The Peter Vaughan-clarke interview

This is an edited version of the on-line interview with PVC carried out on the 18th February 2001.

It took place in the tomorrow people chat channel giving fans from across the world an opportunity to personally grill Peter Vaughan-Clarke on his time as a Tomorrow Person.

So here he is after all your patient waiting... a round of applause please for Peter Vaughan Clarke

Welcome Peter, nice to meet you.

PVC: Hello and thanks to you all for joining me on this lovely evening... you are all welcome to ask me any questions about the TP past and present. What you must all realise is that all this was twenty years ago and if you want serious answers then you must wait...

Hello Peter, have you seen much of the TP fandom on the Internet, and what do you make of it all?

PVC: Odd but interesting. Someone of my age, after all this time, finds it very interesting and rewarding but can you understand that it's a bit odd in the nicest possible way to be remembered this way.

PVC: I've been lighting shows all over the west end and was with Tony Blair in Downing Street last week.

How often to do you see the other cast members, if at all? :)

PVC:Yes there are too many TP people living in Muswell Hill lol.

What was your favorite episode?

PVC: The Doomsday men because I fence in it... I was the London School boy champion for Saber...

In real life or only in the episode?

PVC: Yes in real life I was the champion...

How did you get along with your fellow actors? Was there one person you particularly got along well with?

PVC: I did fancy the girl in Worlds away who was tied to the stake with Liz.... he he, I'll have to watch worlds away again. This was twenty five years ago... I can't remember last week!

Have you seen the "new" series that aired in the 90s? What did you think about it?

PVC: Hmm it's very well filmed with good actors. It would be nice to have had the money in the old days to film something like that but... sadly it didn't reflect the 70's version so there were two versions of the show which didn't work in my view.

Is it true that you went round Europe in a Ferrari with a fellow child star from the hit show Oliver and were you responsible for his fall from grace?

PVC: Yes his name is Mark Lester and I was more famous than him and Jack Wilde; but I did spend all their money and crashed the Ferrari... bommboom.

In your meeting with Jackie earlier you mentioned that you had been asked back to do an episode. Do you remember which episode? And what was supposed to happen to Stephen in it?

PVC: I was meant to come in with a spanner and then go off the screen never to be seen again. Jaunting to the Galactic Federation to save planets.

Do you know of any plans for episodes that never turned out? What did you think of them, and why didn't they happen?

PVC: I was sacked in the middle of it so as I wasn't actually there I don't know sorry.

Seeing as 'a man for emily' was Peter Davison's first screen job, what was he like to work with? have you ever run across him-even in your capacity as a lighting designer- after that?

PVC: Yes. I know him very well. I nearly saw him a few days ago as a friend of mine is his next door neighbour. He was a very nice person to work with and it's a shame him and Sandra Dickinson split up.... but there you go!

I've hear actors in SF shows say it's disconcerting to have to deal with working with Special Effects, blue screens etc. -- what was it like in TP?

PVC: I'm sure it's like any actor coming from star-wars now as back projection and blue screen is one of the most widely used techniques and very irritating for actors to work in. But it's sci-fi and a must!

I don't have a question, but I do want to say that even when I watched in the 80's I realized this was old news for all of you. I often wondered where you all were and kept you in my childhood prayers... still do when I think of it. Best of wishes for your present and future.

PVC: That is very kind of you... how sweet. Look after yourself.

If there was something that you could have changed about either Stephen, or about the show, what would it have been?

PVC: I should have been in it longer.

What was your least favorite episode, and why?

PVC: Into the Unknown because I stood at the back saying nothing and knocking sets over...

Have you heard of any serious problems with people who take the Tomorrow People way too seriously (breaking out), as if they really exist, and have you ever thought that the Tomorrow People might really exist?

PVC: I'm sitting with three of them and Jackie's husband is going totally crazy... lol The tomorrow People do exist! It's in all of your heads as long as you remember it!

In your opinion, would a third TP series be a good or bad idea, and why?

PVC: Yes Think it would be a good idea with the old cast bringing in the new cast.

Had you continued on the show, do you think Stephen would have (or would like for him to have ) taken on a larger leadership role?

PVC: Yes just me on my own running the planet fighting Time Lords...

Peter, what's the funniest experience you had whilst doing the show that's still likely to raise a smile from you?

PVC: I crashed a motor bike and missed two days filming and wasn't popular with the cast and crew!

I would like to say how much I enjoyed watching you in the show. Was there any particular episode you could describe as your least favourite?

PVC: Being thrown into the sea in Clacton in winter not knowing how to swim and I nearly drowned.

I maintain a filmography page trying to list all other TV, and movie roles TP actors were in. Can you remember your roles - and most of all, were you in 'The Stud'?

PVC: Yes I was in the stud. I was in the swimming pool scene. It was filmed at the sanctuary in Covent Garden. And I was in James Bond and The Sweeny.

What type of TV shows were you attracted to when you were a kid, and do you think you would have been drawn to the TP if you hadn't been otherwise involved?

PVC: My fav program was Lost in Space and I wanted to be the kid in it... and one day I was and ain't life great.

I wonder if PVC has ever worn PVC?

PVC: I've worn PVC many times... I've had to build stuff with it. Black shiny latex stuff.

Can you give us a rundown on what you did after you got canned-till modern day... and did they ever tell you why you got sacked?

PVC:The reason I got sacked is that I couldn't act.

Peter, what are your fav hobbies?

PVC:Fencing, drinking, climbing & socialising.

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So I thank you all and goodnight from the cutest TP in the world!