean I know that there's the DVDs and there's re-releases and there's reissues of the original trilogy and that's happened quite a lot in recent years, but I think it's quite a shame that for the kids of today, their only real reference point for Star Wars is The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and it's just kinda nice to say let's go back 30 years, because this is where it all started, and there was no such thing as a blockbuster really before Star Wars, there was no such thing.  It kind of, it didn't invent a genre, but what it did do, it almost single-handedly, there were one or two other films, maybe Jaws as well, you could put into that mix, but Star Wars kind of invented the blockbuster and it created the kind of cinematic event, and it was a massive, massive thing and it kind of affected everything really and just went beyond the screen.  It sounds like nothing now, but as we all know, merchandising and tie-ins weren't, well they didn't really exist then, it wasn’t a thing, and that was part of Lucas' genius of course, to realise the potential of the merchandising, so it wasn't just about the film that we saw up on screen, it was in our homes, and it was the toys that as kids we were all playing with and it was what we were all talking about in the school playground, it was an event and it was a huge thing, and it was, for people of my generation, it was part of our lives, for years.  In fact, for a good ten years growing up, Star Wars was part of my life, it wasn't just a film that I saw at the cinema.  You know, it was everything.  It was what my friends talked about and the games we played in the playground, and all I wanted for Birthdays and for Christmas was the new figures, the new ships, whatever, it was a massive thing and I think this show works as a great retro look back for those people that maybe weren't aware of how big this thing was and you get to find out some new stuff along the way.

JN: Yeah, absolutely.  The impression I get is that it's kind of a nostalgic look back.

JLC: Yes, that's it, it's nostalgia, and this is obviously for Jedi News and I'm talking to you for Jedi News and I’m quite sure that on your site and others, there has been debate as to whether or not the new films are any good, I'm sure that's raged on for a long time hasn't it?  It would just be nice to maybe put that argument aside, just for an hour and a half, nothing more and just focus on what made Star Wars so great in the first place.

JN: Absolutely, and as I say, we'll certainly look forward to seeing that.  Just moving on from the show, you've pledged your support to the Vote Vader campaign to have Dave Prowse recognised in your home town of Bristol.  Why were you happy to back this?

JLC: Well, because Dave Prowse is obviously one of the most famous Bristolians alongside Cary Grant.  Cary Grant, Dave Prowse, Massive Attack, Banksy, you're talking about the most iconic Bristolians.  Of course Dave lives in Croydon now and he has done for years, but Dave Prowse is a Bristol boy, he's from the same part of the city as my Dad, he's friendly with my Auntie and used to do charity work with my Auntie years ago.

JN: Is this the same one that sold your rancor?

JLC: It is, absolutely, it's the same one that sold the rancor, and I absolutely think that Dave Prowse, aka, Darth Vader, one of the most iconic, not only one of the most iconic Bristolians, but also one of the most iconic Bristolians that played the most iconic villain in the history of cinema, I'm right behind that campaign.  I'd like to see a big statue of Darth Vader right in the centre of Bristol, I think that would be great.

JN: I think that you would have plenty of people drawn to Bristol just to see that, certainly, and I think it would do wonders for the tourist trade.

JLC: I think so, absolutely.  They'd come from all over the world wouldn't they?

JN: Exactly, and that's the sort of thing that you'd want in your city to draw that kind of attention.  Had you met Dave before doing 'Bring Back Star Wars'?

JLC: Do you know what, I had, briefly, I don't think, I mean, again, the same as Warwick, he recognised me from doing other Bring Backs, and there was a really lovely thing that I don't mind telling you because it's a really lovely story, so I'm quite happy to tell you it.  I tracked down Dave Prowse to a restaurant in London, in Soho in London, which you may have heard of, called Kettners, which has been there years and I've been in there loads of times myself.  So anyway, Dave was in Kettners having lunch with his agent. Now, we'd spoken to his agent, so his agent knew what we were doing, but obviously Dave Prowse had absolutely no idea whatsoever, so when I run into the restaurant with my film crew, this is really lovely, Dave Prowse recognises me from other Bring Backs that I've done, and immediately starts looking around the restaurant to see who else is in the room, because he automatically assumes that I'm not there for him, I must be there for someone else.

