BBC Radio Kent 2

RA: Yeah. I kmd of hke to descnbe tum as a. as an Iron list. I mean. be was kind ot mdonutable and dnv-en.. .be had to be because of the naturę of his industry. It w-as really cut throat. wbich is tbere agam sonie -thing people can relate to today. but also tbere. it was uiuegulaled. the industry. and personally be^Td suffered a big misfortune m bis family because tbey had a big empire and tbey"d lost iL His fatber committed suicide $o. you know. be had a lot to lose. which. which exp)ams qmte a big cbunk of his character. really

PM Although that doesn t become obvious mimediately.

RA: No. no. that s somethmg which tuifolds through. as. you know. as Margaret begms to son of leam morę about him

PM: Yes. let s talk about Margaret Hale. the love interest m this. What son of woman is she?

RA: Weil. she is. she represents the. the South really She is a country girl who was the daughter of a parson and tbey've lived what was considered a rural life style in the lS50’s. Theyre from Hampshire and it was idyllic and. you know, thcy were a haid-workmg fanuly. but due to. you know. to certain financtal cncum-stances. they have to uproot from their. from their idyllic home because her father has had a conscienee of faith. a cnsis of faith should I say; and they have to go up to this industnal town and hve. you know. qiute a meager lifestyle.. and it's. ifs that joumey for her which is. which is the preuuse of the story really.

PM. And it is BBC drama at its best; this is the son of stuff the BBC does well.

RA: Yeah. yeah. I think so. and I thmk that. you know. you feel m very safe bands workmg on something like that because they've done u for so long and so well that every. every aspect of it is coveied and, yeah. you feel verv looked after.

PM And you were siurounded by a strong supporting cast for this. werent you?

RA: Yeah. absolutely superbcast.

PM Tell us what your memories of North & South are

RA: 1 think the strongest memoties were the locabons m Edinburgh because that was the. the first orne we were out on ser. well. you know. on location. and the grandenr of the arcbitecture And I think for me going to Keighley. findrng Thomton’s nuli. which was an old worfcing mili in Keighley. that was quite a. had a big impact on me because I suddenly started to understand the scalę of his empire But also tbere’s a. tbere‘s a scene in tbere wbere John proposes to Margaret. which is quite a long scene that I remember shooting that. That took nearly two days to shoot. and tben the finał scene on the tram station They re my land of linger-ing memones

PM The proposal. that has to be played just nghr

RA: Yeah. I mean their relationship has been quite volańle and they’ve reaUy repelled each other iatber than attiacted. attracted to each other. bemg ataacted to each other. so the proposal comes at a kind of awkward moment and it‘s. ifs a quesuon of he either proposes to her now ot they have to kmd of go their separate ways But it. if you know the story and wben. you know. people watch the DVD. it. it’s not received particu-larly well But. yeah. ifs great to.. .1 think ifs great to. for the people have got somethmg to remember and that they can watch it agam and agam.

PM Are there any tmanswered question5 tben. at the end of North & South? Are the audience left thinking. well. what happens now-'’