Gareth Thomas - Chronological

This was a double bill, together with Decameron (the 77th story of the Decameron).

Gareth (Horizon NL#21): In it I was playing a sort of roving jester, who literally wandered out and ad-libbed in the audience and all sorts of things, as well as being the link-man. And the review raved about this Decameron, raved and raved about it, but never mentioned me at all. Then there was a break in the paragraph and the next paragraph was about Black Comedy, and it started off: 'What more can we say about Mr. Thomas?' and that was it! Somebody pointed this out to me and I thought 'That's ridiculous, they haven't said anything about me!' So the stage manager phoned up the newspaper, and I got a charming letter from this lady reviewer - can't remeber her name now - showing me the original review, which the newspaper editor had slashed without reading it at all. Just took a chunk out, because they didn't have space. And in fact, it had been an absolutely wonderful review! Hence, 'What more can we say about Mr. Thomas?'.

Gareth played "Tom Lewis", he later played the same character in "The Bankrupt" on 8th November 1972.

Directed by Harold Becker, written by Alan Sillitoe. Starring Simon Rouse, Victoria Tennant, Patrick O'Connell and Leslie Sands. A story about a Nottingham layabout who falls in love with an exciting middle class girl. We don't know who Gareth played or how big a role it was - he has said that his part was filmed at United Daries in Streatham in South London.

Stocker's Copper (BBC Play For Today, 1½ hr). Herbert Griffith, a policemen from Glamorganshire, one of a group of policemen specially trained to handle riots, is sent to Cornwall to police a clay miners' strike. He is billeted with a local miner's family. After initial suspicion and hostility from the miner, the two become close friends. However, as the strike escalates from non-violent to violent protest, Griffith's job ends up in direct conflict with his friendship. It was written by Tom Clarke, directed by Jack Gold, and starred Gareth Thomas, Jane Lapotaire and Bryan Marshall. Gareth received his first BAFTA best actor nomination for this. It is also shown at the BFI - National Film Theatre on April 18 and also May 1, 2003. Reviuew by Ruth Kenyon.

Herbert Griffith singing along with the miners (31K)

This was Gareth's first major TV role and his first BAFTA (British Academy Film and Television Awards) best actor nomination.

Gareth talking to Ken Armstrong in the Blake's 7 Magazine: I was telephoned by my agent who asked me how long it would take me to get to the BBC TV Centre. I replied I could get there in half an hour. Fine, he said. "Get there as fast as you can and meet a chap called Jack Gold. There could be something there for you."

When I arrived at the BBC, Jack Gold met me, gave me a pint of beer, took me to a locked office. He handed me a massive tome of a script and told me to lock myself in the office, read the script, then call in at his office when I was finished. I followed his instructions, then took the script back to him. He told me to wait a few minutes as the producer of the play was coming over. I was asked to read some parts from the script then told that it was all settled. "You'd better take the script with you," he said. "We start rehearsing at the end of September and shooting starts a week later." As you can guess, I walked out in a daze. When I arrived home, my agent rang me and said, "Well done. You've got it." "Got what?" I asked. "The leading part of course!" The play was entitled Stocker's Copper and was the story of the Cornish Clay miners strike of 1913. I believe I'm right in saying it won an award... And took me into ten solid years of TV work!

Sutherland's Law (BBC 1973-6). Gareth plays Alec Duthie. Duthie is the Scottish equivalent to an assistant district attorney, working for Sutherland who is played by Iain Cuthbertson. Gareth did his own mountain climbing. Gareth was in most episodes of the first season, including at least the following: A Cry for Help - Duthie is referred to, but doesn't appear The Climb The Running Man The Ship Return The Killing The Runaway The House The Sea

The BBC have released 10 episodes from season 1 as a DVD.

Written Elaine Feinstein. Angela Pleasance is a young mother isolated by her chronic asthma and descending into paranoia. Gareth Thomas is her husband, Liz Smith her suspicious housekeeper.

Gareth tells of sitting in a restaurant booth one evening and grumbling to his agent about the similarity of the roles he was playing. Given his background, King's School, Oxford, etc., why did he never get offered upper-class roles? Three days later, he was unexpectedly offered the part of Lord Charles Beresford in "Edward VII". Gareth asked the director what had made him think of him. He replied, "I was sitting in the next booth."

He read the story "Tales From Lapland" in 1976, and was broadcast on BBC-1 with the following titles: "Draugen And His Red Cap" (Part One, 16/02/76), "The Poor Boy Who Looked For Wook And Found Riches" (Part Two, 17/02/76), "Stallo And His Servant" (Part Three, 18/02/76), "Aslak And The Mermaid" (Part Four, 19/02/76) and "The Family Strong" (Part Five, 20/02/76). Sadly none of these episodes exist in the archive, although I'm sure that there are sound recordings of these programmes somewhere.

Gareth to Joe Nazzaro (FCG #7): I did it once many years ago, the best paid job in the BBC. It was a children's series called Jackanory, and it was basically people sitting there reading storeies for kids. You go in, you rehearse for half a day, and because you've got the autocue, you don't have to learn it, and you go in and do it and it's a flat-rate fee. When I did it, I think it was a hundred pounds a day, per show, and it was a fifteen minute show. As I said, you go in on Thursday afternoon, you rehearse it on Thursday afternoon, you record all five on Friday, so you get five hundred pounds from the BBC for a day and a half's work!

Star Maidens (Made by Portman Productions for ITV and German TV - 1976, thirteen 1/2hr episodes in the series). (first screened on Scottish TV 1 Sep - 1 Dec 1976 - the rest of the country followed a few months later) Its available on video in German!.

