Nigel Betts – Dishwasher Ground Zero

The Transcript:

Welcome to Gate Shirty, the podcast where we ask our guests about the things in life that get them hot and bothered under the collar. The chat focuses on home work and going out, but nothing is off limits. However, it’s not all doom and gloom as each guest gets a major shirt, which they design, so we talk about that too. We are retailers after all. Our guest this week is actor Nigel Beck. Nigel is highly off our screen, starring in comedy such as Boi Meets Girl, to ongoing series like The Locking. And there’s also been in every detective show going. But he’s probably best known for playing Eddie Hope in Emadow, and being part of the Doctor Who Universe as Mr Armity. Having faced aliens and the dingles, what could possibly get under Nigel’s skin? Well it’s time to find out. Three-tailed, two-might, one guest and a host of irritation. Let’s Get Shirty.

I am often tweeded from the waist up. Yeah, yeah. In my suits I still used to wear my
full tweed, but it’s that mix of slightly more formal or actually slightly more relaxed.
But because I didn’t ever have a uniform for work, I used to love dressing up because
of my dad and because of my grandfather I never met. There was always a thing about dressing
properly. Turning out right, you know, and just enjoying, yeah, I just, I enjoyed, I really
could too. And then Shirti, you know, I feel the part of the feel right, it’s already to
go out. Yeah, yeah, all that. I went from work, I suppose. There’s an idea of your projecting,
you know, as actors were teens and beans, you know, where we are a thing we sell. We’re
always a big thing about being able to claim haircuts. Right. And it went every year with
your accountant. And it’s all because this is what I sell. Yeah. You know, I wouldn’t have
to get my hair cut necessarily, but I do because I have to keep this because that’s the picture
that my agent sell. And I kind of decision on how you want to look, how you want to portray
yourself. Yeah, for me, the same suits was, this is what I feel comfortable in as well,
but also I like the look of it. I suppose it’s there in element as well as whilst you’re
at work, you are always told what you’re going to wear. Yeah, you know, you will, you’ve, the
character wears this or the situation dictates that you’ll be wearing that. Yeah. And, you
know, so when it’s your time, I’ll dress how I want to dress rather than how I’m being
told to you. So you think there’s an element of that in it? I think definitely, but also
especially with me because generally the kind of parts I play don’t particularly like
the clothes are wearing. And that’s just a historical drama. Right. Generally, yeah, it’s been
a slight down and nice dad’s and it’s all a bit, yeah, nothing wrong with, you know, Marks
and Spenters or the old CNA. Yeah. But when I was up, when I was off duty, I actually
want like to dress as, I’d like to be dressing. So that is a tricky one because even more so
that my memory is going and some taste people go, Oh, you were great in that. I was, was
I? I didn’t even remember doing it. So what’s the one you forget the most? Now you go, Oh,
I always forget I was in there. Well, it just bizarre. It’s things that I have repeats of.
So I think I’ve been in a whole B or casualty or possibly both of them two or three times
each. Yeah. And I forget which character I was because they’re all slightly different
characters, slightly different elements. Same with doctors as well. Yeah. That’s quite a
few doctors. So yeah, you also because of the nature of your business, my business is there
were the classic conversations, I’ve all, how do you learn all those lines? Yeah, yeah. I
mean, it’s, it’s my job, but also you kind of learn the story and that helps with the
right. But it also means, I suppose I forget very quickly because I need to make space for
the next one. So I wouldn’t remember lines from things that I did two weeks ago. Right.
Because I’m learning the next thing already moving on. I’ve got friends of actors that can
reel off whole passages of Shakespeare. Right. And I look at them going, how do you do that?
So but from the theatre stuff that you’ve done, did you, do you find like that stuck a
little bit more because like I don’t know how many because you were in war horse was, yeah,
that was one of the things. So that is the repetition. Does that help with that? Yeah, I can
stand with it now. And it’s, yeah, still probably wouldn’t be able to give you any of the lines
that are the war horse. Right. And I was in there. I was, that’s the longest I’ve ever done
anything I was doing that. I did that for 18 months. Right. But if I was a period, I sort of
did West End show. So I did 39 steps over about a year, war horse for 18 months and then
one man two governors for about a year all in the West End. But yeah, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll
wouldn’t be on that. I’d have to look at the script if I was going on tomorrow. Right. Yeah.
But I mean from, from the West End point of view, is that, is that a better sort, is that
a nicer sort of acting than the, than the TV? It’s very different animal. I think this is
a definite question. We all get a lot is which do you prefer? And it’s, it’s a tricky
one to answer because they’re very, very different. It’s like saying do you prefer, put the
rubber, whatever it is. Yeah. Yes. TV is a different discipline. You’ve really got to know
what you’re doing. Right. Because then when you go on set, it’s less about you and more
about the technical aspect of catching, catching that performance. Yeah. In 30 year old
morning control as well. I think I’ve always said during TV and film, you’re kind of giving
colours to a director who then will go and bring to picture in an editing week. Yeah. Later
after you’ve finished, we’re on stage. You’re in charge of it because every night is different
and the same place to you. And you and the audience, that relationship is the director after
it’s finished goes away and it leaves you with, with your notes and, you know, maybe don’t
do that again. You got to know. You got to know. You got to know.
