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Castaway
1 appearance
Scots actor best known for playing the title role in the Dr. Finlay television series.
On the island
Eight records
it was the first record that I ever bought with my own money, and I must say I do regret the passing of the big band Noise, the Woody Hammonds of Dorsey's
And I also love it because recently, I went to the Circus of France with my fiancée who has now become my wife and this kind of song actually brought it all back to me
this brings back all the memories when I was working on the farm in the villages of Scotland when we used to get some of our bike every Friday night and go to the local country dance
String Quartet No. 2 in D major: III. Notturno
while I was at Drama College, almost the first production we did was Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, in which I was playing Gaev ... and it was only when I heard this that I really think I understood what the play was all about
I feel that if I was on a desert island that this would be marvellous background music to what I imagine a desert island to be
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67: IV. Allegro – PrestoFavourite
Philharmonia Orchestra (Otto Klemperer)
I never really have had time to listen to it carefully and to know, to understand it really. So I think that there should be some bit of music on this island which you could sit down and listen to and puzzle out why this is great music
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Josef Krips)
I suddenly found myself in the Air Force and was sent almost immediately to Germany ... and this music brings back the great sort of romantic quality of the people and the country, particularly in Austria. I also think ... this is one of the sexiest pieces of music that was ever written
I choose this because it brings back my favourite part of the world, which is the northwest highlands of Scotland and the Hebrides. Mingulay is a little Hebridean island and this is a rowing song, the men going home from the fishing
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:33How well could you adjust yourself to solitude?
I think quite well. I enjoy very much being on my own sometimes. I would miss company, but I think I could put up with it.
Presenter asks
4:09Did you see a lot of theatre as a child?
No, I didn't see a play in the theatre until I was about 21.
Presenter asks
8:38Had you considered coming south, storming the citadel in London?
No, I didn't think I was ready for that. I think as an actor you should first of all get to know your own dialect, language, know how you're expressing yourself in that before you go further afield.
Presenter asks
12:44Is Dr. Finlay going to be something of a menace to your career — are you going to be identified too closely with this character when it's all over?
The keepsakes
The book
Songs and Poems of Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Well that very obvious I take a book of Robert Burns songs and poems
The luxury
A case of sports equipment, including a rubber ball
I have done in the past. Kicking it against the wall or throwing it or anything
Well, I am going to be identified with the character for a long time. There's no doubt about that. From my point of view, this doesn't worry me in that there is plenty of other work. Apart from television work. No, I'm very pleased that I got the chance to do this and I don't think it can do me anything but good, quite honestly.
Presenter asks
13:10What's your big ambition?
Theatrically, I'm not very ambitious. I mean, there isn't any particular part that I'd give a lot to play. I'd like very much eventually to have the chance to direct a film.
“Yes, I think so. I think each record that I've chosen is a little part of my life, something that was important to me at that time.”
“this brings back all the memories when I was working on the farm in the villages of Scotland when we used to get some of our bike every Friday night and go to the local country dance. There was one on nearly every Friday night in one of the neighbouring villages and this was great fun and you lost a lot of weight and it wasn't the sort of refined Scottish country dancing, it was the farmers with the large boots and the dust come out of the floorboards and screams the ladies being thrown off their feet in exuberance and the tea and buns in the interval and two o'clock in the morning cycling back home again to milk at about half past four, the 60 cows on the farm.”
“I choose this because while I was at Drama College, almost the first production we did was Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, in which I was playing Gaev. And there is a scene in which Madame Ranevskaya goes talking about her past life in Paris and Montore and they played this music as a background to this scene, it was supposed to be coming from the ballroom just off. And it was only when I heard this that I really think I understood what the play was all about.”
“No, no, I wouldn't. Probably I wouldn't even try to find out what was on the other side of the island. I'm not the pioneer at all. I find myself quite happy and safe in one little spot. I'll be very inclined to stay there, I think.”
“Mingulay is a little Hebridean island and this is a rowing song, the men going home from the fishing. It includes all the sentiment and the sweet sadness of the Scottish nature and the nature of the highlands.”