Phillip Bretherton believes that the success of
As Times Goes By... on both sides of the Atlantic
may be somewhat due to supply and demand.
"As Time Goes By... is actually quite an old-fashioned type of programme," says Bretherton. "It is a gentle sort of comedy, based on character and very middle-class. I think it's pitched at a mainly female audience, probably over-forty. It's about the only show of that genre left in England now."
Much of what appears on British television these days "is very broad, somewhat crude comedy, like Men Behaving Badly," he comments. "I don't think we've got an equivalent at the moment to such sophisticated American comedies as Frasier and Friends." And however much he personally enjoys those American shows, Bretherton points out that they are not targetted to the As Time Goes By... demographic of civilized mature women.
"Because it is not sexy to do that," he explains. "The advertisers don 't get it. It's like movies are all pitched to people between the ages of eighteen and twenty- four. Which means that As Time Goes By... is going to an audience that is largely neglected. And I think that's a good thing -- it fills a niche for that sort of comedy. People in Britain certainly seem to find it refreshing that there's a comedy that's pitched to an older audience."
Bretherton of course, plays "Alistair," the publishing executive who, with Moira Brooker's "Judith", stands in for the younger, or at least Baby Boom generation. Asked if some of the programme's appeal is that of nostalgia for the 1950s--when the likes of Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer ruled a prim and proper world -- Bretherton pauses a moment. "I think ..." he replies, "that certainly was true of the third series, when we did all those scenes at the house in the country. There it has a sort of notalgic feel to it."
However, he adds, "when it's back in the London setting, it's more contemporary. So it hits both those targets."
The American success of As Time Goes By... comes as a rather pleasant surprise to Bretherton, "because there didn't seem to be any real continuity to the showing of it there. I wasn't altogether sure how often it was being shown."
He adds that "I knew the programme was being aired on a PBS channel in New York City. I go to New York about twice a year, becasue my godson lives there and his father rang me and said they'd just shown an episode."
The godson's father phoned Bretherton again, the following week, to inform him that the exact same episode was on the air again. "You know," says Bretherton, "like they just got the tape and shoved it in. He was also pretty sure that they had shown two episodes out of sequence. So it seemed to to pretty hit-or-miss over there. We're not told where it's being shown, or whatever."
But then, on the bright side, "I got a letter from a lady in Colorado who said she was enjoying it. It's great when these things happen. It gains a popularity somewhere you've never been. The last place you sort of expected."
Told that the success of the programme has made him a well-known name in Scranton, PA, Bretherton chuckles politely and says "That's wonderful. Where exactly is Scranton?"
Even nicer was when Bretherton was appearing in Toronto last year, as "Jack" in a stage production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest" and I met someone who had taped every single episode and kept them all. that was extraordinary, since I din't even know As Time goes By... was showing in Toronto. And I got this letter, saying 'I watch the show and I've seem them all and -- if you want someone to show you around Toronto-- I'll be happy to do it'. So I met up with this person."
The As Time Goes By... team has completed
an additional seven episodes, which as of this
printing have not yet appeared on the air in
Britain, much less America. "So I'm not sure
when those shows will get over to the States."
Asked if "Alistair" is the primary focus of his career, Bretherton replies that "It has been the primary focus for the last few years, because that's what I'm mainly known for over here."
He also does "quite a lot of theatre", with the aforementioned Oscar Wilde play having taken up much of his professional time in 1997. Before the company moved on to Toronto, says Bretherton, "We played two theatres in England. First, in Wales, we played Theatre Clwyd, which is like the national theatre of Wales, really. In any case, it's the biggest theatre in Wales, in a little place called Mold. Bud 'Cwyd' is the name of the county. We then moved on to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre."
He adds that light comedy "is pretty much the area I work in. Although I like to get my teeth into something a bit more serious now and again."
Bretherton's interest in acting began a quarter century ago as a student at the University of Manchester. "I did England and Drama theres," he recalls, "because I wasn't sure what I wanted to be when I left University. In those days, we went to University to 'find ourselves.' I don't know if it was the same in America. I think, nowadays, people go much more with a career in mind, because the job market is much tighter now than it was then."
Historically, Bretherton estimates that the late 1970s were the time when "the job market started to shrink and students became less radical."
As if he personally was ever involved in leftist/anarchist university politics, he replies that "I sort of toyed with it. But I never really went down that road too far."
What about Alistair, can Bretherton see that present-day publishing exec, cira 1973, angrily seeking to overthrow society? "No," laughs Bretherton. "Probably not."
The actor adds that one of the things he genuinely loves about the fictive Alistair is taht "Anthing he picks up, he goes in with his guns blazing. He sort of gets an enthusiasm which will probably last a fortnight. But I'm pretty sure that, if he decided he was going to be a student radical, he'd go all out for it. He's the sort of guy who would dress the part and smoke the pot and then think 'No, hang on. I'm bored with this now. I'll go on to something else."
Bretherton states that he enjoys portraying this character, "Because he's got a sort of uncynical enthusiasm which I admire. I like that about him. He's got a sort of energy which sometimes I think I ought to apply to myself a bit more than I do."
"He's not a laid-back sort of guy. He can play laid-back. But he plays laid-back with a great deal of enthusiasm as well."
Thanks to Dorothy Burgess for posting this article from British Television (Issue #11) to the list in August, 1998 and to Meggie for following that up with the actual article and photos.