You got to know. It’s not really a comedy. But it is different every night. So it’s more exciting
in certain respects and more fulfilling because you have that direct relationship with the
audience. But at the end of the day, do you even film Pay more? Yeah. Yeah. And it’s less,
I was going to say less late night. I suppose theatre is more a lifestyle is it than, yeah.
You do, you do definitely change because you’re out pretty much every night, apart from Sundays.
Yeah. And on some western shows, there’s that one Sunday’s now, but only in Matinee.
And then two, sort of days in the week. So literally, yeah, you’re not home. And if you have
some of this, you’ve got a different, more, nine to five job. Yeah. You don’t. Yeah, you don’t
mean. All right. And, yeah, you wait for the holiday. Or what Sunday’s? Sunday’s become a very
important day. Yeah. Do nothing. It’s been a time. Yeah.
Let’s sort of look at the things that are niggles in life. What would be the work?
One would it be around something, something like that? Yeah, the thing that gets your shirty,
is it work? Get the podcast on in their quick. I think it’s tricky. I was thinking on the way here
that I’ve always considered myself and it could be well balanced and calm and patient person.
Then I realised as I was thinking, two things, oh no, I’m maybe growing into being the grumpy
old man. Yeah. But he still, yeah, I was, yeah, I turned to the big sixo, which was a benchmark.
Thank you very much. Yeah. It just means I’ll be wearing more tweed from now on.
What’s a great part? I suppose I’m lucky in the respect of work in that I’ve never
worked in it. I’m going, oh my god, I’ve got to work. Right. And that’s, I can’t, you know,
it’s not always been financially the easiest journey, but I love what I do. And every time I get a job,
I love doing the job, I love the rehearsals. So it’s tricky. There’s not overall
thing in what I do. There’s moments when you perhaps are working with people that I’m not in name names,
get somebody who isn’t very secure and can let that manifest in being tricky,
never with me, but with other people around me. Right. Okay. Sometimes,
yeah, sometimes get my back up because you just go just do your job and then do their job.
Yeah. So micro managing centre of, I’m the centre of things and everything needs to happen
around. I understand it generally comes out of insecurities about they’re not necessarily
totally on top of what they’re doing. Yeah. So they’ve dissipate that into other
areas or the departments even. Yeah. Not necessarily with US actors, but they’ll start
questioning the departments and you just go, all right. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry. I mean,
that’s also maybe an age thing. It’s just because you know it’ll be fine. Yeah. So this is a normal point
in the process to panic. Right. It’s like you get the job, you’re excited, first day rehearsals,
first day at school, second week, you start to question all the things you’re made. Third week,
maybe you’re going, oh my god, what am I doing here? Yeah. Fourth week, I’ve got to do next week.
So just going on with it. And then it opens and you go, what was all the first amount? Yeah.
So there’s there’s arcs every time and it’s just how you handle that. I think some people handle it
incredibly well and some people not so much. Not so much. And again, I suppose that’s
experience and knowing you craft a little bit. And naturally, I think human, it’s quite natural.
I’ve been in secure in place. It’s in the English as well. I realise, why do they cast me or whatever?
Yeah. But it’s knowing that you’re there for a reason that people have given you the job because
they trust you and you just need to trust yourself. And it’s understandable that you might have
wobbles, but it’s all going to be okay. So it was the famous, this too, shall pass. Yeah. All the good
stuff, all the bad stuff. This too, shall pass. Yeah. I suppose that living in the moment, isn’t it?
Yeah. Sort of living in the now. And from a work point of view, you sort of any niggles that you
might have other things that sort of annoy you or get under your skin, perhaps are coming from
external factors rather than for yourself. We did talk about it a little bit earlier about
costumes. I do love a costume and I do think it gives you a lot to work on, especially in
periods stuff. But generally, if you put the costume on, you can go, “Okay, yeah, I know who this
person is.” Right. And sometimes the fact that it’s uncomfortable adds into that, the fact that
it actually does work because it makes you stand in a certain way, I’ll do something. And I think
costume departments generally and certainly in TV and film are fantastic, they’re incredible.
Sometimes they get literally 24 hours to put you in a period costume. Yeah. I did one last
year over in France and literally I arrived. They measured me the next day they had a suit for me,
which they made overnight. Really? And it fitted beautifully.
Yeah, good. Are they looking for any work? Do you know what I mean?
And yet, some of the younger kids, and I understand again, it might be to do it,
we’ll go back to this insecurity thing, or a bit like, “Oh, it’s really uncomfortable.”
And because maybe they’re used to wearing juggers and trainers, but these shoes are tight and
they’re not going to get dirty. But that tells you so much. Use that, use that,
being uncomfortable is sometimes a good thing to use. Yeah.
Generally life, you know, there’s little things that trip you up with the things that you learn from.
So actually, the tight shoes make you make stands like a different one, will give you something
to trim off for the character that you hadn’t even thought about. Yeah, I suppose.
