"( opening music playing )" "He was very urbane, sophisticated." "It was somewhat of a front." "He was quite a giggler, really." "He was an incredibly, incredibly attractive man" "That flirted with everybody" "From, you know, from the director" "To the cameraman" "To the taxi driver to the make-up girl." "Uh..." "Thank you." "He was a workaholic." "He just enjoyed his craft so much." "How did sir Humphrey know I was with doctor Cartwright?" "God moves in a mysterious way." "Let me make one thing perfectly clear," "Humphrey is not god, okay?" "Will you tell him or shall I?" "Narrator:" "Paul Eddington was born on the 18th of June, 1927 in London." "Although his mother was a roman catholic" "His father's family were quakers." "Due to the unsettled nature of his parent's marriage," "He and his sister Shirley" "Attended over 16 different schools." "As a young kid in school he'd have to stand up," "When they were all doing cadets," "And say "I'm sorry, I'm a quaker."" ""Excuse me, sir, I'm a quaker" "And a pacifist and I will not fight."" "For a young kid to do that" "Must have required amazing courage." "And that's what Paul had all his life." "Narrator:" "At the age of 10 he joined the quaker school" "At Sidford in Oxfordshire." "It was here for the next six years" "That he found the stability that his life had previously lacked." "Paul's first job was as a window-dresser" "At Louis' department store in Birmingham." "But his growing desire to act" "Led him to a local amateur dramatic society." "Soon after, he decided to turn professional," "Gaining experience at both Birmingham and Sheffield reps." "But in spite of this, he felt a need of more formal training" "And applied to R.A.D.A." "He was so far ahead of us, it was like" "A master surgeon playing with drama students." "I mean, we were in awe of him." "He was so accomplished and so talented." "The extraordinary thing was," "He, who was far and away the best of us," "Didn't have much luck as I remember" "And nothing much happened to him" "For a very long time after that." "Narrator:" "He had previously met fellow actor Patricia Scott" "Whilst at Sheffield rep." "And in 1952 they married." "Paul, though, was finding it difficult" "To establish himself as an actor." "When Paul was really in the desert not doing at all well," "He had an opportunity to do a proper job." "And he was approached by Shell" "To become kind of-- some kind of submanager, petroleum manager." "And Trish said, "If you do that, I'm leaving you."" "I was absolutely alight with fury." "And I said, "I married an actor." "And I gave up what I was doing to marry you."" "I said, "If you take this job, I'm leaving."" "So he didn't." "Tricia Eddington is a remarkable woman." "I don't think for one moment" "That Paul would have had the success he had without her backup." "She was absolutely the power behind that throne." "She was the root to the tree, if you like." "I mean, every single thing" "He did and thought and said was filtered through her." "Narrator:" "The first of their four children, Toby," "Was born in 1954." "And, as their family expanded," "Life on a struggling actor's wage was never easy." "We had some very difficult times..." "Financially for a long time." "But he always managed to get work." "He might give you another chance if you own up." "A bookie don't deserve his money." " You can't claim for gambling debts." " Come on." " You?" " Look, mr." "Dixon, I can explain that." "You used your uniform for this?" "I had to have money, see?" "I did it the first time just as a lark." "Nobody suspected a copper, see?" "There's nothing worse than a rotten copper." "Fowlds:" "I remember seeing him as Will Scarlet." "I used to tease him about that." ""Robin Hood, Robin Hood riding through the glen."" "¶ Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding though the glen ¶" "¶ Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men ¶" "¶ feared by the bad, loved by the good ¶" "¶ Robin Hood, Robin Hood" "¶ Robin Hood." "It was the first time we'd had a steady income" "Since we left repertory company." "He used to watch the rushes" "And he'd come home and say, "I am appalled." "I am appalled by what I'm doing."" "I said, "Well, darling, they won't use those bits."" "He said, "Well, I hope they don't."" "But he learnt." "I better be going." "Have a long journey." " Mustn't keep my new masters waiting." " They'll be delighted ." " Give them our compliments." " I will." " Au revoir." " Wiedersehen." "He never stopped working much but always small money" "Because he wasn't well known till he got in the sitcom." "Then of course people began, "Oh, it's Paul