Peter Townshend — composer and leader of The Who, the world-famous pop group which originated in Acton — is now working on a film.

Peter — whose rock-opera, "Tommy," made history by being the first work of its kind to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York earlier this year — told me:

"It's going to be a fairly different sort of film. A kind of musical experiment. I'm writing the script in conjunction with a couple of other people."

It would be something completely different from "Tommy," he said, but he did not want to elaborate further at this stage.

The group — all of whose members are originally from Acton — were very busy at the moment, he said. Among their present commitments were the release of a new L.P. and the preparation for a tour of the United States, and perhaps Europe, next year.

The group completed a tour of Britain two weeks ago with an appearance at the Hammersmith Palais.

"It was like a homecoming for us. Although we all came from Acton, we hardly ever played there. It was mainly in Shepherds Bush and Hammersmith that we got our engagements when we first started."

Peter said he seldom visited his former neighbourhood these days — "I'm too busy" — and when he did, it was to visit his parents, who are still living in Woodgrange Avenue.

But John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey, two of the other members of The Who, still spent a lot of their time in Acton when they were in London.

"John is always opening fetes and things around there," said Peter.

When I called, Peter had just completed a recording session in his own private studio which he had installed in his Twickenham home.

His younger brother Simon — already an accomplished musician at the tender age of nine — had been in the studio recently, recording some of his own compositions.

There was a possibility, said Peter, that some of Simon's compositions would be recorded for the pop market in the near future.