1 You’re well known for being both an actor and a playwright. Which have you preferred doing during your lengthy career?
Being an actor. Writing is a lonely trade and – with the occasional exception – I enjoy the company of other actors.
2 When you’re writing a script, do you write with a particular actor in mind, or do you create the character independently of who will be playing them?
I create the character independently of any ideas about subsequent casting.
3 As both a writer and an actor having starred in Doctor Who in the 70s, how do you think the new TV series compares?
I don’t have a television so I am unable to answer this question. In fact , the only Dr. Who I have ever watched is the one I featured in as Professor Litefoot : ‘The Talons of Weng Chiang.’
4 In the 1977 series of Doctor Who, you played Professor George Litefoot, a role which you reprised several times. What was it about the character that you obviously enjoyed so much?
His gentility and courtesy towards others; his dry sense of humour and, when it came to it, his courage.
5 Which time period would you travel back to (TARDIS style)?
I would travel back to the period ‘The Talons of Weng Chiang’ is set in, towards the end of the nineteenth century.
6 When you come to adapt a literary work as famous as say ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ which you scripted for the stage in 2003, are you daunted by its fame and popularity, or is that something you try to ignore?
I am too concerned to find the essence of the piece, and its dramatic possibilities, to give that a thought.
7 You’ve adapted both ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ and also ‘Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime’ for the stage. What is it about Oscar Wilde you think works so well as a piece of theatre?
Oscar Wilde was essentially theatrical, in his person and in his manner of writing. He conceived of life as a drama. It is a pity that the dramatic events of his own life have come to overshadow his reputation as an artist. Intellectually he was a colossus.
8 You’ve played so many roles from Agamemnon with the Royal Shakespeare Company to Dr Jennings in ‘Sky Captain’. What do you look for in a role?
I look for the qualities that make the character ‘him’ as opposed to anyone else; strength, weakness, wit, stupidity, whatever.
9 A -List movies or small budget TV series?
‘Rocco and his Brothers.’ ‘The Artist.’ ‘The Third Man.’ ‘Rules of the Game.’ ‘La Dolce Vita.’
10 Comedy or tragedy?
Comedy. It’s harder.
11 Shakespeare or Marlowe?
Shakespeare.
12 Do you have any Pre-show rituals before you go onstage?
Clearing my throat and checking my flys.
13 What was the scariest moment on camera/ stage for you?
Once forgetting my lines so badly that the audience started commenting on it.
14 Do you ever see actors interpreting your work and think “I didn’t mean it like that!”?
Often. But it’s part of the medium. People interpret things differently.
15 Who have you enjoyed working with the most?
Sheila Handcock when she directed me in a production of ‘The Constant Wife.’
16 What do you think is your best work and why?
‘The Undertaking.’ It explores strange territory. Lucid and coherent it’s also, if not obviously, dramatic.
17 How do you choose a topic to write about?
It chooses me. Born of the marriage of desperation with introspection, it emerges and once it has, like a new born child, it will not be ignored.
18 Do you ever read your own performance reviews?
If I’m told they’re favourable.
19 What plays have inspired you in your life?
Ibsen’s ‘The Wild Duck.’ Checkov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard.’ Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Ernest.’
20 If you could, what advice would you give to your younger self starting out as an actor/playwright?
Don’t waste time being unconfident