Eddington." "Isn't he marvelous?"" " Good evening, Jerry." " Good evening, Margot." "Good evening, Barbara." "Good evening, Tom." " Good evening, Margot." " Good evening, Margot." " Good evening, Jerry." " Good evening, Barbara." " Good evening, Jerry." " Good evening." "Briers:" "When we first started "The Good Life"" "They were kind of foils for us." "It was Barbara and Tom that were the stars of the thing." "And they were support." "In fact, it was the ones we all know." "Penny Keith wasn't even seen." "What the devil do you think you're doing?" "We are dancing in our goldfish pond." "Don't be so damn silly." " Margot:" "What is it?" "What's going on?" " It's the Goods." "They're dancing in their goldfish pond." "He was dying to do the comedy that he loved doing." "And John Howard Davies was the first director" "Who approached him." "And he had seen him, of course, on stage." "I'd seen "Absurd person singular"" "And Paul was absolutely obviously the right choice." "Margot." "Woman:" "It certainly was a watershed" "In Paul's and Felicity's and my career, I would say," "Because it made us instantly recognizable," "Not only as actors who'd been on the television," "Because we all had before," "But also as those characters." "Why don't you just throw a bucket of mud on the floor?" "I have just cut my finger clipping your blasted hedge." "Don't swear, Jerry." "And don't bleed in the sink." "I just cleaned it." "Briers:" "I suppose he must have been about 40 then." "And it put him on the map." "And don't throw rubbish in the rubbish bin." " Why on earth not?" " I've just emptied it." "Felicity:" "Penny has a special style and it works beautifully." "It's very very precise and sort of chiseled." "And Paul, though his is exactly as precise" "And it's exactly as chiseled." "Even when things were going well" "He would sometimes look terribly hunted and sort of" "And I'd say, "What is it now?"" "And he'd be worrying about something." "Paul would generally arrive first thing in the morning" "Complaining about the traffic that he had had to negotiate." "Felicity and Richard and I all lived south of the river" "And very near the rehearsal room." "Paul had to arrive from the north of London." "And every single morning we'd hear about the horrors of the traffic." "Which is wonderful because John and Bob eventually" "Incorporated that into the Jerry character." "God, that rush hour gets worse every day." "Took me half an hour to get across London Bridge this evening." "I think that Friday night traffic on London Bridge" "Is the worst of all." "Best part of an hour tonight." "If I get stuck in the traffic on London Bridge this morning," "I shall probably have a nervous breakdown," "And I shall send you the bill for the damned psychiatrist." "Jerry was very put upon." "Not only by Margot, but by that wretched Tom Good" "Who was really quite a pain, I always think." "Oy, oy, sir..." "Haven't you forgotten something?" "Oh yes, of course." "Happy birthday." "Oh, Jerry, you shouldn't have." "We had a great sense of humor in common." "We laughed a lot." "He was rather more dry than I was." "I was rather more clownish as we were in the parts." "You want one actor to be loud" "And the other to be soft," "One actor to be fast and the other to play a different pace," "But for them to meld together perfectly" "And for the rhythm to stay." "And for the excitement to stay." "And that's to do with how two people work together" "And that's magic casting." "Hello." "Jerry Leadbetter here." "No, I was just telephoning to find out whether I could have my car today." "Oh, Tuesday." "What do you mean, Tuesday?" "Be quiet." "I don't care if the spare parts come from Mars," "Go and collect them." "A bottleneck in the lube bay?" "What does that mean in English?" "Well say lubrication then." " Margot." " Be quiet, Jerry." "When you get-- this is why actors tend to work together." "It's not because they lovey-dovey love each other." "It's because they actually work together well." "There was a time in this country when a date promised was a date honored." "And if you promised my husband that the car would be ready today," "Then I-- just a moment." "Did they or did they not say that the car would be ready today?" "No, I was just telephoning on the off chance." "Really, Jerry." "I do wish you'd acquaint me with the facts before getting me involved." "Good day to you." "Margot wore the trousers, definitely." "Ruled him like a rod of iron." "Chair please, Jerry." "Shoes please, Jerry." "Door please, Jerry." "Cloth please, Jerry." "He got his own back in little ways." "Whenever she went away to some amateur dramatic