On 3/16/01 Philip Bretherton attended a "meet and greet" on the Denver leg of his recent PBS tour and Barbara and Kay from Colorado were lucky enough to see him. Rocky Mountain PBS ran a three hour As Time Goes By Marathon the evening before and Philip was right there in between shows answering questions from the fans who phoned in with their pledges. What follows is a transcription of his interview with Betsy from RM/PBS. The dialogue did not occur all at once and may appear to be disjointed. When viewer names were mentioned, I deleted them and references to this specific area or telephone numbers were deleted as well. Often -- as we all know happens during pledge breaks the camera would leave whatever was going on onstage and cut to a PBS representative who ran down the list of premiums available to the members. In this case, the station was offering ATGB videos as well as an autographed picture of Philip Bretherton [see picture below]. To indicate that time has elapsed between bits of conversation -- either because of the above-mentioned cutaway or because of the actual running of ATGB -- I will indicate by a line showing only *******. I wish to thank Kay Hankins for sending me a copy of the tape she made so that we could all share in what must have been a wonderful evening.
RM/PBS: And who do I have standing right next to me? Alistair Deacon, also known as Philip Bretherton. Welcome.Philip: Thank you very much indeed.
RM/PBS: We are so glad you took the time. (deleted some small talk and discussion about the tv promotion) ... And actually you have visited other stations across the nation.
Philip: Yeah, I was in Ohio and I was in Baltimore as well. So it's been a bit of a culture shock as I go around, you know like, just two days ago I was in Amish Country and now I'm in the Rockies so I don't know where I'm waking up half the time, you know?
RM/PBS: Have you been to Denver before?
Philip: Never been to Denver before, never been this far west.
RM/PBS: Really? Well we're glad you decided to come this far west.
Philip:You know, it's a great pleasure, a great pleasure. It's not like work at all, you know.
RM/PBS: Right here live in our Rocky Mountain PBS Studio, Philip Bretherton. He's taken time from his busy schedule to support Rocky Mountain PBS by coming here. I don't know if you know this, but we have a great big crowd of Britcom lovers. These fans are wild about As Time Goes By.
Philip: I'm beginning to realize that now. You know it was a huge shock to me because the first place I went to in Ohio we did a "meet and greet" with 450 people so I was like -- I had no idea -- it was the biggest group of Americans I'd ever met before all in one place in my life and, of course, and I mean they all loved it, otherwise they wouldn't be there...
RM/PBS: That's right.
Philip: But, um, the amount of knowledge, the amount of stuff they knew about it was extraordinary, you know? I mean they were telling me things I didn't know, so....
RM/PBS: And we watch these over and over and over again and people just don't get tired of it and we at Rocky Mountain PBS air the programs around 10:30 at night and it's such a wonderful way to end out your day: it's relaxing, it's funny, it's fairly clean fun, good clean fun and we're proud to be able to air the program.
Philip: Good. Good. Good. I'm glad about that.
RM/PBS: Did we get a question?
Philip:Yeah, I got a question from [name and location deleted]. She says she loved the show -- thank you very much -- and will there be more new episodes coming out soon? Well we made the last one in 2000 -- and that was Series Eight. I know there are scripts written for Series Nine, but you know everybody's so busy, especially Dame Judi Dench. I mean, she's in Newfoundland at the moment making Shipping News with Kevin Spacey -- the Annie Proulx book. So she's busy all the time. She has about five projects on the go at any one time. So, if we can get everybody together....the two girls have both got very young families -- Jenny Funnell has just had a baby but maybe that's an incentive for her to get out of the house. I don't know, maybe she'll want to work and have a good reason for working. So, if we can get everybody together, and if we can get Geoffrey Palmer away from his fishing, which is his great love, we might be able to, you know, find the 10 weeks we need to make a new series. I certainly hope so because I love doing it.
RM/PBS: Everything I have read says what an excellent storyline As Time Goes By has and can you elaborate for maybe some viewers who love Britcoms but haven't watched this program particularly?
