Pandora: Archer goes for on-screen 'Glory'

If Jack Straw presses ahead with plans to ban former convicts from the House of Lords, Jeffrey Archer may well find himself at something of a loose end.

It's just as well, then, that the enterprising author – who in 2001 received a four-year sentence for perjury and perverting the course of justice – has found himself an exciting new project to embrace.

Although his next novel doesn't hit the bookstands for another month, I hear that it is already being lined up for an adaptation on the big screen.

Paths Of Glory, which fictionalises the story of George Mallory, the 1920s explorer who disappeared while attempting to climb Mount Everest, is currently being considered by film executives as a potential project.

According to his blog, Lord Archer has already completed a prospective script in order to be "ready when the novel comes out".

"Nothing is confirmed just yet but, yes, he has been having discussions with one major film studio about the possibility," confirmed an excited spokesman yesterday.

If all goes ahead as planned, it will mark Archer's first foray into the world of the big screen – barring, that is, a fleeting cameo with Salman Rushdie in Bridget Jones' Diary.

Fearne pictures a new future

Is Fearne Cotton planning a career change? The perky presenter is preparing an exhibition to display her as-yet-unseen talents with a paintbrush.

"I've been getting pieces ready and trying to arrange a venue," she tells me. "I'd like to be a full-time artist one day, living by the sea. It would be my ultimate dream."

Burchill's boy takes to the web

Following yesterday's news that Alastair Campbell has started blogging, Pandora hears of another late-adopter.

Julie Burchill's "toy-boy" (her words, not mine) husband Daniel Raven has just launched a website to showcase his writing skills. Apparently Raven is sick of having his manuscripts returned by publishers and has decided to take things into his own hands, posting a collection of his short stories at danielraven.com.

Pick a Rose? Be careful of the thorns

A word of advice for Ronnie Wood's youngest son Tyrone: don't, whatever you do, forget about Valentine's Day.

Pandora ran into Tyrone's supermodel girlfriend Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley at the Elle Style Awards, where she provided a taste of what she expects on the 14th.

"If he forgets he'll be in big trouble," she warned. "Hopefully he'll pull out all the stops and do something wonderful."

Heaven knows what we can expect if not; she recently starred in a short film for the lingerie label, Agent Provocateur, which showed her roughing up a wayward male model.

Farah's latest adventure

Some intriguing news from Farah Damji. The former magazine editor, who is on bail following her arrest for fraud, recently announced that she was to publish her memoirs. Now she says she is working on both a documentary and feature film to accompany it. No doubt they'll make for colourful viewing. In 2005, after spilling the beans on her affair with writer William Dalrymple, Damji was jailed for fraud. She soon escaped, chronicling her freedom via MySpace.

pandora@independent.co.uk