I think you said just then and earlier, is that, I imagine, with a period piece as well, from
certainly from something like where the cloths would have been 20 pounds or 18 pounds,
rather than their sort of nine ounce that people are used to now, everything’s like we’ve
got air conditioning and, you know, our sort of environments are very much controlled, but of course,
back in the day, once you put your jacket on, your jacket was to keep your warm,
it was to keep you dry, to keep you know, and also to look smart and be serviceable, it had to do
so much. Of course, it would have been uncomfortable. Have the colours that you took off and, you know,
was super starchy and had to sit up because that was what looked correct. Yeah.
Yeah. And what was acceptable. I think about the process, you know, the morning you’d
get all jump through a t-shirt on, a t-shirt on, yeah, an elephant door. There’s going to have a press
white shirt, yeah, put the collar on, put all the pins in, yeah, and that must have been a whole
period of your morning just doing that, don’t just doing that. And that was through all-rule
society. Yeah, it would have been from, you know, your footman, dormant, butler or whatever,
right through to, you know, the Lord of the Manor, everybody would have had a certain acceptable
way for things to be. And you’d have to do all that before you went to work to do it old for somebody
else. Yeah, yeah, if you were a force. Yeah, yeah, you’ve got to dress yourself before you go
and dress, sir. So period stuff, which is the ones where you’ve got to sort of do that,
because you’ve been… Well, we did it down to and didn’t you? Yeah, yeah, but that was just lovely.
That was just a nice tweet too. So I felt very, I felt very at home. Did it make it into the bag for
that fair? I guess to give it back. So close, but they were a bit too careful. But I think one of the
more interesting ones was when I did Sharp, because that was, he was an officer that worked behind the
lines, but it was, you know, the world, the Red World, uniform. Yeah. But was that very heavy?
Well, also we were filming in Turkey, right? Right, it worked quite hot. Yeah. So you had the
proper cotton shirt and then you had the big red overcoat and I was also wearing a hat and other
than the mask. Right. And I only had one arm, so I also had a hook. And then the other, there were
milking breaches and cavalry boots. So that, yeah, it was hot. Yeah, it was hot. But I suppose that,
as an actor, that’s all stuff for your toolbox, I suppose, for your TV. Yeah. Yeah, you do. I always do
think if it’s, if you’re confronted with a problem, generally if you use it, it generally works out.
Okay, it’s like worrying about things. There’s very little point in worrying about something until it
happens, because you’ve got no control over it. So, you know, deal with what’s in front of you. Yeah.
It’s good, it’s good life advice. I’ll say. Yeah. I’ll do try and say that to the kids. I don’t
know much, they listen to me, but, you know, the loads you’re doing it. Yeah, yeah. Well, I hope so. I
did. Let’s hope they do. So, well, the start, I think that’s a fairly decent, decent gripe, I would say,
about the working world. Yeah, there’s, I think there’s always young people. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s
where he’s 16 now. No, that’s not. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think where it’s
funny when I was sort of looking at the sort of doing marisa, to make sure I was sort of really
new, I was talking to you, because obviously I’ve seen you in in lots of things that over the years.
There’s a few things that struck me that were quite sort of similar. I’ve read an interview that
you did where you talked about listening to madness when you were growing up and all of that,
whether that’s still the case, not Joe Jackson and Madness were the two that you sort of mentioned
in this thing and it sort of really brought me back to me growing up. I was back to my heron
and Jacket and in fact, just my juvenile’s hand and let me see.
Harrington, Jacket, Stapest, Traeers and Doc Martins, it was that sort of, it was a real uniform.
Yeah, it felt like a uniform, absolutely. But based around my tribe that obviously, you know,
quite a lot of things now, talk about belonging to your tribe and all of that, but
that was really, really the thing about it. And did you do all of that? All of that, yeah,
where would have been twins. Yeah, perfect. Did you, in that case then, this really
go for it? Did you have a buzz cut with a long, straight fringe? Well, no, it was really weird because I
didn’t, I was, I, I must look really weird because our sixth form was far more kind of heavy metal,
I’d appeared. Who did you? Which slightly upset some of the teachers.
So, yeah, from the neck up, I’d probably look like one of the two kids.
And then from the waist down. Yeah. Yeah, you were the full sort of nutty boy.
That’s what they call back in the day, right? Yeah, nutty boys. Yeah, yeah.
Oh, good. It wasn’t just me then.
Moving into the home stuff, we’re talking about the things in life that sort of make us
a bit annoyed from day to day, what’s your home, Nichols? Have you got anything?
You know, you don’t have to, again, appreciate you’ve got to go home after this, you don’t have to name names,
you don’t have to point fingers. Yeah, it could be something that you do. Yeah. All right. So,
what’s your sort of thing in life? Well, I think, I think it’ll talk to many many people.
When I say, rearranging the dishwasher, I think I’m putting everything in right. Yeah, I think
everything that I put in the dishwasher is absolutely right. But apparently not. No.
No, okay. It usually needs to have a full overhaul after all.
Just does it? Yeah, after I put everything in generally, everything needs to just move very
slightly. Sometimes it’s seemingly in one place, but yeah, but okay. So, let’s talk, this is a
topic quite close. I’m not sure. I’m not sure. I’m not sure if Steve Moore said them, me.
But let’s talk technique. Let’s talk, or have you not got one? Are you a scattergun or private
gun? That’s why it’s even more confusing because I’ve been, I’ve got a really good technique.