society" "For the evening he'd get the take-away curry" "And have a really good time and stink the place out." "Jerry!" "Jerry was just adorable Jerry-- not at all like Paul." "I mean, Paul was not-- you know," "Paul was a very strong character" "Indeed with very firm beliefs." "The fact that he had the most amazing sense of humor." "Wellington or Nelson?" "All the nice girls love a sailor." "You'd better be Nelson." "I knew there was something about a soldier." "Read your motto." "Felicity:" "We all fell in love with each other." "He's one of the great great gentlemen I've ever met." "Paul was one of the rarest of actors" "Because he was a complete craftsman." "Narrator:" "Throughout this time, Paul worked continuously," "Dividing himself between television during the day" "And theater at night." "It was while he was at the Chichester festival theater" "That he first worked with a new emerging talent." "I didn't cast Paul, he really cast me." "I suppose it put the first occasion of a director" "Being cast by his leading actor." "He was headlining at that stage in "London assurance"" "Which was going to be directed by Robin Phillips." "Robin walked out of the production after two days." "And John Gale the artistic director then said," ""There's this young chap in the studio you might find interesting."" "Paul went, "He's terribly young." "He won't be able to do it."" "But he came over to see the show that I'd done, a production of "Summer Folk."" "And he said, "It's remarkable." "I'll have that boy."" "He took me on trust completely." "Paul couldn't praise him enough." "He said, "This boy is going far."" "So I said, "Right, I'll remember that."" "Sam:" "What Paul was was a miniaturist." "A brilliant brilliant miniaturist in the mold of Alec Guinness." "He was amazingly still on stage" "And very very dry and very very well judged." "That's what you see in his television work, particularly "Yes, Minister."" "( theme music plays )" "Briers:" "When he got "Yes, Minister"" "I think he really did revel in his success then." "He'd really got there." "And I think after 20-odd years of being in the desert" "It was a great great thing for them both, for Tricia and he." "Briefly, sir, I am the permanent undersecretary of state" "Known as the permanent secretary." "Woolley here's your principle private secretary." "I too have a principle private secretary" "And he is the principle private secretary" "To the permanent secretary." "Directly responsible to me are 10 deputy secretaries, 87 undersecretaries," "And 219 assistant secretaries." "Can they all type?" "Patricia:" "He would rather have played Nigel's part to begin with." "He liked that sort of sharp" "Getting at the politician." "That amused him and he would have liked to have done it." "But the authors overruled." " Thank you, minister." " It was nothing." "Man:" "I thought of Nigel for sir Humphrey" "And Johnny thought of Derek Fowlds as Bernard," "But it was John Howard Davies who'd worked with Paul" "On "The Good Life" who decided that Paul was ideal." "I hadn't seen it that way but once he said Paul" "I thought, yeah, yeah that would work." "But you got me this job, you said." "Yes, but I didn't expect you to do anything." "I mean, you've never done anything before." "Humphrey started off by getting the upper-hand" "But we began to see it would get too predictable." "This is a private meeting, Humphrey." "Ah, do you want me to shut the door?" "Yes, please." "No, Humphrey." "From the other side," "Quite often it was a sort of draw," "In that Jim wanted something terribly badly" "Like a cook to do lunches at 10 Downing Street." "A cook?" "Seconded from the cabinet office canteen?" "To cook lunch for me here at the flat?" "Something that none of your predecessors" "Ever accomplished." "I say." "He'd trade that for something Humphrey wanted badly." "And trident." "Leave trident off the cabinet agenda for the time being." "That is my firm decision, all right?" "Yes, prime minister." "There's always a moment in every episode of "Yes, Minister"" "When, you know, he starts thinking that, you know, some crazy scheme" "That sir Humphrey suggested to him, you know, might be a good idea" "And then hang on a minute, it's a brilliant idea." "Then he goes from being a kind of puzzled small time minister into being Napoleon." "In the space of about 20 seconds" "His expressions change-- the clouds pass across his face." "And by the time he's finished with it, he is Churchill." "Then you would hear those sounds." "It falls to one man" "To lead his people" "Out of the valley of the shadow and into the sunlit uplands" "Of peace and prosperity." "He's