Acting legend Sir Derek Jacobi has spoken of his joy at being able to shoot a new documentary on Charles Dickens in Kent.
The multi-award winning star of stage and screen – who has appeared in such popular films and TV shows as Gladiator and Cadfael – presents and narrates the Sky Arts 2 programme Charles Dickens’ England, which recounts the legendary author’s years growing up in the county.
Speaking to Kent on Sunday to mark the official launch of the project, Sir Derek said the show’s producer was right to fight against his original financiers’ wishes to concentrate solely on Dickens’ connections with London.
He said: “Dickens was associated so much with Kent, particularly at Gad’s Hill (near Rochester) where he lived for so long.
“I think he felt quite at home in the area and quite content too. He found the landscape beautiful to look at and peaceful to be surrounded by, and it was conducive to his writing.
“But I’m London born and bred, and that aspect of Dickens’ life was also very interesting. I went and saw places I had no idea were there, and it was the same when I came to Kent.”
Born in Portsmouth in 1812, Dickens moved to Chatham at the age of five and maintained a close relationship with Kent – where several of his best-loved novels are set – for the rest of his life.
Sir Derek is no stranger to the author’s work, having starred in the TV adaptations of Little Dorrit (1988) and The Old Curiosity Shop (2007).
He also played the part of Scrooge in Victoria Wood’s 2000 Christmas special, and of the ghost of Dickens himself in the 2007 film The Riddle.
Sir Derek said: “Presenting was something I’d never done before and I was very surprised to be asked to front the documentary. But as a lover of Dickens’ novels I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn some more about him and to visit a lot of interesting places.
“It took about three weeks to shoot and it was a fascinating experience. I went to Chatham, Rochester and Broadstairs, which I thought was beautiful.
“It was good to see quite a lot of Kent. My parents used to bring me to Margate on holiday when I was young, so it was nice to come back after all these years.”
Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of Sir Derek becoming a professional actor, and over the years he has starred in everything from Shakespearean plays and murder mysteries to Roman epics and US sitcoms.
His voice is even recognizable to young children due to his role as the narrator of the popular In the Night Garden series.
But despite turning 71 later this month, Sir Derek told KoS he has no plans to call it a day.
He said: “Never, never, never. Fortunately when you’re in the acting business you don’t have to retire. When you’re young you get to play the adolescents, when you’re middle-aged you get to play the adults and now I’ve started playing grandfathers.
“You can go on until you drop, which is good because there are a lot of parts out there that I still want to play."
Charles Dickens’ England will be shown in two parts, starting tonight (Sunday, October 4) at 7pm on Sky Arts 2.
POSTED: 04/10/2009 08:00:00
Bookmark with:
Email to a friend: