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“I was asked to come in on a famous series called Danger Man with Pat McGoohan, which was quite amusing. I’d seen Pat McGoohan in the theatre at the Lyric Hammersmith some years before. He played two tremendous parts in the theatre, one was the leading role in an Ibsen play which is almost impossible to produce called Brand. He was extremely good in that, and a play by that extraordinary, young German playwright in the early nineteenth century, I can’t remember his name, a play called Danton’s Death. [play by George Büchner] Which is an extraordinary play, very contemporary in political terms and yet it was written in about 1840 or so. McGoohan in that played Robespierre against Patrick Wymark’s Danton. I’d always admired McGoohan as an actor and I found him very interesting to work with on the series which was quite fun.

The thing about Pat was that he was a very fervent Roman Catholic which meant he had a fervent sense of sin which is one of the distinguishing things among many Roman Catholics I’ve known. He always refused in the series - whoever the female character cast in the same episode was - to kiss a woman even if they were supposed to be in a scene which implied some degree of intimacy between them. I asked him once why this was so and he said he didn’t want his children asking their mother why is daddy kissing that strange woman. To which the answer obviously is, or should have been, don’t be silly dear that’s your bread and butter. As a result of this I used to take certain amount of pleasure in casting what I thought were the most attractive actresses opposite Pat. And I heard that the reaction of women viewers very much was that ah well, she didn’t get anywhere with Dangerman this week.

I cast Adrienne Corri in one episode and I mentioned this little foible of Pat’s to her. Pat had reacted when I said I was casting Adrienne, he disapproved because Adrienne was a lady who announced to the press - and that was another headline at one time during the previous series I’d talked about - that she was the proud mother of two children although she didn’t happen to be married. I spoke to Adrienne about that and she said she wasn’t going to let a journalist make a big thing about it, I thought I’d get in first and then they’d got no story.

Anyhow I told Adrienne that Pat seemed to disapprove of that. I wasn’t there when it happened but apparently the first morning she was on call she came out of her dressing gown the same time as McGoohan did and saw him and called down the corridor, hey McGoohan. He turned round and she said I understand you disapprove of me, well f**k you for a start. After which they became quite good friends.”

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Tobias portrait

Edit: Finished piece!!!!!!!!