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JC: These questions originate from the fans.
They e-mail them to me…
PG: Well I'm delighted to have an American fan.
JC: Oh you have hundreds of American fans…
PG: When I used to do films and things I used to get quite a lot
of fan mail from America. But because it's so long ago now I can't
remember what I got back from the Tomorrow People. There was a lot
of interest here of course…
JC: What do you do now? Do you still act,
or something different?
PG: Well let us say that I'm doing voice overs and things like
that. But really I retired quite some time ago now. In fact, I retired
almost as soon as the Tomorrow People finished. In those days I lived
in a country home. A totally different life to the one I have now.
Freddie said he wanted a theatre so I helped him build the theatre
and ran it for children. So I did an awful lot of work here; acting
on the stage in many many different things from pantomime and a lot
of musical shows and straight plays as well. So I could say that I
have gone on acting…
JC: What other shows, programmes or plays
have you been in over the years?
PG: As I said I stopped working at the end of the Tomorrow People
although I did go out to Vienna and did a lovely show 'Mrs. Warren's
Profession' with Constance Cummings who was a great star. I did do
quite a lot of television with all the different comedy people like
Kenneth Williams, Stanley Baxter and Dick Emery hmmm I did like him
he was lovely.
JC: Have you read any Tomorrow People stories
written by fans? If so, what?
PG: No I haven't. That's interesting because of course Roger
was with us, as far as I was concerned, all through the series. Although
other people did write some of the stories. But it was nearly always
Roger Price.
JC: What did you think when you first heard
about the premise for the show?
PG: I'll tell you quite frankly. I didn't want to do the voice
because I was doing a tremendous lot of stage work and TV work. They
said they wanted a particular kind of voice and would I consider it…
my agent, Blanche Glass, who was a wonderful agent said 'you've got
to realise that there will be lots of feedback on this and I think
you should do it.' I didn't want to particularly be just a voice but
when I did find the premise for the show I was fascinated by it and
very intrigued.
JC: Did you ever imagine that, all these
years later, people would still be interested in the show?
PG: This time no. Previous to this there have been several times
when the show has suddenly come back again, like when the Sci-Fi channel
did it. It was intriguing why people would want to see it again. But
this time I'm really intrigued because kids you know… like this young
man here (points at James) is considerably younger than a lot of the
people who were great fans of the show. I had little kids coming up
to me saying ' Oh I loved your show' then they come back and they're
middle aged…
JC: Like myself…
PG: No you're young too. These are real middle-aged people who
say 'You were such a hero to me when I was young and to my children.'
JC: Which version of TIM did you prefer
the hanging tubes or mobile platform?
PG: I liked the hanging tubes… I was never happy about the platform.
When we did the last recording of the CD. They showed us a clip out
of the story where I was the little machine running around and I must
say I didn't like it very much.
JC: What do you think was the most enduring
quality of TIM that has made him so popular amongst fans?
PG: I suppose the avuncular kind of thing. It appealed to everybody
as a kind of father figure and as an uncle. I was uncle to all of
the kids. I'm now 72 years old so when I was doing the TP I was mid
40's. I was a mature man and always there as the uncle.
TIM was very gentle and originally modelled on H.A.L. from 2001.
HAL was, when he wasn't manic or anything, he was a very gentle character.
That was what Roger intended.
JC: I've read some of the work of Dr. Christopher
Evans and am interested in parapsychology. Was he very influential
on the show?
PG: Yes we did have him in a number of times. In the early days.
JC: He was very big on the ideas of biotronics
and computers…
PG: He was very useful.
JC: Who was your favourite character (besides
TIM) and what was your favourite episode?
PG: I liked Timus who was the Lord from the Galactic Trig. Tikno
was the one who had a more active role. I did several different episodes
with Tikno. There was one with Egyptian pyramids…
JC: Worlds Away?
PG: Yes. I enjoyed that enormously. I enjoyed when I talked to
myself as TIM. That was very interesting.
JC: Worlds away has one of my favourite
lines in it. You say; 'This is a good
world to be on now that the Kulthan and Vesh taker no longer rule
it. It will be even better for the Vesh here on Peri than it will
be for you Tomorrow People on Earth.' And
as you say it they all teleport and you walk through them…
PG: It's been a long time since I last saw it and don't recall
much. Is that where we sit in front of a fire?
JC: Yes
PG: That was definitely my favourite.
JC: If you had to do it all again for TV
would you?
PG: Yes. Provided they get me a wheel chair to sit in. (All laugh)
JC: What was it like being on the show for
that long? Was it strange being the only cast member to be in every
season?
PG: I had done a lot of shows that had run for many years in
the past so I was used to something going on for a considerable amount
of time. But of course TP was a lot longer than that. We didn't work
all the time, say three or four months in every year. It ran for 9
years?
JC: 73-79
PG: I wasn't the only one in every season. Nick was also in every
one. It didn't seem to be strange. You took it all for granted in
those days.
JC: What do you think was the best story
you worked on?
PG: Apart from the one that we have been discussing there was
the one with…. He was a very good actor. It had doctors…
JC: Secret Weapon with Trevor Bannister?
PG: Yes that was the one. The stories were very mixed. Some were
very good and others just… Like that Hitler one…
End part one
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