Right. But I find that I haven’t. Okay. So, yeah, you know, it seems very logical to me, you know,
small plates in the small thing, the bigger plates in the back. Yeah. Cups in the central bit,
glasses on the outside. Right. It seems as it should be. Yeah, as it should be. So, you’re not
corrected though. You just revisit it to put another glass in and realise that there…
Oh, no, no. No, no. No, no. No, no. Sometimes, depending on who’s in the room at the time,
sometimes I can be corrected as I’m placed. Okay. No, other than that, yes, it’s when I go to empty it,
maybe the next day I realise that nothing is where I put it when I… Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you’re sort of… you’ve not sort of tricked yourself to think, I’d put it in normally somehow
during the process of it being cleaned. It’s reorganised. Yeah, it’s… it’s a magic dish. I think
was one of those… the modern phrases of gaslasing, I’ve been thinking, “Am I going mad?”
See, I am a dishwasher re-arranger. So, I’m the other side of this. Oh, okay. So,
there just seems to be a sling in approach. And the times I’ll say to myself, “Well, that’ll never get
cleaned.” That, that, and I sort of go, “Mmm, taking it out, you see?” Yeah.
It didn’t get cleaned. That was never going to get cleaned. So, I must admit, I do re-arrange.
Does somebody in my household that does this very simply? Yeah, yeah. So, yeah,
all of it. Well, that’ll have to go through again. Or he’s one to wash up by hand.
Is that you get all that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. See, I’m not quite brave enough to go the full,
I just limit myself to it and put it on the side. No, I get both barrels. Oh, do you? Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. Okay. So, you’re… Well, what we might need to do later on is we might need some sort of
photographic evidence of just how badly he’s stacked in the dishwasher. And maybe people could
sort of go, “Oh, no, that’s absolutely… Yeah, they can make the decision.” Make the decision for you.
And then you could sort of proudly go, “No, see? These people have said.”
These people have said. “The general public are great.” The small plates in the front. Yeah.
Yeah, it’s quite a sort of contentious thing, actually. There’s quite a few of those things,
and we probably found it here. There’s like, there’s it, because really, what we’re talking about,
there’s a preference. Yeah. That’s a, like, I like it to be like this. You like it to be like that.
Both are equally as good. And of course, you like the rest of my family, you just sling it all
on top of each other in no apparent sort of system at all. Yeah. So, yeah, here it’s probably…
I can’t, what would it be here, is do you feel free to put yourself on mic?
What are the things in the shop that we… Well, because we sort of next door, or we tend not,
so I have a lack to it. Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, we’ve got… You two mission on my office.
Yeah, well, that’s actually quite true, actually. It’s true as its own domain, you see, next door.
Me and Sam are in the shop, and actually, even within the shop, the AIS tends to be my domain.
The workshop tends to be, you know, where I’m not… If there was a dishwasher out there,
we’d be in trouble. But thankfully, we all sort of do our own thing.
It is good to have viewer-own areas. Yeah. I find mine is outside.
Right. Literally, just you can stand in the garden.
Well, it’s garden, it’s mine. And I’m bought a… I don’t know, I’m going to get this with a
shop-ish. Right, to be shared. But it’s not. It’s a shop-ish. Oh, that’s good.
And yeah, that is the place that I can have everything where I want it. Right.
Probably the only place in our house, which actually, of course, isn’t in our house.
No, but that’s your… That is my domain. Yeah. I say, I tend to think of those as Beetlejuice rooms.
There’s that… Do you remember from the film where she wants to gut the whole house, and he says,
“No, not this room. Just do it. All the rest of the house, except for this room. Leave this room as is.”
Yeah. So your… Your shop-ish is that. I saw actually, if you birthed, you got a nice…
I did. A nice military picture. A beautiful print of the Grand Army,
and a print in which again is going to be my shop-ish. And, you know, I have to say, I do get a help
with my shop-ish, and I sort of colour schemes about, I’m just going to paint it this colour,
but apparently no. This colour will be a lot better for your shop. Yes. And I find it. It’s usually correct.
I find it’s amazing how it’s always correct. If you think there’s ever going to be a danger that
you’ll get home one day, and there will be a nice new shiny dishwasher for your shop.
You can just take your plates out and do them. Yeah. Actually, what else do they… You could eat
your dinner in the shop. That’s good. So, there’s no… There’s no… There’s no one that you’ve got a space.
I keep trying to carve out little spaces for myself, but they tend to be re-assimulated into the
bulk that is the rest of the family. Well, that’s why I realised I had to go off-piece. I had to go
outside. It was never going to happen indoors. Yeah. That’s good. So, but… So, it’s just the dishwasher,
any other sort of household task that you throw into the, you know, the over thing of the rearrangement
of your ready sort of done system, or we just can leave it. I think it will. When it comes to,
I suppose, sometimes folding, folding clothes, that sometimes is corrected, because obviously it is wrong.
Yeah. And I had that… Yeah, I am on the same side as you with that one. I fold things incorrectly.
I always… It’s all part of education. Every day is a school day. Every day is a school day.
And don’t even get me started on fitted sheets. You only go for the fitted sheet.
No. You have to do a special tuck into the corner, fold the elastic in apparently.