Philip: Well it was a sort of "will they? won't they?" kind of story line, you know: two people getting back together after a long time apart.....
RM/PBS: And that was Lionel and Jean?
Philip:...split by circumstance they both go their separate ways. Both of those marriages for one reason or another ends and then coincidence brings them back together. So it's two people of a certain age -- let's be diplomatic about it -- two people of a certain age discovering each other again and finding a love affair like younger people. So the "will they? won't they?" kind of dramatic tension was about will they or won't they get married. So we got to about Series Four and that happened and I thought well, that's the end of it now because that element has been taken away. But then, of course, there was the thing of them being, as I said, being of a certain age -- but being newly wed and so it's all those things. Two people who would have been married thirty years before actually only just getting married and then, you know, havin to find out about each other and, you know, living together and, of course, Lionel living in a house with three women -- you know...
RM/PBS: There you go...
Philip: ...having been Mr. Bachelorman on his own -- so all that as well. So it's all those elements came into it.
RM/PBS: That's great. That's great.
RM/PBS: As I said earlier, we have a huge following and as you said, they know the series more than any of us knows the stories.
Philip: Well they know the story better than I do. I mean, you know I have people saying "Oh, I remember that line," you know and people were helping me out when I was in Ohio, 'cause, I'm sorry, that's seven years ago and I can't remember that one, that was in Series Two and I'm not sure what that was about and somebody would put their hand up and say "Oh, don't worry I can help you out with that" so they answered the question for me. It was great.
RM/PBS: Earlier we were talking about what you've been up to...so the last episodes were filmed at the beginning of ... 2000 ...
Philip: 2000, so it's about 14 months ago -- and then I went -- about a couple of months later I did some theatre and then I went straight into a hospital drama -- complete contrast.
RM/PBS: Oh, I bet.
Philip: Not a lot of laughs in that one, not for me anyway because, you know, they killed me off in the end.
RM/PBS: Oh, they did?
Philip: I knew I was gonna die. I mean, you know, this wasn't -- they didn't hate me so much they got rid of me. But, uh, no, I was killed off at the end of that -- so that's what I did immediately before coming here, so I thought, well, I've done six months solid on that, you know, I needed a break, so I took the opportunity of coming here.
RM/PBS: Thank you.
Philip: It didn't turn out to be quite as much of a holiday as I'd imagined because it....
RM/PBS: You're working pretty hard...
Philip: Oh, yeah, yeah.
RM/PBS: I think you had one question you were going to answer before heading over to the thank you gifts.
Philip: Yeah, (name deleted) wants to know "Are they producing any more of the series?" Well there are scripts, as far as I know, in development, as I think I said earlier, but its just a matter of getting everybody together for that vital ten weeks where we're all free at the same time and that's just the logistics of it. But I hope -- I hope they do it because ...
RM/PBS: We do too.
Philip: ... cause then that might, you know, if they buy it, if they pledge, then that series gets aired and then, selfishly, I might get a chance to come back here.
RM/PBS: That would be great. (talks directly to home audience) We want him back here so please pledge your support. Let's make sure that great Britcoms continue right here on Rocky Mountain PBS.
RM/PBS: We've got some questions I think.
Philip: Yeah. (mentions name of the questioner which I deleted) Why is the program called Butterflies in Canada? I think you may be getting confused because Geoffrey Palmer was in a series called Butterflies in the early 70s in England and he played a dentist in that who collected Butterflies and so it's not the same show.
RM/PBS: OK
Philip: So we are As Time Goes By wherever you happen to see it. That's what it's always been called. (Philip continues to read from the card.) And she thinks that I'm -- Oh, well I should not read that for the sake of modesty -- okay in the part, so thanks very much for that.
RM/PBS: (Leans over to look at the card). She does -- it's her favorite show it says. (Reading from another card). How fun is Judi Dench to work with?
