Firstly I suppose I should tell you how I got the part in the first place. I was not a child actor that’s for sure. My father owned the largest advertising agency in the North of England called Five cities Films. At the time he made numerous TV ads for Yorkshire TV and Granada TV. The casting agency he used was based in the old Leeds City Variety Club where they filmed The Good Old Days. I had appeared in several adverts for my fathers company because I was easy to direct, had the youthful angelic looks and most importantly I was cheap. Don’t think I ever got paid money but certainly got to take a lot of the toys home. Anyway, one day the casting agency contacted my father to see if I would like to audition for a part in Follyfoot. They were looking for a young boy who looked like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth but was really a little sod. The perfect role.

I went along to the audition and read some lines. I may have gone back for a second reading but I don’t really remember. Having been told I had got the part I received a script in the mail and had to learn my lines. The script is buried in my boxes in the loft somewhere. In the script I had more lines than I actually ended up saying as they were running long.

My parents had to get permission for me to be off school and be given some work to do on set in my downtown. My mother didn’t drive so I remember a taxi used to pick us up in the morning and take us from our home in Scholes to the set in Leeds. I remember that we had to go through a farm gate down to where the set was. It was not very large with what I think was a barn converted into different rooms like wardrobe and make up etc. If you walked through one door you were out on the main farm set. There was the big barn at the top, stables down the left side leading down to the gate with Follyfoot on and of course The Lightning Tree. Horses were kept in the stables and I remember one in particular called Copper who was a beautiful horse and would nod his head when you asked him a question.

Whilst I was not required on set I would stay in the main building filling in time by drawing or reading. I remember the tea urn which got a lot of use throughout the day. I would watch the actors coming and going as they were required for scenes. I also remember that I liked all the main characters except Dora. She had a big Afghan hound that she had with her and acted very much like a diva in the eyes of an eight year old. As for the rest of the cast they were great. Arthur English was great fun and always had time for a chat. Desmond Llewellyn was a real gent and Christian Rodska was like a lovable uncle and put you at ease straight away.

Unfortunately I can’t remember the order the scenes were shot. I remember standing around in the field when Miss Patience goes to Follyfoot with the kids for the first time. People don’t realize you can stand around for hours waiting to do the take. The schoolyard shots were a lot of fun as we just got to play like the kids we were whilst the interior shots were done. They were shot at an actual school but don’t ask me where.

The hardest scene I had to do was when I am in the stable listening to what is been said about the sick horses. The director David Hemmings told me to act as if I was eavesdropping so I pretended to put my ear to the doors and made facial expressions of surprise. At the end of the take he had a real go at me asking me what the hell I thought I was doing. I ran off set in tears to my mum and vowed to hate that nasty man for ever. And I did. I have taken great delight in watching him get blown up in Juggernaut and getting blown off his horse in Charge Of The Light Brigade. Every film I ever saw him in I was hoping he would come to a sticky end. Obviously he was only doing his job. To be fair though we did spend some one on one time as he talked me through the shot where I open the gate and run up to the barn. I have some great black and white photos of the two of us running up the set rehearsing.

There is a scene where I say “I told you the woods”. That scene was shot in the grounds of Harewood House and should have been my big speech. Unfortunately they cut it right back which was a real shame as I had it word perfect.

I think I was on the shoot for a week and one of my funniest memories was when the lunch wagon arrived. My mum was trying to find somewhere to sit and eat. The wardrobe lady was quite short with her when she asked if we could sit in their room. In her anger she dropped her plate all over wardrobe. Very funny for an eight year old to witness.

With the shooting finished I looked forward to the screening date and bought the TV Times and there I was in black and white. Unfortunately there were no VCR’s in those days, so I just got to see it the once. All very exciting and got great reactions at school from my friends.

I did get paid for doing the episode and I remember getting a cheque for 29 pounds. A lot of money for an eight year old. I bought my own bike with that money, a purple Raleigh Tomahawk. I would have liked a Chopper but I wasn’t big enough. Over the next few years I would receive repeat fees from when the show was sold overseas. The amounts started at a few pounds but as time went by so the amounts reduced. The last one I received was for three pence for a screening in Japan. It’s funny how things work out but I kept one cheque as a souvenir. It was for 15 pence and was for a screening in New Zealand, the country in which I now live.

I continued making TV ads for my dad as I enjoyed the time off school and seeing behind the scenes but never wanted to pursue an acting career. I made ads for several toys and games including Meccano and Subbuteo. On one Meccano ad I acted next to Chief Inspector Brownlow from The Bill.

The only other audition I went for was for Birds Eye Beef burgers. I got down to the last two. Unfortunately the Director Alan Parker (The Commitments) was after a real Yorkshire sounding, by eck ecky thump, character so another lad became Ben. Had I got that part who knows what might have happened.