Well, that’s the… You know, speaking swathely. Yeah.
And I think that’s my approach. I think that’s why I managed to avoid the folding of the washing
and the fitted sheet specifically due to my doing it in a different language.
No, I think it’s okay.
Oh, so, that’s not… Yeah, you know, I would say from a legal point of view, that’s not…
Again, that’s not too bad. It’s not too bad. These are proper needles. These are the sort of things that get
you know, get you shirty rather than angry or not. Yeah. And that’s really what we’re looking at here.
Oh, so that’s good. Well, so that’s home covered work covered.
Bye.
So the next thing is…
Or I suppose the next focus is the going out or the the end detainment side of your lawn,
that relaxes in. Is it if you’ve got any needles there?
Well, that’s when I start to move into proper grumpy.
Yeah, and I’m crossing the threshold, yeah, into grumpy, into grumpy, then.
Well, I live, and so I suppose it’s partly where I live because I live near Richmond Park,
and we sometimes drive through there, right, because sometimes the best way to get into Richmond.
And I’m sure they’re all lovely people. Yeah, but mammals,
right, middle-aged men in Lycra, or I am a middle-aged man, so I think. Yeah, but
cycling through your breast around the park, using it as a feather drum.
Right, okay. Matching. Sometimes matching. Yeah. Obviously having important conversations,
and then ignoring the speed limit, which is only 20 miles an hour. Right, and so also racing
pasture on either side of the car. And that sometimes just does edge me into grumpyness. Yeah.
Yeah. To the like, to a vocal point, or do you manage to just keep it at sort of an annoyed
simmer? I, more than an annoyed simmer, I sometimes bite my tongue.
One point of it’s more dangerous, it’s moving into the fantasy of having
roubards on my car. Right, okay. And sort of scooping these people up.
Yeah. And then, you know, just just those momentary private fantasies you have while driving.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that’s, and driving’s particularly good for that sort of,
you know, it’s a very easy place to sort of get annoyed and niggled, and I,
I’m not vocal outside of the car. I’m not, I don’t want the wind to down, but I do like to,
I’m a mutter, as I’ve shown with the dishwasher top. Right. You know, I don’t like to go full,
full, sort of vocalization of it, but it is that sort of, it’s an easy place to be irritated.
And I imagine, as we sort of talk to a lot more people, that’ll come up quite a lot, but I like
the specificness of that. Yeah. You know, it’s the, it’s the, well, there’s, there’s a quite a bit to
unpack there. The, the, you know, as to what adds into it. Is it there, the sort of, the actual
fact that it’s organised bike riding, that makes it worse? Is it the Lycra? Is it there just the
self-importance of it? I think, I think, and now we’re moving into, which is, I’m going to talk about,
a bit about something else. Okay. It, it moves into the lack of awareness of other
human beings. Right. Okay. It’s the, I’m doing this and that is the most important thing,
and anything that is, yeah. Strangely, that isn’t, because I’ve made these decisions and
I, you know, I’m entitled. Yeah. It moves into entitlement and that, that really begins to,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and that, you know, that is quite a, an oblivious problem, I think. There’s a certain
group of people, and I suppose you find it in any walk of life. Yeah. Cycling is, it’s probably part of that.
It’s, you know, in Lycra, but, you know, but it’s that, it is that sort of entitlement and there’s sort of
oblivious nature of that there is even an entitlement there. It’s, it, I suppose that’s what comes with
entitlement, isn’t it? You know, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, actually, what I’m doing
has an effect on other people. It’s just, this is how it is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I don’t have to think about, yeah. The effect is having other people. Yeah. Because my life is
slightly more important than ever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which moves, I will, I’ll stay on the, the
triple system. Oh, good, I’m mocking this. I suppose again, it’s slightly probably a London centric
thing because it is the tube. Right. Okay. But people that try to get on the tube before you’ve got off.
Oh, yeah. And that sort of illogical thing, I’m going, how are you expecting to get on
until I’ve made the space for you to get into? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That, that’s given me a,
an out of car motor. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, I know we’re, we’re going up with, yes. Or even, and I,
I’m embarrassed and, and ashamed to say purposefully standing in the way, something,
because purposeful obstruction, purposeful, which I shouldn’t be probably arrested for.
It is those moments of people just obviously not thinking about anybody else, but they need to
get on the tube. Yeah. My journey is more important. My destination is more. Yeah. Yeah. And, but I think it’s
those unthinking things like for me, I’m a bad cue watcher. Like I mentally keep track. You know,
like, I’m going to, I’ll very, very really go to the pub these days, but I’m one of those. Oh,
it was here first. Yeah. And I don’t mind that somebody else going in front of me if, if they go,
I’m sorry, you were here first, weren’t you? Then I go, no, don’t worry about it, but wait in,
go for it. But it’s that entitlement that would tip me over there, actually, I was first. Yeah.
Otherwise, I’ll just let it go. Yeah. But yeah, I’m, oh, they’re, they’re jumping the cue,
they’re jumping the cue, they’re jumping the cue, they’re jumping the cue, they’re jumping the cue.
I can live with it. I can live with it. No, I can’t. I’m breathed. Yeah. And breathed. Yes.