Philip: Well, I don't know where to start, I mean she's the most fun to work with, you know, there's no dark sides. There's no sort of going off into a corner being great on screen or great on stage then being awful off it. She's fun all the time and, you know, she's what we call a giggler. You know, the least thing will send her off. It's not the most professional thing in the world to do, but I mean this is a very fine actress -- you can go (snaps his fingers) just like that. So she's loads of fun -- always got lots of practical jokes on the go and things like that. It's a delight to work with her. I can't wait to do it again.
RM/PBS: Well it looks like, just watching the episodes, they're so much fun to watch. Is it that much fun to produce and to act in them?
Philip: Yeah, because it's like doing theatre, I guess. It's the same coming to see it. So all the outside sequences, whether it's, you know, a taxi's arriving outside a house or if there's anything we need to shoot outside -- we do all that in the three weeks prior to shooting and then we rehearse for a week and on a Sunday we go out and do it in front of a live audience and then we do it in order, you know, like drama series, you can be doing one bit here and another bit there and you never know what's coming next, but we do it in sequence and then we shoot it in sequence in front of an audience and drop those filmed bits in and so it's a nice blend of doing television and doing theatre, really.
RM/PBS: It sounds like a lot of fun.
RM/PBS: As Time Goes By -- it's all about a second chance at love and laughter which I think is just a wonderful thing to say about it plus you just get that feeling as you're watching it -- it feels like a family -- they're going back and forth and the humor is so subtle -- it's a wonderful way to end an evening, I tell you , watching these Britcoms.
Philip: That's great. That's great.
RM/PBS: Let's take a question or two, shall we?
Philip: Whose voice is it that sings the opening song? Now, I think it's Joe Longthorn -- he's a singer in England. [NOTE: I don't know who that is and can't swear to the spelling of the name, but that is what it sounded like to me.] I don't know whether he's known over here. If it's not Joe Longthorn, then I apologize to him. It's been a long time since I've seen the end credits. But that's who I think it is. He's an English singing ... -- mostly just cabarets and things like that. [NOTE: It is actually Joe Fagin who sings As Time Goes By]
RM/PBS: OK.
Philip: Have you done comedy in the U.S.? Well, I love U.S. Comedy. I love Frasier. I loveThe Simpsons. I love Seinfeld. I love Friends. The list is endless. It would be great to do American comedy, but unfortunately I never have. There was talk of a pilot or something at one time, but I don't think that ever happened. ....about the early settlers in New England. But that never took off.
RM/PBS: Oh really?
Philip: There's so many pilots done.
RM/PBS: Sure.
Philip: It would be nice to have the opportunity, but you know, that's what the future holds.
RM/PBS: (name deleted comments...) You are still a hunk. Isn't that nice? Thanks for calling in.
Philip: Thank you very much indeed.
RM/PBS: That's a compliment. (name deleted) wants to know what you're doing now professionally.
Philip: Well I just finished six months on a hospital series.
RM/PBS: How was that?
Philip: Well, I died in the end, so it wasn't all that -- it wasn't a laugh, put it that way. It wasn't a comedy, by any means and then when I get back to England I'm gonna do a commercial in Germany and then I'm gonna hope to be in some theatre when I get back to England.
RM/PBS: Do you like theatre?
Philip: Yeah, well it, you know, when you're doing theatre you'd rather be doing film and when you're doing film it's a relief to do the other thing, you know the grass is always greener on the other side.
RM/PBS: Do you like being in front of live audiences?
Philip: Yeah because you get that instant comeback and you've got the next night to put right what you did wrong the night before and in TV you never get that chance of course. You might get the chance to do it two or three times, but once it's in the can, it's in the can -- there's no going back.
RM/PBS: Do you have a question?
Philip: When will the next volume be coming out on video? (Philip jokes a bit about the man's name and then sort of twists the question) Will the next volume be coming out on video? I would imagine so. I can't tell you when, but I imagine they will be coming out soon. (He reads from another card.) What's it like to drive on the wrong side of the road? Well, it's not the wrong side of the road, is it? As far as you're concerned, you drive on the right side of the road, and as far as we're concerned, we drive on the right side of the road. I don't have a problem with it. I have a bit of a problem with that side of the car (points to his right). It's funny when I'm driving on this side I know where this side is, when I'm driving on this side of the road, I don't know where that side is.
