<P> En route to begin filming Water (1985) in Saint Lucia, Connolly drank an excessive amount of alcohol on the plane . Upon arriving on the island, he had dinner with the cast and crew, including Michael Caine . </P> <P> "They had a jolly evening, then travelled back by bus through a part of the island that features steep cliffs on either side of a jungle road . As they careered along, Billy thought it would be a wheeze to cover the driver's eyes with his hands .' I'll guide you,' insisted our drunken control - freak,' Left, right...more right .' It was a game he had apparently played with his London driver: God knows how they managed to survive . Michael Caine apprehended Billy just in time to save the bus from plunging down a St Lucian ravine ."--Excerpt from Billy by Pamela Stephenson (2001) </P> <P> In 1985, he divorced Iris Pressagh, his wife of sixteen years (they had separated four years earlier) and he was awarded custody of their children Jamie and Cara . That same year, he performed An Audience with..., which was videotaped at the South Bank Television Centre in front of a celebrity audience for ITV . The uncut, uncensored version was subsequently released on video . In July 1985, he performed at the Wembley leg of Live Aid, immediately preceding Elton John . </P> <P> On 30 December 1985, Connolly became tee - total, having been an alcoholic . "I don't miss drinking . It has taken me by surprise," Connolly stated 24 years later . "I miss the craic . I miss the joy of it all . The headbanging stupidity, the loveliness, the craziness of it . I miss it terribly ." He recalls blackouts that he would fill in upon returning to sobriety . "Well, (the memories) stopped coming back . But when I drank, I would go,' Oh, I remember now ."' Psychologists call it state - dependent learning . "That was frightening . I remember thinking,' Beware, Billy boy . Beware . All is not well . Do something ."' Regarding the decision he made to stay sober: "If (Pamela) goes away, I'm on my own . There's nothing . There's only me and it . So the choice becomes very apparent ." </P>

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