The BBC series "I Claudius" is coming back to the BBC, it's soon to start on BBC4. 

 

It's of special interest to me because... I'm in it! 

 

I was only in one episode, playing joint emperor with Caligula, memorably played by John Hurt alongside Derek Jacobi's Claudius. There were actually lots of people in that series who went on to bigger things - John Rhys Davies (Indiana Jones, Gimli in Lord of the Rings), Patrick Stewart (Star Trek) and many others. Just a couple of years later, John Hurt had an alien bursting out of his chest in 'Alien'. 

 

But although it was only one episode, it was nevertheless a memorable part - I had a few lines, I coughed a lot, and was finally beheaded! The BBC made a very accurate model of my head for Macro (John Rhys Davies) to present to Caligula. It's surprising how many people remember it! 

 

We rehearsed for a few days, and every day I would have lunch with John Hurt and Derek Jacobi, I got to know them both pretty well although I guess I would have presumed that they would have forgotten all about me - turned out I was wrong about that!

 

It's strange to have a part in such as well known series when I was so young! I did go onto do some more acting (most memorably, a production of Terence Rattigan's "Cause Celebre" with Glynis Johns at Her Majesty's Theatre) but it kind of dried up around the time of my A levels and I never went back to it. 

 

I'd had an interest in acting since I was about 6 when I had a role of a King in our school nativity play. Respondent in my kingly attire - an old blue curtain with milk bottle tops stuck to it - I got the bug and started badgering my parents to take me to auditions. That's how I finished up as 'Workhouse Boy and Fagin's Gang' in a production of 'Oliver' at the Gaumont State Kilburn, at that time the biggest stage in Europe!

 

I went to drama school in the evenings, and entered drama an poetry competitions. When I was 12, I won a national poetry reading competition and was spotted by an agent. 'I Claudius' was my third audition. 

 

I do sometimes wonder what like would have been like if I'd carried on as an adult, but to be honest, although I acquit myself honourably in I Claudius, I'm not sure that I was such a great actor. I'd have probably finished being one of those sad, tired Beta Males waving a mop and singing bastardised Queen songs for an advert.

 

There's a bit of a Rubicon to cross from being a child actor to being an adult one, many fall by the wayside. But there was another reason - I was growing increasingly interested in music!

 

Anyway, I have a strange Coda to this story.

 

Many, many, MANY years later I was in a bar in Budapest with my mate Bill, and he nudged me and said "how do you fancy getting in touch with your past"? At the very next table sat John Hurt! He was filming a version of 'Hercules' I think.

 

I was drunk enough to tap him on the shoulder and say "Excuse me, I don't suppose you remember me but I worked with you about thirty years ago". 

 

There was a long pause.

 

And then, in that unmistakable voice he intoned 'but OF COURSE I do!'. 

 

And he did! He explained that he remembered everything in great detail from around that time because it was just when he was on the verge of success, it was all very vivid to him.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon reminiscing as if it were yesterday. And we got terribly, terribly drunk.

 

When John died I was of course greatly saddened. One of the true greats. 

 

But I felt very lucky to have known him and to have had that strange reunion not long before his death