I N T E R V I E W S   

Clive Swift

"Brewer lives life to the full," explains Swift. "He knows all about the suffering and sadness in the world, and this makes him all the more determined to enjoy life. He likes a drink or two, follows the horses and dabbles in a bit of gambling, even winning a bob or two on occasion! He’s never married but he’s certainly had a few girlfriends, as he’s a bit of a ladies man. But the Bishop seems to know something about Brewer’s behaviour which is a cause for concern." Reverend Brewer has seen a lot of life, so whenever anyone is in trouble or has a problem they go to him. "Brewer’s very sympathetic and wants life to be better for everyone. He would have been born towards the end of the 19th century and would have survived two world wars. He’s got lots of memories of the wars and is likely to have served in some capacity."

And he’s a popular resident in the village: "I think the character that Brewer is closest to is Mr Boynton, the shopkeeper. They are similar in age, although Boynton is self-educated whereas Brewer would have gone to university. But I think Brewer is sometimes a little bit hard on Wilf, the station-master, and in return Wilf doesn’t trust Brewer when they’re playing cards!

"Brewer also has a great deal of respect for Arthur Gilder [played by James Bolam] as they have a lot in common.Arthur’s delivered all the children in the village, looked after them when they’ve been sick and then signed death certificates when people have died. In the same vein, Brewer has christened, married and then buried them."

Working with James Bolam is clearly something that Clive Swift enjoys: "There was one day when we were filming a scene with myself and James. I had watched Shipman the night before, in which James Bolam starred as the eponymous serial murdering doctor, and I couldn’t believe how different he looked in it. But when I came to work with James the following day I couldn’t stop thinking of him as Harold Shipman. "Then there was another time when I was getting over a terrible cold and Brewer goes to see Arthur about something other than a medical matter. While there, Arthur comments on how fit and healthy Brewer is, so I had to spend the whole scene concealing the cold!"

In episode one, Brewer has an unusual task in hand when he is called upon to perform an exorcism in the village. "There’s a farmer called Alec Rossendale, who’s convinced that there’s something strange going on in his house, so Brewer must perform this exorcism with Arthur, Phyllis, Wilf and Len all there as witnesses. It’s a very stormy night and things start falling off the walls and doors are slamming. Brewer doesn’t believe in ghosts but it all seems very strange, and even he starts to believe that there may actually be a poltergeist in the house. "I did some research about exorcisms in the Fifties and asked Naomi Radcliffe’s father, who is the retired Canon of Manchester Cathedral, about it but he said that there was no set format for exorcisms in those days."

Since the last series of Born And Bred, Swift has been spending much of his time working on radio plays, including The Right Time and The Go-Between for BBC Radio 4. He’s also been teaching poetry at The Actors’ Centre, a centre for unemployed actors in London, which Swift also helped to set up. And when he’s not working there’s nothing that Swift enjoys more than watching cricket. "I’m a big cricket fan. I’ve been bowling ever since I was a young boy. I’m the Honorary President of a group called The Weekenders, which is a weekend cricket team that I set up in the Seventies. I’m involved with Middlesex CCC these days but having been ‘born and bred’ in Liverpool the team that I support is Lancashire CCC."

Tracey Childs

Linda is certainly enjoying newly married life with her new husband Len and, as the series begins, they are desperately trying for a baby. "In the last series, we saw Linda get married, which was all a bit late in the day as I think Linda’s had a bit of a past! I don’t think that Linda wanted for silk stockings or chocolates during the war, if you know what I mean!" laughs Childs. "But she was very happy to marry Len.To get married that late in life was practically unheard of in the Fifties; she would definitely have been seen as on the shelf.

"And she’s loving married life! She loves Len and they’ve got a mission in this series: to try and have a baby, so they’re ‘at it’ at every available opportunity, but it doesn’t all go smoothly. Linda goes for some tests and she has some problems from her past, so who knows what will happen?" All this hard work trying for a baby is tiring Linda out.While she’s working as the surgery nurse, she struggles to find her usual patience when dealing with Arthur and Tom’s squabbles. "Linda’s worked at the surgery for about 10 years. She’s very good at her job, she knows the villagers very well and they all like her. I think most of the time she’s very good at coping with Tom and Arthur and their constant bickering. When she’s on top of life she can sort them out, put them in their place and then everything’s fine. But when she’s feeling a bit fragile, as she regularly is in this series, then she finds it all a bit much."

In episode four, however, Tracey, together with several of the other women in the cast, had a scene to film which caused no end of laughter. "Deborah discovers an old fertility ceremony and all the women in the village decide to help Linda out as she is having trouble conceiving.We all go up to the forest carrying flowers and lanterns and ribbons to perform the ceremony. But what Deborah hasn’t told us is that the ceremony is traditionally performed naked! So all the ladies there, which included Jean, Helen, Deborah and the Matthews sisters, all strip off and perform the ceremony naked! "It was really lovely to do a day’s filming with just women.We had the most fantastic day. We were hanging around, waiting for the weather to change, and we started talking about getting our teeth whitened. We found it hilarious that there are so many people out there having botox injections and other beauty treatments, but the most adventurous we get is considering having our teeth whitened and asking what’s for pudding – and all the while, we were just about to go and film a naked scene!" 

