Etc...

And ... action!

The fact that there were two of them and only one of him didn't stop Neil Filer as he saw muggers pinning a defenseless woman against a wall in Bristol, England, one day last week. Even though the attackers were big and held what looked like baseball bats, he sprang into action. Well, that is, after checking first to see whether any motorist was going to stop and come to the victim's defense. (As he told reporters afterward, "I'm not that brave.") Clearly, however, her rescuer was going to have to be him and no one else. So Filer, a letter carrier, charged forward, flailing away with his Royal Mail bag. One of the goons stumbled, and our hero tried to free the woman from the other and yell for help at the same time. And that's when he found himself being restrained ... by the production crew that was taping the scene for an episode of "Casualty," a BBC medical drama series. Filer hadn't noticed the cameramen because they were shooting from a hiding place. They explained that the muggers and their victim were actors. No injuries, except perhaps for a small bruise to Filer's pride. But that, too, recovered, and he went on to finish his rounds. When his superiors heard what had happened, they said it was "in the finest traditions of public service." The episode is scheduled to air in September. It's a safe guess that Filer's – ah – role will not survive the editing process.