RM/PBS: I'm completely confused.
Philip: It's fine. Just make sure that you are sitting in the middle of the road. I think that's the way to do it. If you're near the curb you've got it wrong. Roundabouts are a problem but you don't have many of these in this state, do you, because everything goes straight.
RM/PBS: We have a few roundabouts actually.
Philip: The temptation is to go into them this way and that would be disastrous. (continues reading) Is there an episode which implies that Alistair and Judy will get married? Well, it's kind of implied all the way through. I don't know what point you're at, how much of it you've seen....that sort of grows...that goes on and that becomes the "will they/won't they" later on in the series.
RM/PBS: Oh, does it?
Philip: We haven't actually done it -- got married that is -- so we'll have to see.
RM/PBS: I think you've got [a question] for us.
Philip: Describe what Lionel is really like. Well, I gues he comes over as being terribly sort of hang-dog and down about everything and, you know, a little embittered by life. But actually Geoffrey Palmer is entirely the opposite to that.
RM/PBS: Is he?
Philip: You know, his face is his fortune because somebody once described hiim as being like the English Walter Matthau.
RM/PBS: I think that's right. Very expressive.
Philip: It actually occurred to us that he looks more like Richard Nixon than Anthony Hopkins ever did so maybe he should have got that part. I think so certainly. But he's a much lighter person, much more easygoing. As I said, he loves fishing and he's got a wicked sense of humor and he's a great hit with the women as well ...
RM/PBS: He seems to be.
Philip: ... as I discovered in my travels, he's a real hit with the women.
RM/PBS: We've got a question here -- do you wanna go ahead and read that?
Philip: Are you a twitcher? Now does that mean do I have a tic or does it mean am I a birdwatcher -- because that's what twitchers are in England? And I am. I don't profess to be really good at it, but I love birdwatching and I live very near to a large open heath area in London called Hamstead heath and I have birds nesting on my balcony and, yeah, I'm really into that. And then there was a question about Did I enjoy my part in Remorseful Day? Now I wasn't too sure what that meant but that might mean -- it might be the title of an Inspector Morse I did about ten years ago.
RM/PBS: Oh, maybe that was it.
Philip: That's probably what it is, yeah. And that was great. I enjoyed doing that, yeah. I mean it's nice to do different things, you know...to do comedy and drama -- to mix it up a little bit and not to be known for one thing.
[Betsy leans towards Philip and shows him a card with a question on it.]
Philip: Have all episodes filmed been shown and will they continue to air As Time Goes By? I don't know whether you've had all the episodes here, but I'm sure they will continue to air as long as people keep phoning (number deleted). That will ensure that they get shown, so do call in case they haven't been -- it's only by pledging that we can be sure they will be in the future.
RM/PBS: Do you have a couple of questions there?
Philip: Well I have to pick this one out because I'm not sure how to take this. Why do you look so much younger in the studio than you do on the show? Now the show you are watching was actually filmed about seven years ago. So the fact that I look younger now than I did then is -- I don't know -- it's a miracle of makeup, maybe it's a miracle of nature, maybe I'm getting younger. [Philip thanks the person who wrote the question, says he loves her and adds that maybe he'll come back next year and just be approaching adolescence. "That'll be nice." He looks at another card and continues] Oh, somebody's come up with an idea 'cause I said I'd never been in a U.S. comedy, I suppose. Somebody's come up with a great idea -- he could be the long lost boyfriend of Daphne on Frasier. Well the more of you that vote for that idea, the happier I'd be about it because I love Frasier. I don't know whether I'd been saying before but this is like a two-way street. You like Britcoms and we love American comedies and Frasier is certainly one of my favorites, so being on that would be a real dream come true for me.
RM/PBS: Do you have a couple more questions?
