LIFE, THE UNIVERSE & ABERYSTWYTH
It has been
some time since I updated a sense of what I have been up to. Currently I am
data mining various sources to build up a picture of the work of Tom Baker. He
is the second of my five planned case studies into what makes an actor in the
television industry.
Sadly, I
read that he has given his last interview, in the 500th issue of Doctor Who Magazine which will be
published soon, ending with the words “Well, I’ll be dead quite soon.” Tom
Baker is my Doctor, one of the
strongest memories of my youth. Recently I have sent out a number of letters
asking these actors if they would be prepared to aid my research into acting on
television. I am perhaps fortunate that Doctor
Who is one of the most remediated television texts ever. There is a wealth
of material available on almost all of them. I am, of course limited in the
number that I can contain in my research and thus have chosen one from each
decade that the programme is in.
Thus I am in
a very enjoyable part of my research now- looking closely at these performers
and the environment that both contains them and allows them to be so creative.
Having written about ‘An Unearthly Child’ and now centering down upon ‘City of
Death’, I am constantly amazed at what has fascinated people about this
programme for over fifty years.
In this I
have been aided and abetted by a number of colleagues friends and new met
people. Recently Matt Hills gained a position at Huddersfield University and
this has necessitated a change of supervisor. A year ago we agreed to a shuffle
about of the supervisory team and David Rabey joined as Sarah Thomas stepped
aside, the nature of my work suggested this, and now Jamie Medhurst has joined
my team. Both Sarah and Matt were supportive and grand assistance in getting me
to fly and I have greatly benefitted from their input as I got my head around
the theory part of the work. As I begin to bring together the actors and their
environment I think that David and Jamie will be every bit as helpful in the
run to completion.
There have
also been a number of colleagues at Aberystwyth University that have been
instrumental at times in their support. Beyond that I also have a web of
locals, from the Aberystwyth Arts Centre who have been keeping my feet on the
ground. In particular I have enjoyed a friendship with Gaz and Nia at the
cinema there. Front of house has put me in contact as I volunteer there with a
number of lovely people who always relax me with their company about the shows
we usher. There are, of course, the cohort of graduates that I have had the joy
of sharing this time and in some cases this office, they gift me a benchmark
and a stool to break my fall at times.
I have also
enjoyed a number of contacts on Facebook, both old and new ‘friends’. And it
has been to these folk I have been able to call on in times when I have had to
find something or contact someone. So thank you Horst, Clare, Dan, Carlos,
Phillip, Paul, Shane, David, Neil and many others.
SPOILER
ALERT! Some darkness ahead.
Naturally it
is the case that while a worthwhile project is being done, it is not all
sunshine. This project is no exception. It has brought me both the best of days
and the worst of days. I have been troubled with insomnia and found myself at
times paralysed with fear and doubt. And this is where colleagues, friends, and
environments outside of the university have proven valuable. This all came to
head with a bit of a health scare and a couple of weeks of considering putting
all of this aside, after nearly two and a half years of effort.
However it
all came to nothing and the work has forged ahead. I went off to Newbury to
listen to Christopher Eccleston, had a few words with him, got a selfie (which
I still feel guilty about) and delivered into his hand a copy of the letter I
had sent out to agents. So when I got a reply from Tom Baker’s agent I was
quite surprised and excited. However they were not able to help on this
occasion. Perhaps now I know why. I have not received any other replies.
But as I
said, the programme has amassed an incredible amount of material, not the least
of which is contained in the incredible 500 issues of Doctor Who Magazines and Specials. I have been gratified to read
such detailed attitude and information about what it has been like playing Doctor Who. As well as this, there is
also so much available to look at other performances of these actors, I am
still kicking myself that I did not get to Glasgow to see Sylvester McCoy in
Chekhov’s Three Sisters. The body of
work that Eccleston has in the archive is especially daunting.
So here I
am, both exhausted and excited in equal measure most of the time. If I haven’t
been in touch for a while, forgive me, and if I have been a nuisance,
understand. My project has a little over a year to run, I would still like to
ask these actors more specifically about their agency over the character: “Who
owns the Doctor?” I would like to try and understand the relationship between
them and the character and how this is managed between the job of the actor and
the job of the celebrity: “Does your notoriety enhance or interfere with your
job as an actor?” And I would like to get them to describe in their own words
how they manage their own brand, alongside that of the BBC’s Doctor Who: “Where is the line between performance
and persona, life and work?”
Aberystwyth,
in all of this chaos, has felt like my safe haven in the United Kingdom, a
place where I have put down some roots, but which still reminds me so much of
home that I do not feel all that far from where I come from. I look forward to
these next few months with considerable anticipation, whatever comes. I feel
very much a Kiwi still and have championed our films visiting the arts Centre
Cinema, with thanks to Chad and Ben. Hopefully the fates will continue to unfurl
my sails through to completing this particular life journey.
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