‘The 12 years my father lost to dementia were so heartbreaking I even wish he’d died before it began’

and I would go to Sri Lanka to visit definite their maternal grandfather and great- grandmother. We’d run on the beach, swim in the ocean and eat a cashew nut curry. Later we’d go to New York in the 1960s and 70s to see Aretha article Franklin, Marvin Gaye and James We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly Brown. Soul music is my religion and I want to give it to my children. probing questions – and only accept The happiest moment you will cherish forever… Apart from the births of my THE definitive answer. This week it’s children, it was stepping out for the first performance to play Hamlet at the the actor Christopher Eccleston’s turn West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in The prized possession you value above The priority activity if you were the 2002. It’s the greatest role ever written all others… My father Ronnie’s old Invisible Man for a day… I’d become a and I’d worked 20 years to get it. brown sheepskin coat, which he gave fourth member of the Ikettes – Ike and The saddest time that shook your to me in the 1980s. He died in 2012 Tina Turner’s beautiful world… When Britain voted for Brexit. aged 84 from pneumonia following a backing singers in the hip replacement. We loved each other 1960s. I could listen The unfulfilled ambition that contin- deeply and I still think about him every to their troubles with ues to haunt you… That I’ve not day, especially when I wear that coat. men and offer them a become a great stage actor, playing all solution… me! The unlike- The event that altered the course of the big Shakespearean roles. I’d give so The biggest regret you wish you could ly inter- your life and character… On a personal much to have another crack at Hamlet. amend… Failing to make it as a pro­ The pet hate that makes est that level, it’s the births of my children. Pro­ The philosophy that underpins your fessional footballer. I was captain of your hackles rise… engages fessionally, it was getting a place at the life… Come together. Love, peace and my school team in Salford and very Bad manners. Man­ your curiosity... I Central School Of Speech And Drama the destruction of all weaponry. committed, but I had a terrible first ners are an admission love the moon in all its phases. in London in 1983. It meant I could touch on the ball. Knowing I’d never that others have feelings. When it’s full, I howl and drink and leave Salford and fulfil my dream. The order of service at your funeral… play for Manchester United was the engage in pagan shenanigans. Everyone will dance to soul and funk, The person who has influenced you The song that means most to you… first great disappointment in my life. drink to the point of transcendence, most… My mum Elsie for her hard The piece of wisdom you would pass We Got To Have Peace by Curtis and hear stories about my life so they The temptation you wish you could work and curiosity. She’s 84 and the on to a child… Think of other people. Mayfield from 1971. The title says it resist… I find cigarettes particularly most loving person I’ve ever met. With­ can laugh at my clumsiness. The treasured item you lost and wish all. What else should we aspire to? hard to resist when I’m out drinking, out her and my dad, I’d be nothing. you could have again… The 12 years It’s politics that you can dance to. The way you want to be remembered… but I’m getting better. I want my children to believe in their The figure from history for whom you’d my father lost to dementia. It was The way you would spend your fantasy hearts that I was a good father. The book that holds an everlasting most like to buy a pie and a pint… Wil­ heartbreaking to see his suffering and 24 hours, with no travel restrictions… resonance… If This Is A Man, Primo liam Shakespeare. I’d ask if his plays I even wish he’d died before it began. I’d wake up with Albert and Esme The Plug… Christopher Eccleston stars Levi’s memoir about surviving were really written by the Earl of I’m a lot like him. He was fiery and sleeping beside me, then I’d read Spike in Anthony Burgess’s Oedipus The Auschwitz. He writes of starv­ Oxford and/or Francis Bacon, always confronted injustice. Milligan’s Badjelly The Witch to them. King tomorrow at 9pm on Radio 3. n ing prisoners sharing their as some people believe. The unending quest that drives you We’d go to Dunn’s Bakery As told to Rob McGibbon daily bread with each other The film you can on… To be a great dad to my children, in north London for fresh in order to retain their watch time and Albert, five, and Esme, three. croissants before flying to humanity, which the Nazis time again… my mum’s house in Salford sought to destroy. It’s The poem that touches your soul… Kes, direc­ for her spectacular chicken a masterpiece. The Song Of Wandering Aengus by ted by Ken WB Yeats – it expresses the quest for and leek pie. We’d be Loach. The joined there by my twin Right: David identity and self-realisation. Bradley as Billy protagonist, brothers Alan and Keith – with his kestrel Billy, was the first The misapprehension about yourself I’m 53 and they’re eight in the film Kes. character I saw who I could you wish you could erase… That I have years older than me – and Above right: identify with. The kestrel no sense of humour. their children. The kids croissants. Far right: a beach was his dream and my The crime you would commit knowing would play football on the by the ocean dreams were football, act­ you could get away with it… I’d help field where I played as a in Sri Lanka ing and self-expression. Donald Trump ‘disappear’. boy. Next Albert, Esme ures at

y, rex fe y, Next week PS... l Lady Carnarvon’s secrets en, alam ld o Gillian Anderson and Hugh Bonneville star in Viceroy’s House, from historic house parties a m r at Highclere – the real cla in cinemas Friday. Daniel Radcliffe returns to the stage in Downton Abbey – plus her a press/ er Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead at London’s Old favourite recipes l Monty s: cam h

p Don’s tips for top sweet peas a

ogr Vic today. And Ed Sheeran’s new album ÷ is out on Friday t l Britain’s best TV listings o h p

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