Since the last series of Born And Bred, Tracey’s been busy starring in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks and also performing in pantomime in theatre in Poole. "In Hollyoaks, I played Patty Cornwell, the bitch from hell who is a real contrast to Northern, warm-hearted Linda, but I had great fun. Patty is the mother of a 22-year-old student called Izzy, which was a bit of a shock at first! It’s extraordinary that in Born And Bred I’m trying to have my first baby and in Hollyoaks I’m mother to a grown-up daughter who’s at university. Quite a contrast! "It’s ironic that when I started filming Hollyoaks I was 38 and Elize Du-Toit, who plays Izzy, my daughter in the series, was 22.And back in the Eighties when we made Howards’ Way I was 22 and Jan Harvey, who played my mother, was 38 – so I now know exactly how Jan must have felt at the time!"

When she’s not performing either on television or in theatre, Tracey does a lot of walking. "I climbed two thirds of the way up Mount Everest a few years ago with a friend of mine. I went to Base Camp which was 17,000 feet. It’s not really a climb, it’s a very hard walk. But from that point on it’s a climb and it’s terrifying. The walk was tough but very manageable. It took about three weeks and I  would love to go back one day. "I do a lot of walking, but it was so frustrating when we were filming the first series in Lancashire. We were surrounded by such stunning countryside and so many of the footpaths were closed because of foot and mouth disease. But now the footpaths have reopened and Peter Gunn, who plays Len in Born And Bred, has bought me a book on all the best walks up there so I’m really enjoying exploring the area."

Tracey’s other passion is crosswords. "I love doing crosswords but this is the first TV set that I’ve been on where no one else does the crossword. But at least that means I get to pinch all their papers!" she laughs.

Naomi Radcliffe

Naomi Radcliffe returns as Jean Bradshaw, the matchmaker who just wants some love of her own, in the new series of Born And Bred. "At the end of the first series, having been awarded first prize in the Ormston beauty pageant, it appeared that Jean may finally have found love," says Radcliffe. "But unfortunately it’s back to square one again at the start of this series. Jean’s unrequited feelings for Eddie remain, although at last it seems that he might be noticing Jean a bit more, which is a start." While Jean remains unlucky in love, she has finally plucked up the courage to leave the scrap yard behind her and take on a new job as a dray woman. Radcliffe explains what this involves and the reasons behind Jean’s change of career: "The dray woman is the lady who delivers the beer to the pub. Jean became very down-hearted about her life as a scrap girl. She felt as though she was boring and wasn’t doing enough with her life! By chance, the opportunity to run the dray cart presents itself, and Jean leaps at it. She now gets to use the bigger horse and cart, and she has the chance to drive around lots of villages rather than remain stuck in Ormston. Sadly, my wardrobe remains much the same, however. The dungarees are back, although I do have the chance in this series to wear a couple of fab frocks!"

In spite of Jean’s new job, she remains very much the same old lass at heart. As accident-prone as ever, Jean continues trying her hand at matchmaking, although Radcliffe admits that, unlike her character, she doesn’t even try to get her friends together. "My friends are always asking me to act as a matchmaker, but I’m absolutely rubbish at it. I invariably just make things even worse!" Radcliffe says that filming Born And Bred has provided some of the happiest times of her acting career. "Born And Bred has been such a fantastic experience for me, and filming the second series has been even more fun than the first. What’s been extra special about this series is that we had a month off halfway through filming, so we could all go home, relax and catch up on some sleep before heading back to film the final four episodes. I love being on set with all the actors – we’re like a big family now."

Radcliffe’s eyes light up when she talks about the reaction her friends and fellow Mancunians have had to her role in Born And Bred. "I live just south of Manchester, and while the first series was being shown on television, everyone was coming up to me and telling me how much they loved the programme. People in the post office, the bank, the bakers – they all congratulated me and said how addicted they were to the programme. I was so pleased that Born And Bred had struck such a chord with so many people."

Radcliffe has previously said how much she dislikes being famous, and her views on the subject have certainly not changed."I never went into acting to become famous. Instead, I always saw acting as a way of conquering my fears. I’ve always put myself out there and fought to overcome my inhibitions and worries. I don’t get nervous – instead, my fear is derived from a desire to fulfil and realise my acting hopes and goals. My dad is a vicar, and he’s always said that the Church felt like a vocation. I feel very much the same about acting – it’s a calling, and I’d do it for no money at all.Well, almost no money!" 

With a successful film, television and radio career under her belt, Radcliffe should nonetheless be well used to fame by now. It was her role as Alison Webster in Coronation Street that first catapulted Radcliffe into millions of living rooms up and down the country. She acknowledges the vital lessons which life in Coronation Street taught her: "Playing Alison was a big deal. Being in such a huge series and finding myself always subjected to such media interest prepared me for all the attention I’ve received afterwards. It’s made me stronger, that’s for sure."

Away from Born And Bred, Radcliffe has appeared alongside Steve Coogan in 24 Hour Party People and Ricky Tomlinson in Nice Guy Eddie and has happy memories of both."I met so many fantastic actors on the set of 24 Hour Party People. Rob Brydon and Shirley Henderson, in particular, were angels and kept me amused as we sat around waiting for the scenes to be set up. We all had such a giggle. And then, of course, I had the privilege of working with the saintly Ricky Tomlinson. Sadly, I only had one scene with him, but even in that short period of time I learned first-hand what a lovely guy he is." As though a burgeoning acting career wasn’t enough, Radcliffe has also been concentrating on a nine year relationship with Carl. "It’s fabulous," Radcliffe says, "and we’re very happy. We live such busy lives that I’m not sure when we’ll be able to go away together on a proper holiday, but we’ve been having lots of short breaks away together around the country." As her stock rises ever further and a third series of Born And Bred remains a strong likelihood, Naomi might well have to put off that holiday for quite a while yet.

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