And fans of Davies since his early, autobiographical films "Distant Voices, " "Still Lives, " and "The Long Day Closes" will appreciate the inclusion of one of his favorite time-capsule gestures: a warm pub scene in which every patron, young and old, joins in singing popular tunes.

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Mr Davies had also suffered from diabetes for the last two years which made him more introverted, according to shoemaker 82-year-old Dennis Edwards, who works 100 yards away from the centuries old Red Lion pub, the scene of the shootings.

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"He certainly took to that part like a duck to water, " she said as she recalled acting with him during his first scene in the soap's pub The Rovers Return.

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When Cold Chisel's Jimmy Barnes sang about pushing surfboards through turnstiles in Misfits, or Midnight Oil's Peter Garret howled "catch the bus to Bondi, sit on the beach and wonder", they were not only conjuring a scene familiar to their '80s pub rock audience but more importantly, they captured a uniquely sunlit Australian branch of angst.

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