a frustrated actor, Jim Hacker." "Yes, I suppose we have got rather fond of one another." " In a way." " In a way, yes." "Like a terrorist and his hostage." "Which one of you is the terrorist?" " He is." " He is." "It's like all good comedy partnerships." "It's marital." "Paul was extremely generous and so was Nigel" "Because they would have 10-minute scenes" "And I used to be sitting at the table" "Listening to this barrage of arguments." "And then at the end I would have one line" "Which was extremely funny." "Shall we now continue with the agendum?" "Agendum?" "Oh, yes." "We have no agendum." "We have no agendum today." "On the other occasion he would say," ""You're very lucky, aren't you really, Derek?" "Standing, you know, between us," "It's rather like a master class every Sunday, isn't it?"" "Humphrey, I've been thinking." "Good." "The viewer had to believe that this man could be a government minister," "Could be a prime minister indeed." "Although people laughed at it," "They kind of believed in it, too." "What if the press should get hold of this, eh?" "( laughing )" "They'd have to have another leak inquiry." "They won't really set up an inquiry, will they?" " Bound to." " Won't that be embarrassing?" "No, no, no." "That's what leak inquiries are for" "Setting up." "They don't actually conduct them." "So Paul had this extra hard job" "Of both being a comedy figure, almost a buffoon," "And yet at the same time being a credible person" "To be a cabinet minister, and he did that beautifully." "Well?" "Prime minister, you place me in a very difficult position" "Do I, Humphrey?" "I realize you have to have loyalty to your colleges," "But you also have a broad alliance to cabinet and its policy." " I agree." " You agree?" " Yes." " You agree with me?" "I agree with you." "I" " I don't quite" " Who do you agree with?" " With you." "Nigel:" "We did get drawn into the political field." "And Margaret Thatcher, it was really her liking of the series" "Which elevated it" "To the success that it became." "Thatcher found it very interesting and amusing, I think." "She accepted that Nigel Hawthorne was the perfect civil servant." "She did not accept that Paul could ever be prime minister." "I think behind that was a knowledge that Paul was towards the left" "And a pacifist and a quaker and was quite vocal about it." "He was never worried about putting his head over the parapet" "And saying things against that particular conservative government." "So that wouldn't have gone down well at all with Thatcher." "And as result she was very clever, I think." "She gave them C.B.E.'s" "As if, you know, it didn't affect her at all." "The nominations in the category" ""light entertainment performance" are..." "Paul Eddington, "Yes, Minister,"" "Nigel Hawthorne, "Yes, Minister."" "I do think he was a little sad" "Over the fact that Paul and Nigel" "Were always nominated for the best actor" "In television" "And he never got it." "Forgive me, minister." "So why do you think Nigel keeps winning" "All the bafta's and I don't get one?" "I said, "Because he's got longer speeches than you."" "Narrator:" "However, he found recognition in other ways." "I remember his telling me that he had gone over to Australia once" "And Bob Hawk met him at a function." "And Bob Hawk said to Paul" ""Would you like to come along to one of the rallies?"" "And Paul said, "Yeah, I'd love to."" "You know, 'cause he loved political stuff, he was very politically orientated." "So, he got in the car and they buzzed off" "And he said, "Suddenly I was in this arena" "With something like 60,000 people,"" "Bob Hawk said, "You don't want to listen to me." "This is the real prime minister."" "And Paul said he was thrown onto the stage" "And forced to improvise." "People expected him to make remarks" "About current policy" "I mean, quite seriously" "Which of course he never did." "He always made a joke of it." "It's a very good question." "No, no, seriously." "It's a question that as I've said on previous occasions is" "In a democracy the sort of question that ought to be asked." "They really did think he had something to do with the government" "As well as a well-known actor." "He loved that." "He reveled in the sort of rather grand thing" "Of being fated as a V.I.P. Rather than just a lovey." "Narrator:" "After suffering with bad health for many years," "He was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer in 1987." "Felicity:" "He handled his illness with incredible dignity" "In that he didn't say, "Look at me," "Poor me" and make a fuss about it." "He knew for years he was ill but he absolutely" "I mean we