JN: Oh really?

JLC: Now isn't that lovely?  And of course, it took me a couple of minutes, well, I say a couple of minutes, it took me maybe 10 seconds to actually spot him, but I saw him right there, sat in the middle of the room, and he was genuinely surprised that I was there to get him and no-one else, but I actually, about, oh goodness me, it must be about 3 years ago now, my friend Dermot O'Leary did a Star Wars show for BBC3, called 'Generation Jedi', and Dave Prowse was the guest of honour on that show.  Did you ever see it?

JN: I didn't unfortunately.  I've heard of it, but I think I found out about it too late so unfortunately I missed it, but yes, I had heard about it.

JLC: Well, it was a show that Dermot did for the release of Revenge of the Sith, and I was invited to go along with a few other people and so I was part of that show and I met Dave on that day, but I'm not sure if he remembers that, I don't know if he remembered me from that day or not, but he was certainly aware of me, simply from seeing the other Bring Backs, so that was nice.  But it was really lovely and he saw me run into the restaurant before I saw him and he automatically assumed that I was there for someone else and he started looking around the room to see who it might be and I think that's really lovely.

JN: It's really nice to hear stories like that when celebrities show you that they are actually more down-to-earth than people give them credit for.

JLC: And do you know what Adam, whilst we're talking about Dave, I think he's a lovely guy, and that comes across in the film, for those people that maybe haven't seen Dave interviewed on film before, he's just a really lovely and really down-to-earth guy and I suppose you could say that if anybody was short-changed by the whole Star Wars experience, it was probably Dave.

JN: That's certainly a fair comment to make and we actually got him to cut our birthday cake on May 4th.  He was at Collectormania, which is a convention in Milton Keynes, and we took along a cake which had our logo on top of it and asked him to cut it, so we had photos of him doing that which was pretty fantastic, and he's a really nice guy.

JLC: Wow, that's fantastic!

JN: I've got one final question for you, totally, non-Star Wars related.  Where do you get your t-shirts?

JLC: Well, a lot of them, I'm a big fan of second-hand shops, well, they're called Vintage shops now aren't they!  So, quite a few of my favourites are vintage, but then a lot of them, also I get sent, it's really lovely, I get sent an awful lot of t-shirts these days.  A lot of them you see, that maybe look of the period, but they're not, they're repros, they're sent to me.  But one or two of my very, very favourite t-shirts are vintage.  I've got, you know, some of the classic rock bands, like Whitesnake and Kiss, I've got a great t-shirt and I'm actually wearing it as I talk to you now, it's got a topless Samantha Fox on the front and it says "Touch Me!", and that's vintage and that's one of my very favourite t-shirts as well.  A mixture really.  A mixture of trawling second-hand shops and I'm also lucky enough to get sent a lot of them as well.

JN: Well I have to say that the "Let's Hug It Out" and "I've Got A High Five With Your Name On It" are particular favourites of mine.

JLC: Ahh, cheers mate, thank you very much indeed.

JN: Well, that's all my questions Justin and I just wanted to say thanks again for answering those.

JLC: My absolute pleasure,

JN: We certainly look forward to watching 'Bring Back Star Wars' on Channel 4 sometime next month when I think it's due for transmission, and I'd just like to sign off by saying "Good Times!"

JLC: Ah, Rock on mate!  Thank you so much Adam.

We would just like to thank both Justin and his agent, Katie, for their time and effort in making the interview happen - it's very much appreciated!

Justin Lee Collins Interview: Copyright 2008 Jedi News.  No part of this interview can be reproduced without prior written consent from Jedi News.