Sublime farce in An Actor's Life For Me
Published: Sunday 16th January 2022
Shows about showbusiness are a varied bunch. From the cringe-inducing realism of meta comedy Episodes to the heightened hi-jinks of The Goes Wrong Show, the list of luvvie loving narratives is ever-expanding.
Paul Mayhew-Archer is a name that may not be familiar to all, but his work certainly will be. Co-writer of sitcom institution The Vicar Of Dibley, Mayhew-Archer started his career as a producer and script editor for BBC radio, notably producing several series of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. Reading hundreds upon hundreds of comedy scripts meant that when he turned his hand to writing comedy, he had a much better idea than most what would work and what wouldn't.
An Actor's Life For Me, first broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in 1989, revolves around the trials and tribulations of wannabe actor Robert Wilson, as played by John Gordon Sinclair. Wilson can barely make it onto the bottom rung of the ladder and is prepared to take on any role, no matter how embarrassing or demeaning, to claw his way to success. Lending her support to this endeavour was Caroline Quentin as his girlfriend, Sue; and Gary Waldhorn as his agent, Desmond Shaw. (A pilot had been recorded several years before, with Nicholas Lyndhurst as Wilson and Peter Jones as Shaw, but it was never broadcast.)
Mayhew-Archer conceived of the idea after a conversation he had with actor Peter Egan, who regaled him with tales of tawdriness and embarrassing escapades from his time as a jobbing actor. His agent advised him to agree to anything they asked regardless of whether he could do it, reasoning that the experience alone would be worth it. Mayhew-Archer takes this concept to its logical comic conclusion in an episode where Robert becomes an inadvertent stuntman.
The chemistry between Sinclair and Quentin gives the show its heart. For all Robert's hard knocks, Sue is always there to lend a supportive ear, but also take him to task when he gets above himself. In that respect the role is not dissimilar from her most famous, Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly. But where Dorothy had the capacity to occasionally be cruel or callous, Sue is far more measured and pragmatic in her approach to the various dilemmas in which Robert finds himself. That isn't to say she is a pushover, indeed some of Mayhew-Archer's best work can be heard in Sue's ripostes to Robert's pompous outbursts:
ROBERT: I love being at the theatre, for an actor there's nothing like the excitement of a live audience. Sue, come on, be honest, what did you think? Was I any good?
SUE: I've told you already Robert, you were brilliant. The way you pulled those pints in the theatre bar was incredible, I'm sure the whole audience is talking about it.
Mayhew-Archer admits that he is an unabashed fan of farce and each episode follows the formula. One of his formative influences were the plays of Alan Ayckbourn and their DNA can be felt throughout the show. Mayhew-Archer has said that he believes he is better at writing shows created by other writers, An Actor's Life For Me proves he can create flawed, complex characters just as well. Robert's hubristic hankering to progress up the ladder to fame and fortune inevitably ends in failure; on the rare occasions he does succeed, his downfall is always seeded in his actions to get there. One such example is the episode Fathers And Sons, in which he must go to extraordinary lengths to get out of a holiday Sue has booked, only to find himself embroiled in an increasingly elaborate ruse involving a fake father.
The show transferred to television in 1991, which also brought about cast changes. Sinclair remained as Robert (although his surname changed from Wilson to Neilson), but Quentin, then recently cast in Men Behaving Badly, was replaced with Gina McKee, while Waldhorn was replaced by Victor Spinetti. Mayhew-Archer adapted plots from the radio series, which allowed for some wonderful extra sight gags and the frequent utilisation of Sinclair's hangdog facial expressions.
McKee, who would also go on to work with Richard Curtis in Notting Hill, had popped up in several comedy shows but this was her first regular role. It would be another twenty-one years before she starred in another sitcom, Jason Cook's Hebburn. Spinetti, meanwhile, was a comedy veteran, having starred alongside Marty Feldman in It's Marty and Sid James in Two In Clover.
As in its radio predecessor, each episode builds to a crescendo of comic ridiculousness where Robert's world crashes around him, leaving Sue to pick up the pieces. An Actor's Life For Me stands up to this day as a wonderful series of fully formed farces with superlative structure and peerless plotting. Mayhew-Archer's ability to write a show that coalesced humour with heart was in evidence long before Dibley.
Sadly the ratings didn't quite meet the expectations of executives, who cancelled this television version after a single series. But what happened next proves that your show doesn't need millions of viewers - just the right one. Richard Curtis had seen An Actor's Life For Me and enjoyed it so much that he asked to see Mayhew-Archer to discuss a series he was planning, at that stage called The Village. Mayhew-Archer submitted some storylines and the series went on to become The Vicar Of Dibley, which would reunite Mayhew-Archer with Waldhorn in the role of David Horton. Without An Actor's Life For Me, Dibley could have been a very different sitcom - or perhaps not existed at all.
Mayhew-Archer reunited with John Gordon Sinclair for his next sitcom. Set in the offices of a newspaper, Nelson's Column ran for two series but, unlike An Actor's Life For Me, has yet to receive a DVD release. Mayhew-Archer's last solo sitcom to date is Office Gossip, a traditional studio comedy that unfortunately coincided with the release of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's The Office. In turn, their next sitcom, Extras, would go on to cover the same ground as An Actor's Life For Me.
Where to start?
Episode 4 - May The Farce Be With You (TV)
Mayhew-Archer's favourite episode takes the building blocks of farce and applies them not only to the play within the episode, but into the structure of the episode itself.
Robert is performing in a play in which his character gets entangled in a love triangle with two women, Sue and Marjorie. When there is a miscommunication backstage, Robert finds himself in a world of trouble with both girlfriend Sue - and Desmond's wife, Marjorie...
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Love comedy? Find out moreAn Actor's Life For Me - Complete Series
An Actor's Life For Me is based around Robert Wilson/Neilson, an actor who believes he is about to make it big time. While he never achieves his quest for fame, he always remains optimistic that he will do at the next audition. His girlfriend, Sue Bishop, and agent Desmond Shaw do their best to keep his feet on the ground.
First released: Monday 7th September 2015
DVD- Distributor: Simply Media
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Catalogue: 163491
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An Actor's Life For Me - The Complete Series 1-3
All 19 episodes of the BBC radio comedy about an aspiring actor with dreams of stardom.
Young actor Robert Wilson is desperately seeking work - and he's prepared to do almost anything for his big break. He's convinced that he's only one audition away from fame and fortune: but while he builds castles in the air, his agent Desmond and girlfriend Sue try their best to bring him back down to earth.
In these three series, Robert gets a part as a chauffeur (except he can't drive), gets carried away in a romantic leading role and gets his party politicals in a bit of a pickle. Plus, his role in a seedy sex farce leads to a sticky situation with Sue's parents, his job performing in a prison means he finally has a captive audience and his appearance on children's TV causes his flat to be surrounded by press - but is that an actor's dream, or an actor's nightmare?
Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who went on to co-write The Vicar of Dibley and Mrs Brown's Boys, this lively comedy was a huge success on radio and transferred to TV in 1991 for one series. John Gordon Sinclair plays Robert, with Caroline Quentin and Gina McKee as Sue.
First released: Thursday 20th August 2020
- Distributor: BBC Audiobooks
- Minutes: 570
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