Ian Richardson interview by Jane Brace

The Magician's House is was first shown on BBC1 at 6.05 for six Sundays, starting on 31st October 1999.

Grateful thanks to freelance publicist Jane Brace for permission to reproduce extracts from her interview, on behalf of BBC Television, with Ian Richardson.

IAN RICHARDSON : Stephen Tyler

One of Britain's greatest actors, Ian Richardson is used to leaving his audiences spellbound. With consummate ease, he has played English gents, villains, wartime heroes, Shakespearean leads, spies, detectives and even a ghost with his head under his arm! Now, not for the first time, he's about to enter the realms of wizardry!
   Richardson, who oozes screen presence, is Stephen Tyler, the magician of the title. Living in the 1590s Tyler is an ageing, troubled man, aware that his magical achievements - inhabiting animals, time travel, turning common metal into gold - have created as much potential for evil as they have for good.
   Tyler knows his rebellious assistant, Morden, is capable of destroying the thing closest to his heart - the fragile harmony of the Golden Valley. But for the first time in 400 years a Tyler is to be born at Golden House and he or she is destined to become the protector of the valley.
   Says Richardson: " I have played several magicians in my time including Prospero and Merlin, but what I like about Stephen Tyler are his flaws. He can't do everything and he also gets very bad tempered when things aren't going his way, which makes him human as well as magic."
    Dapper Richardson is a sparkling sorcerer, often to be found with his loyal owl, Jasper, on his shoulder or "morphing" into the black and white dog he calls Sirius, the fox Cinnabar or the badger Bawson.
   "I got quite fond of all the animals - even though the dog was much more interested in playing with his frisbee than acting - and I was devoted to my owl, a lady called Ivy! I had no trouble with her while she was actually sitting on my shoulder but when she was getting her balance she occasionally stuck a talon into my neck so a steady supply of Elastoplast was required! By a strange coincidence, I had just completed filming Gormenghast for the BBC in which I play an old man who goes mad, thinks he's an owl and sits on the mantelpiece going 'Hoo'!"
   To ensure the future of Golden Valley, Tyler must propel himself into the 1990s and gain the help of Mary, William and Alice, encountering modern-day attitudes and Nineties "Gameboy" on the way ....!
   His journey into the 1990s alarms him - he travels to "a time of strange wagons without horses and light without flames." Says Richardson: "I wouldn't mind a bit of time travel in my life but I think I'd go backwards, not forwards. I can fully relate to Tyler's dilemma at dealing with the quirks of modern day life. I've locked myself out of hotel rooms with their new-fangled security systems and don't try to teach me anything about the Internet. I'm quite comfortable with the telly!
   "The level of noise for a time traveller coming into this century must be quite terrifying. I am definitely of the old fogey persuasion and I dislike a huge number of things about the modern world - loud pop music, too many cars, lousy education, the yobbo culture - oh, stop me! It's not all bad - I suppose nostalgia for the way things were in one's youth is simply a sign that one's old!"
   The role of Tyler gave Richardson the chance to make his first visit to Canada's West Coast. "Vancouver Island is very beautiful with hills, valleys and noble woods - it makes a convincing Forest of Dean." Does he sympathise with the conservation and wildlife protection themes running through the drama? "Yes, I am definitely a Greenie and I live in a magic valley of my own in Devon, complete with badgers."
   He believes the series will appeal to children on both sides of the Atlantic. "Children prefer magic to gritty realism in my experience but the central issue of conservation should please those who want everything to have a social relevance. Personally I think kids are more interested in ripping yarns - they enjoy being a little bit frightened especially when they know it's all going to turn out well in the end."
   Ian and his wife Maroussia have three grandchildren who he says will be tuning in. "The girls are thirteen and eight and I know they'll enjoy it. My grandson is rising two, so it may be slightly above his head, but I expect he'll like the dogs..."
   Whilst he enjoyed playing Tyler, Ian is not sure he would like the magician's power in modern-day life. "It doesn't seem to give him a great deal of pleasure and to keep Good triumphant over Evil takes tremendous concentration and an exhausting effort of will. Personally I don't know whether I'd be up to it!"
   Tyler's mission to save Golden Valley was his driving force. What would Ian say his is? "That's a difficult question and I don't think I'm going to answer it. Excuse me while I morph into a small fish. In a big pond."