didn't-- very few people knew" "Until later, and then he just said, "Well, I'm ill."" "And that's it." "He was not sorry for himself at all." "But he didn't camouflage it or make a big tarrah about it." "But that was very much his life." "He was never defeated," "But he was dashed at first, at each thing." "And then he used to say, "Well, it could be worse." "I can deal with that." "I can deal with it."" "It was an acceptance." "And his life was an acceptance, really," "Of one thing after another." "As the next thing happened" "He would just swallow hard" "And say, "No, I can bear that." "I can bear it."" "You would never ever have known" "If you didn't know him" "That he was ill." "And he was very very ill." "Narrator:" "Despite his increasing health worries" "He decided to reunite with Richard Briers" "In David Story's play, "Home."" "Briers:" "He said, "You'd love to do this with me."" "I think because we were very fond of each other" "And he knew his time was limited," "It would be nice to do a play, maybe his last" "And it was his last-- with a friend rather then just another actor." "So we did it." "We made the terrible error when we toured "Home"" "Of forgetting that we were in a sad play," "But to the public we were still this sort of geriatric Tom and Jerry." "Result was I was getting letters all the time." "They didn't write to him because they still thought he was prime minister." "They wrote to me as some sort of chum" "Saying, "Why are you doing this dreary, dreadful, depressing play?" "How could you?" because they came for a laugh." "And we forgot, 25 years on-- 20 years on, that we were Tom and Jerry still and would be forever." "A friend of mine-- actually, more of an acquaintance really," "Was introduced to George the VI at Waterloo." "Waterloo?" "Patricia:" "We didn't want him to appear in the newspapers too much" "Looking like that and it was getting worse." "It became public before we were ready for it to become public." "I rang them at that time and they had these people outside" "And I said, "You know, you're going to have to open that door" "And interview them and tell them." "You really have to tell them."" "Patricia:" "And that's when the first pictures" "Of him went out" "So that people could actually see that he was ill." "I mean, the fact that being an actor," "It had to hit his face, I found very hard to take." "( classical music playing )" "Briers:" "When he did "Face to face" towards the end," "I thought that was a great act of bravery." "Extraordinary control." "Talk about British stiff upper lip." "He really had that." "Paul Eddington, you're one of our best" "And best loved actors." "And I found it very hard and I found it very Paul." "He was there saying, "What do you want to know?" "If you're going to ask me this I'm very pleased to tell you" "And this is what-- this is me and this is how I am."" "And he wasn't sentimental in the slightest little bit" "And he wasn't being brave either." "People are kind enough" "To say "How brave" and all the rest of it." "But I'm not brave at all." "I do wish very sincerely that I hadn't got this problem." "But as I have it, there's no alternative" "But just to say "Yes, I've got it."" "His faith was the main thing" "Which supported him." "I don't think he could have got through it the way he did" "Without it." "We all did what we could." "We all rallied." "We tried hard," "But basically it was his own acceptance" "Of the fact that he was not going to get better" "And he had better prepare to die." "The actor Paul Eddington has died at the age of 68" "From a rare form of skin cancer." "The real real sadness about his illness" "Was that it robbed us of 10 years of great performances." "I have been very lucky to have quite a few..." "Meaningful, in that they are very special relationships" "That I've worked with in my working life" "And his is certainly up there on the top." "Way up there." "I remember him with great affection" "And great respect." "He made me laugh." "He made me laugh a lot." "Well, he was a great personal friend," "Godfather to one of my children." "I loved him." "I thought he was a smashing man" "And I wish there were more of his kind about." "He was a great great friend of mine." "And at the moment, Trish had become a great friend of ours." "It's nice it continues on." "A journalist once asked me what I would like my epitaph to be" "And I said, I think I would like it to be..." ""He did very little harm."" "And that's not easy." "Most people seem to me to do a great deal of harm." "If I could be remembered as having done very little," "That would suit me." "( classical music playing )"