And it was worse actually when I found it really bad, was when the kids were small,
and I’d be queuing for a ride, and I’d get indignant on my kids’ behalf. Yeah.
Oh, no, you’re not pushing in front of me. You’re pushing in front of my kids’ enjoyment. Now my kids
could, you know, I used to find that really. So I keep it almost like I’m putting a little mental
numbers on people’s back, no? Come on, you’re number three. I am number two. Yes.
Oh, yes. So now I’m with, I’m with you. So, yeah. So transport vehicles, really. That’s what we’re talking about.
Yeah, I mean, there’s a salad, there’s more. Yeah. There’s more. There’s people that are on the phone
when they get on a bus and treat the bus driver like they don’t exist. Yeah. And and even will say
something to the bus driver, but still be on the phone. Right. Again, that’s like, is that friend called
still mess somebody’s in hospital? Yeah. Is that friend called so important that you can’t
relate to another human being for a moment? Yeah. He’s just doing his or her job. Yeah. Yeah, that’s
difficult. That is a difficult one. Yeah, that gets. And that again, it’s not even me that is being
an odd or whatever. It’s me sat on the bus being the grumpy home, man. Yeah. Well, I think, I think
that’s a fair, that’s a fair grumpy, though, really. Like mobile phones, one one we’ve talked about,
and I’ve heard a theory on this is I don’t understand why I need to hear other people’s conversations.
The other half of that conversation, and I don’t know when the phones went from this to this,
and on a speaker. Yeah. I don’t know why these people on the other end of the phone want what they’re
saying to go to everybody else. So, yeah, that’s one of my niggles. Like, it’s there. You’re holding it
here anyway, just move it there from there. And then the rest of us don’t have to hear both sides of
it. Or other people’s music. Yeah. That, you know, young people again. Young people. You really have
the people across the road, across the road, become young, you’re listening to young people, either
YouTube, you know, dogs being funny or whatever, or music. Right. To the point at one point, I used to
have which obvious reasons I’ll explain have now stopped doing. I used to have the Russian national anthem.
Right. Okay. On my phone, which I used to then play very loudly. Right. Next to the person that was
listening to whatever they were listening to. Yeah. To very subtly, I thought. Make the point of
seeing we can both listen to our music really loudly. Yeah. And was that a good tech? Did it work?
I mean, not going to matter. It was kind of, it was met with confusion. Right.
Generally. Yeah. That’s quite many because it was a national anthem and not, you know, not
all right. Yeah. Not somebody else’s music. Yeah. But I did stop using that to have
you know, as reasons. But yes, it was, it was mainly led with a critical, a physical, yeah,
confusion, not, not any realisation that I’m, yeah, actually talking about your family. Yeah.
But using my friend there, it was just kind of, I suppose it’s that entitlement again, isn’t it?
But do you prefer being able to hear it really well or would you rather, you know,
he’s hearing it really well better than the sort of slight? I see what you mean.
From the, from headphones. Yeah. Yeah. Because quite often those really big headphones,
they don’t sort of cancel out at all. Yeah. Until you can’t quite hear what you’re doing. Yeah.
So you, you might be getting the song wrong. Let’s say that, that would be a needle for me.
I thought, but then you can always just go, excuse me. What are you listening to? Yeah, that’s true.
Yeah. That’s true. But that involves interaction. Oh.
Well, it’s down from the north. I’m one of the strange people that smiles at people on the tube.
Crazy man. Yeah, crazy man. Yeah. Well, it’s good, you know, we’re always amazed to hear, you know,
we’re part of the community here, which is lovely, you know, but there will be people that you’ll see
every day and sometimes a hand doesn’t come up or the nod or the wave or the hello or, you know,
but we’re, we’re as a business, we’re quite vocal aren’t we? Yeah. Yeah. We’re, there’s shop on the
corner and we, we like to say hello quite loudly to everybody when we go in there as they do to us now.
So it’s sort of like a, it’s a little highlight for a soul during the day, you know. We’re like,
we’re like to announce ourselves. Yeah, we don’t get out there. So yeah, we try our best in false
interaction. I think it, yeah, enforced in, yeah, let’s go with that. Or perhaps it’s just we’re
bringing in the sort of spirit of the north, you know. Yes. We used to live sort of progressively
further up north as I grew up, but I’ve lived in, you know, the south, and so was 10 and so. So really,
I can’t learn. He claimed to that. Well, then, you know, it’s in your DNA, you can’t, yes, in those
early years, those formative years of, yeah, of being told to say hello and smiling. Yeah, nod. Yeah.
nod say hello. Walked directly into somebody else’s house with, you know, and know that someone
will give you a plate of food. That’s what I used to like. Yeah. To be strangers, it’s good. Yeah.
And we used to, when I was at college in New York, in New York, as well, and obviously a real mix
from all over the country. And we used to explain to the people from the south, yeah, that
people where we were, we have to be a mining village. And I think people like to talk to you because
they like to know who you are because you’ve come to live in that community. Yeah, yeah. And it saves
them making it up just from what you look like. Yeah. So actually, sometimes better to talk. Yeah.