Philip: Is Judi's mom ever going to be a grandmother? which, I guess, is a round about way of saying is Judy ever going to have a baby? Well, if she does, I hope I'm the first to know about it. Since we have a bit of an on/off relationship and I don't know whether or, you know, that would be airable in prime time -- but we'll see. Maybe that's the story line we'll go down. Where is Madge and Rocky's mansion really located? Well, that's in Hartfordshire and unfortunately that house has changed ownership a couple of years ago and the people who own that house now weren't too keen on having location trucks, you know, and all that kind of thing in their back yard and I suppose having a house that size they were probably financially enough well set up that they didn't need the money either so we weren't welcome there anymore so now we have to sort of work around it and get something that looks more or less the same -- the same color bricks and whatever. We can't show the front of the house anymore unfortunately.
RM/PBS: Oh, is that right?
Philip: There we are. That's just one of those things. It was a real house, with real people living in it. The new owners just aren't that keen I guess.
RM/PBS: Well, their loss. [Betsy reads another card.] Oh, yet another person thinks that you are a hunk. Well, ladies -- he is a hunk. Do you have any children?
Philip: No, I don't have any children. I have a long-term partner back in England, but we don't have any children. We're sort of getting around to that now because I've been leaving it a bit til late. I have a godson in New York and I have a niece -- two nieces -- and a nephew back in England. But none of my own just yet so I can be the wicked uncle who calls in and spoils them rotten and then walks away and leaves the consequences behind -- you know, that kind of uncle. So...thanks for this hunk thing.
RM/PBS: It's an American thing.
Philip: I feel more like a chunk, actually. Watching those programs from seven years ago I'm realizing that this waistline isn't getting any smaller so I'll have to work on that when I get home. American food is not doing me any favors whatsoever. I shall start crash dieting as soon as I get back and getting back to the gym, but thanks for that anyway.
RM/PBS: Do you remember where you got that vest that you wear -- 'cause it's wild?
Philip: Oh yeah, well that was in the days when vests -- of course we call them waistcoats -- whenever anybody says we like your vest, I think, oh my God, you can see it? you know -- we call that an undershirt. There was a time in England in the early 90s, mid 90s, when really extravagant sort of waistcoats or vests were being worn and I look at them now with a great deal of regret because it's a bit -- that really dates it, I think.
RM/PBS: It adds to your character, though. I think you have an embarrassing question maybe to ask?
Philip: Are you a sex symbol in England? I can walk around safely in England. I'm never bothered by anybody. I hope my girlfriend thinks I'm a sex symbol, but as far as everybody else is concerned -- no, not really. There are -- well let's say it's ladies of a certain age who do tend to follow me around -- so the letters I get tend to be from ladies of a certain age, which I appreciate, but I wouldn't call myself a sex symbol. No, I don't think so. But that's up to you, though. If you think I am, call [here Philip gets a good laugh from the live audience when he smoothly calls out the station's pledge telehone number] and I'm sure they can work out a scale and if the graph goes up, then I'll quite happily accept that. Thanks very much.
RM/PBS: When you call in we're happy to answer those questions.
Philip: I've got one here (name deleted) asks What happened to the actor that portrays Lionel's father? Well, nothing happened to him. He's fine. He's called Frank Middlemass and he's in his eighties and he's still doing theatre. He's still touring in theatre, he's still, you know, upright and dapper and he's very much like he is in the show actually, you know, he's like a man thirty years younger than he actually is and I don't know how he does it, but he keeps going. It's great. It's always great fun to work with him.
RM/PBS: [Betsy is talking about the personalities who have visited the station during pledge drives] ...John Inman. He's been here. Have you met him?
Philip: No. I met him once at a party. I think I knocked his glass of wine over so it wasn't the happiest meeting in the world. We then spent the rest of the time discussing whether it was better to put salt on red wine or white wine onto red wine -- we did both of those things and it still turned out to be a mess, you know.
RM/PBS: I meant to ask you, now, what is Moira Brooker up to -- now she played Sandy?
