Anyway, the audition required me going to BBC Television Centre. There was a time when this building was my playground. During those heady days of light entertainment I was often running between green and blue assembly studios. That was decades ago, when three lines on The Dave Allen show paid your rent for a month. Last week I was as timid as a kitten, sitting there in reception. It was that first hot day of spring and, as if by magic, everybody employed in television centre was in perfect stylish summer attire. Girls with tans, flat stomachs and head sets rushed in and out of the lifts along with blokes in shorts with obligatory leather moccasons. | "In a radio station you are more likely to see staff in washed out logo'd fleeces than tiny, hundred percent linen halternecks. " | | JoAnne Good |
That's the biggest difference between radio and telly. Costume. In a radio station you are more likely to see staff in washed out logo'd fleeces than tiny, hundred percent linen halternecks. Dogs also appeared to be the "must have". Martin Freeman walked past with a miniature something or other as did Roger Moore. I then realised Paul O'Grady was recording in the building and it seems all of his guests share his love for lap dogs. I was handed two pages of script by a receptionist and told to wait before being called upstairs. Now, this is the most important part of an audition. It's the only time you get to familiarise yourself with the character and the lines. The trick is to almost learn the lines before you meet the panel. I think this is where I went wrong - that and the fact that I'd forgotten the glasses I'm convinced I don't really need. I was constantly distracted. First by the Welsh guy who reads the six O'clock news , who unusually is much taller than you'd think. He walked by and then so did Eamon Holmes! I immediately shot out of my seat and accosted him by telling him how much I enjoyed his autobiography that was being serialised in the press. Especially the bit about Anthea Turner. He was very charming and I was about to tell him how he'd once inteviewed me in 1988 when the call came from upstairs to join them. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. None of the big names were on the panel but I hadn't a clue of what I was reading. The script was not only unfamiliar but I couldn't see it without holding it 24 inches away from my eyes. So Ricky if you read this..I'm sorry...but if you reconsider....I'm great at improvising. May, 2006 | 