And they’ll make a lot worse about you if you don’t tell them. Yeah, that’s all that other people’s
imagination is always, yeah, that’s going to be a lot worse. So, those early years, yeah, so that
was drama college, was it? Yeah, we had to do a degree at a college called Bretton Hall,
which is something different. This, I read some of it, it’s got a sort of not legal gentleman.
Was that legal gentleman? Yeah. A ride of the year I left. Right. Oh, okay. So that was the same,
yeah, the same college and those things based in legal gentleman on very much on those, you know,
yeah, the local village for local people. Right. I think you that shop quite a lot when I do. Oh,
really? Oh, I see now I want to go. But so that was, that was no generally a really good experience.
Yeah, really good. It wasn’t till the year later I realised I’d learnt anything at the time.
Yeah, you just thought. Yeah, just right. But yes, it was, it was a little bit cut off from
every record. Bretton Hall was a big, stately home. Right. We got the Bimu to Triangle, I think it was
in between Wakefield, Barnesley and Huddersfield. Right. And a beautiful old Georgian house.
And where you and you stayed there? Well, we stayed there. And there was, there was Faults Lakes
designed by capability Brown or one of his students. And the Yorkshire sculpture park was also part of
the ground. It was, it was very idyllic. And we were all, you know, doing plays and thinking we were
the next big thing. Next big thing. It’s slightly, slightly cut off from reality, I think, for a couple of
years. Right. It sounds like I actually like quite a nice place to sort of start a creative life.
Yeah. You know, that sort of, you haven’t got the outside world too much sort of showing you what
you should be. You can sort of make your own mark. It allowed us to sort of experiment and do all
kinds of terrible rubbish things. No, it was, it was a, it was a, it was a great time actually. And
it’s nice to be able to look back on your college. I mean, there are a lot of people, friends of mine,
don’t think. Yeah. But yeah, it was. At the time, we thought it was a bit sort of, oh, it’s all,
you know, a bit rubbish, but when you look back, it’s in no way, we did do a lot of things that we
wouldn’t have done. Perhaps wouldn’t have done. Yeah. And then from there into theatre, was it,
you got your equity card through your, notting and planning? Yeah. Actually, was it a stag?
It was, there was, it was a, it was a pletical stag and hands, very good, very good. I was the stag.
Right. And my role in that, it was in a time when you had to have the card to work. Yeah.
But you couldn’t work until you had an equity card. Right. Okay. And so getting an equity card was,
you know, the Holy Grail people did it by doing kids parties or doing standard. Oh, okay. Okay.
Theatre’s had a couple to go out every year. And we’d left, a little bit, a little bit of a
big agenda one. We’d left Britain and set up our own theatre company, which we’re based in,
notting them for a while, called the Secret Agents. All right. Good night.
It’s a really good day. And we all used to wear suits. Right. White shirts, black ties.
It’s never really changed. Yeah. But yes, the director at the theatre needed the stag for stags and
hands. And you came on stage, you were sick, and you lay with your head in the toilet.
Right. Okay. For the entire play. And then you were brought out and taken out, because it was
all takes place in the toilets of this thing. Right. Oh, okay. And the stags and the hands
sort of come interact and everything else. So yeah, I got my, I got my accolade line in the toilet.
All right. Wow. No lines at all. No, just vomit. Just, just vegetable soup. I thought
vegetable soup every night before I went on. Right. And I ended up actually getting roles there,
immediately afterwards. So obviously the director saw something in my projectile vomit that
he thought he could use elsewhere. So comfortably, you say you’re perhaps the best
vomiter in the business. Certainly at that time. Yeah. That in the early, in the mid-eighties.
In the mid-eighties. In the mid-eighties. Yeah. White a better vomiter.
Absolutely. Yeah. In the mid-eighties in Nottingham, nobody managed to
buy my vegetable soup. That’s quite the client. So I was, so, like, that’s quite a good way.
I mean, that’s a great story though. You know, that’s a great sort of thing to be able to,
to sort of say. And then from there into TV and that was Jekyll and Hyde, was that actually your
first role? My dear, small thing on a Yorkshire TV thing based around Lighthouse. I was
a fairly remember. It was 189, I think. But yeah, in a Jekyll and Hyde, was the first sort of
property view, which was amazing, because for not really doing anything, doing a lot of theatre,
I had three or four scenes and two of them were with Michael Kane. Yeah, amazing.
Which was, yeah, amazing. And that must have been quite a nerve-wracking.
Did you sort of really have to G yourself up to sort of get in there and do that?
Or was it just, you know, were you quite good at kind of just another job?
I suppose the joy of being that young is you are, you have a certain level of arrogance.
Open to learning and he did, he was brilliant with me. He was very kind and then he literally did
the point, well, look, if you stand there, you can, you be in the reflection of this shop. So you,
really? We won’t, when we do the reverse, you won’t get cut out of it. You’ll be in it,
because we do those in looking into the mirror and things like that.
Yeah, great. He could have just done it straight and I would have just been a voice off, but
and so no, he, no really go or entitlement, I would be sorry about it.