Philip: No. She played Judith -- now it's getting really confusing. Now there's an actress called Judi and there's a character called Judy. I mean, I don't know why the writer confused all those things. Maybe, you know, that was done before Judi Dench was actually cast. Those names were set up. I get confused aboout those, most anyone else does. And Moira, at the moment, as far as I know, is completely tied up with the fact that she has one daughter who's about six and she has a new baby as well so her time is completely taken up with that. And Jenny, I think, has just had a baby but she was doing a thing in England called Monster TV which is a kid's program. We're all doing various things and that's why it's so difficult when we all try and get together.
RM/PBS: It's fun to hear about them though.
RM/PBS: We had a member call in with a question....
Philip: {reads card] (name deleted) wants to know whether Lionel has a real life wife and family. Well, yeah, Geoffrey Palmer has a wife called Sally who's a nurse and they have a son called Charlie, I think, who went into the business on the other side of the camera. He went into editing and into being a focus puller and I think he's going to become a cameraman eventually. He's worked on a few things, so yep, he has a real life wife.
RM/PBS: Did you know we're celebrating our forty-fifth anniversary this year?
Philip: Yeah, yeah, I heard that.
RM/PBS: Isn't that great?
Philip: Somebody said. In 1956 when it started .....what was I doing? So I guess I was at the advanced potty-training stage in 1956 -- I can't really remember. I know Chevrolet made a great Bel Air in 1956 or was that 1957? Someone will tell me -- someone will ring in and tell me.
[they talk about some of the comments on the cards and Philip mentions that one thanks him for being in the studio and the person mentions that he is going to get a t-shirt -- one of the premiums for charging a pledge of $60 or more]
RM/PBS: [reading over Philip's shoulder] And prefers a large one...
Philip: Yeah, well I think they only come in extra-large.
RM/PBS: I think they do, but they shrink pretty well -- one hundred percent cotton.
Philip: We're not allowed to say that. Do they shrink? My goodness. Don't wash them in too hot water. Forty degrees at most -- that's what I would advise and be careful ironing them 'cause colors tend to run, don't they?
RM/PBS: You iron t-shirts?
Philip: Well no. Sometimes I iron t-shirts cause I'm an actor you see. I spend a lot of time on the road so you've gotta learn to do these things -- cook and wash and iron, you know. I wouldn't let my girlfriend iron my shirts. I iron them myself. I've learned how to fold them.
RM/PBS: Good for you!
RM/PBS: We've had a delightful evening. The series As Time Goes By is delightful!
Philip: Great. I'd just like to say thanks for phoning in, thanks for all your questions and keep phoning in on (phone number deleted) and thank you for making me so welcome in the country and thank you for making me so welcome in Denver.
RM/PBS: Great -- it's been a lot of fun.
RM/PBS: We've got another question here.
Philip: Well, it's actually....[mentions name of questioner, which I deleted] she'd like Dame Judi to know that our thoughts are with her. She just lost her husband -- Judi lost her husband Michael around New Year and I know that was a tremendous blow to her -- they were a very devoted couple -- he, for the whole of their marriage he every Friday he would send her one simple, red rose, no matter where she was in the world or in the country. So I know that would have been a great blow to her and I know that she'd appreciate the fact that your thoughts are with her and I know she's throwing herself into work now and that, you know, is always the best therapy, isn't it, and so thank you for that thought.
RM/PBS: She does a great job in this series. And she's been with it -- ever since 1991?
Philip: Oh yes, she was with it right from the start. She's one of those people who, I don't know how they do it, you know, it's like when those teeth go zzzzzing on a show, you can fool around with it through computers to make it a zing go. Well she can make a zing go in her eye. I don't know where that comes from. It's just a natural-born thing I guess.
RM/PBS: She seems like a nice woman.
Philip: She is. A really, really nice woman.
RM/PBS: Thank you, Philip. It was a pleasure to meet you. Thanks so much for coming.
Philip: A great pleasure. Thank you very much.