Adam and Shem (39K)

In more recent years, this has been shown as a feature length film compiled from several of the episodes - unfortunately, Gareth's bits have mostly been cut out. He appears at the start and then largely disappears. (The action of the film concentrates on the Earth people on Medusa.)

Gareth (Horizon NL#21 in 1988): "At that time, I was offered the part of Fogarty in The Onedin Line. I didn't realize it was going to go on to be what it was. It went on for a very long time, but it was only a pilot at that stage. I was offered the chance of that, or three months doing Star Maidens. And I needed the money! So I chose three months doing an independant television show, obviously, because the money was far, far greater. That was one of the many mistakes I made in my career. Having said that, I don't mean I didn't enjoy Star Maidens. And there were some very fine actors in it.

"It was a long time ago. It was a multi-national thing. We had Hardy Kruger's daughter, my co-lead was a frenchman called Pierre Brice, one of the directors couldn't speak any English. One of the directors was actually a very well known cameraman and horror film director, Freddy Francis. What was it about? I really can't remember. I do remember I was supposed to have some form of extraordinary powers, I can't remember exactly what. And I think I had a blonde streak or something. One blonde streak down the side of my hair."

• 1 - Escape to Paradise - Gareth
• 2 - Nemesis - Gareth
• 3 - The Nightmare Cannon - Gareth
• 4 - The Proton Storm - Gareth
• 5 - Kidnap - Gareth
• 6 - Trial
• 7 - Test for Love
• 8 - The Perfect Couple - Gareth
• 9 - What Have They Done with the Rain?
• 10 - The End of Time
• 11 - Hideout - Gareth has a major role
• 12 - Creatures of the Mind
• 13 - The Enemy - Gareth

Blake's 7 (2nd Jan 1978 - 21 Dec 1981). Gareth played Roj Blake in 28 of the 52 episodes, and also played 2 clones of Blake and a computer image of Blake. Season One (1978) The Way Back Space Fall Cygnus Alpha Time Squad The Web Seek-Locate-Destroy Mission to Destiny Duel Project Avalon Breakdown Bounty Deliverance Orac Season Two (1979) Redemption Shadow Weapon Horizon Pressure Point Trial Killer Hostage Countdown Voice from the Past Gambit The Keeper Star One Season Three (1980) Terminal Season Four (1981) Blake

Roj Blake (81K)

Horizon 33 - talking to Joe Nazzaro Joe: There's an interesting story I heard concerning your final appearance in Blake. According to Chris Boucher, during the fatal confrontation scene between Blake and Avon, Paul's original line was supposed to be 'You betrayed me?' but he changed it to 'You betrayed me?' It's interesting how one word can change the context of a scene.

Gareth: Well, it changes the whole concept, because if you turn around and say 'You betrayed me' as a statement, that's fine, or you can say 'You betrayed me?' ie 'Was it actually you?' but it blows the whole thing when you say 'You betrayed me?' In some ways, I think Paul was right with that inflection, but if he was right, then he had to be killed as well. I loved Paul's idea of actually standing astraddle and actually protecting the man he had just killed. I thought that was beautiful, but if he uses the inflection 'You betrayed me?' then he had to be killed as well. Otherwise, we never know whether Avon died or not, and with the series it was necessary that we should never see Avon as the supremo. He was supremo by default, but when Blake came back, Avon immediatly had to settle down and be second in command. He can say 'You betrayed me?' and still possibly survive, but I think too many of the audience believed Paul, and it's dangerous to have a series like this and end up saying the man was in fact corrupt. I know I've said I wanted to see Blake's darker side, but I didn't want him to be corrupt. He was always completely dedicated to the cause, and I think he would have carried on if Avon hadn't killed him.

The programme notes from Absent friends two weeeks later, quoted the following extracts from reviews: A comedian of some brilliance... an ideal Miller... excellent recounter... wonderful actor and 'The Most vulgar of them all' - fully justified Horseshoe's move in luring him away briefly from Blake's 7 onto the Haymarket stage. There are many people in Basingstoke who will never forget his entrance as Chanticleer, whatever remains in their memories of his excellent performances in Stocker's Copper, How Green Was My Valley and Sutherland's Law. We wish him well on the second series of Blake's 7.

Twelfth Night (RSC at Stratford) he played Orsino. This was played 75 times until 26th Jan 1980 (Concurrently with Anna Christie and Othello). This was also on the 11th March 1980 in Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne and 11 April at the Aldwych Theatre in London. The RSC Programme Book said Gareth gave vigor to Orsino playing him as "Driven by his lovesickness into bitter aggression and rants (and raves) like a proverbial bear with a sore head which his name suggests." It was not the traditional droopy lovesick fop portrayal.

Gareth as Orsinio (39K)

More Pictures of these roles at the RSC

Gareth in The Prydonian Renegrade: I was doing Orsino at Stratford in the Royal Shakespeare Company in Twelfth Night and I can't remember what the speech was now but I completely lost it. I couldn't remember the lines, anything - 'dried' as we call it in the profession - and I carried on waffling away until I actually got my brain back into gear and went back into the script agian. When I came offstage at the end of the scene, there was the director standing there. I said "Geez, I'm sorry, Terry. I don't know what the heck happened. I just couldn't remember a bloody thing. I just waffled and bumbled.." He said, "It doesn't matter, Gareth, Don't worry about it. What was fascinating was, the whole thing, all your waffle, was in pure iambic pentameter!" - so I'd kept to Shakespeare's rhythm.