And, you know, I mean, the old, I think he’s done sort of classes about how, you know,
what best to act and which I to look at in a while, but which he was kind of giving me there
and then as a young, when I was only in it for like, I was on set for three days out of the entire
filming period. So I was just coming in doing a very small part and going out again as a first job,
but he took the time to talk to me. Yeah. Give me a little bit of, yeah, knowledge, so, which you,
you can remember to this day, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Go show how important those little
sort of, someone just taken a little bit of time. I suppose you’re something like that who didn’t
need to. Yeah. It could have been very kind of, I’ve got time. Yeah. I’m a similar friend of me.
Richard Harris, so, I’ve read that he was gracious with his time or stories. Yeah, no, he really was
gracious with his stories. Yeah. That was theatre, wasn’t it? That was a theatre. Pyrrindola’s Henry
the Fourth for the Windoms in the West End. I took over from, a friend of mine, I was leaving it.
They’d done a tour and they went into the West End, and I took over from him. And I think,
initially, which it wasn’t too sure about me, because I was, I was about 10 years younger than all the
other guys. Right. Basically, we were his guards looking after him in this mental asylum.
But I don’t worry, I’ll grow a beard and it’ll be fine. Right. And, you know, it’s one thing I’ve
always been able to do quite rapidly, in the changing of. Over night. Over night. Again, he was,
he was amazing, because he was a proper kind of old school film star. I mean, I know
who came was, but there was something about Richard Harris that was almost otherworldly. Yeah.
Because you knew you would go on up with all the stories of how much of a roaring boy he’d be
being and was the twinkle behind the eye, was always there. And he, again, incredibly creative.
We did that show for a year. Wow. And he had an enormous part, and he was on it every night,
and he was creative every night. Right. And he played with us, and he made it alive. There was a scene
with, it’s a bit of a bizarre story. It sort of set in the 1920s, but he’s gone slightly mad and
thinks he’s a medieval king. So, to appease him, they get all of the staff to dress up as a medieval
costume. So he’s playing the gag of the fact, yes, you are a medieval king. And people come to visit
and somebody left a flask, which obviously is incongruous, and there’s a whole scene where he picks
the flask up, and we’re all going, oh my god, what’s going to happen. And blocked in the scene is
that he just threw it. So one of us, four, had to catch it. Right. Okay. To disappear it. Yeah.
But we never knew who he was going to throw it to. Every night, it was, which was great because it
was a great energy because everybody was absolutely on it because you never knew who was going to get
a real, an extra sort of realism, like I suppose, like the clothes, isn’t it? You can draw on.
Yeah. Oh, how are we going to do that? And that was a very small moment, but it kind of
encompasses the fact that he was always, he was always creating. Always thinking. Yeah.
Oh, good. Yeah. Like those sorts of roles, I imagine you, well, it’s clearly hearing you talk about
and they’ve obviously brought, stayed with you and brought, you know, other things, other things in,
like, nice things, I know, we’re sort of like the podcast is get shitty, but yeah, really the idea
as well is, you know, to sort of find the things in life that sort of is that little bit of grit
in the, in the oyster shell that makes the pearl, you know, and sometimes the grit is a good thing.
And when things go wrong, you learn. Yeah. And I was telling my daughters, you know,
you learn more by getting it wrong. Don’t worry about getting things wrong because
yeah, that’s where you learn. Yeah. Yeah. Progress doesn’t come from being right first,
aren’t they? Yeah. And who’s that? Except for certain dishwasher locus.
They were the correct, and then incorrect way to do it. Yes. Yes. And, you know,
I’m just lucky to be one of the correct ones. You are very obvious. I mean, I live with the curse of
being one of the incorrect ones. Yeah, well, that’s it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, I’ll happily
stand corrected. By the time people at home listen to this, I’m sure I will be. But now it’s been really
love it, you know, unless you’ve got a gripe that we haven’t sort of, is there anything left that you
think actually, that was the one I wanted to, I get off the list. It’s going to be terrible, but I know,
I know now that it’s going to be on the train home. Yeah. Oh, that was that. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. But, well, feel free to tweet it. And we will share that. We’ll get that gripe out into the world,
or, um, a, a, a, a, a, pop it on Instagram or, or whatever. Uh, but that’s been brilliant. I’ve
really enjoyed it. I’m great. I enjoyed it. Thank you very much for coming in. My pleasure. We
shall update every when, when you’re sure it’s done. Fantastic. A lovely double cuffed,
a nice correct collar as it should be. To go nicely with all that tweed for Nigel, tweedy bit. Absolutely.
Excellent. Thanks very much. Thank you. Cheers.
[Music]
So, there you have it, the very first Gitcherti podcast. A huge thank you to the stylish and
all-round top guest, Nigel Betts. Do nip to Instagram and follow him, search Nigel tweedy bits, he’s on Twitter too.
And do keep an eye out also for the pictures of him in his shirt. It was such a pleasure to speak.
A big thank you to you as well for listening. I hope to speak to you all again soon at episode two.
Don’t forget to subscribe and follow us wherever you get your podcasts from.
And do go to our website for our tailoring and shirt offerings. The music for the Gitcherti
podcast was written and produced by DJ and Music Producer, Datt Hazar. You can find more of his
work on Spotify and on the usual socials. The Gitcherti podcast is hosted by me Stuart Harman
and is tailored for you by Harman and Heming the Spote Tailors. It’s edited and produced
by Stuart Wilson. Take care and until we speak again, do try not to get too shatter.
[MUSIC]