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Eyes
Down - Neil
Fitzmaurice is Bobby
"I
play Bobby Rutt, who is the maintenance man in the bingo hall. So
he fixes all the fruit machines and the bingo machines - if anything
goes wrong, he's on hand to sort it out. That's his official job."
Neil
Fitzmaurice pauses, smiles and reveals: "His unofficial job
is that he's a gigolo who basically beds as much as he can as quickly
as he can.
"He's
a kebab munching, beer swilling, woman-bedding alpha male. That's
what his life really revolves around.
"Paul
O'Grady's character, Ray, really doesn't like Bobby. He doesn't
like him fraternising with the punters and just wants him out.
"There
is a definite hate-hate relationship. He's constantly trying to
trip Bobby up, but Bobby more than gives as good as he gets.
"Bobby
also has an ongoing dalliance with Pamela, whom he regularly services,"
Neil continues.
"Ray
knows about it but he can't prove it, and he's desperately trying
to get it out in the open so Bobby can be sacked.
"When
not servicing Pamela, Bobby acts as Martin's mentor, which is possibly
the worst thing that can happen.
"Martin
is so struck by Christine and is so inexperienced in the ways of
love that Martin offers him his advice and experience.
"They're
two completely different people - Bobby, for all his flaws, always
has something up his sleeves, whereas Martin is just a Mummy's boy
who's never going to do it.
"They
make an unlikely partnership."
Neil
is no stranger to comedy: not only did he spend over four years
as a stand-up comedian, he is also the co-writer of the multi-award
winning That Peter Kay Thing and Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights.
He
stresses that Angela Clarke's scripts are really brave: "It
is cruel at times, but then life is cruel and the best comedy comes
from tragedy.
"While
reading the scripts, there were times when I winced and said, 'Oh
my God, did she really say that?' But it's funny - really funny."
Not
only does Neil praise the scripts, he's also full of admiration
for the cast of Eyes Down, with whom he's relished working.
"They're
all very disciplined and professional, and we work off each other
so well.
"The
characters are so developed that they're a joy to play. Every-one's
belting.
"In
fact, we're having such fun that rehearsals often have to be stopped
because everyone's crying with laughter.
"It's
not just the dialogue, it's the looks we have to give each other.
All it takes is for one person to crack up and we all collapse."
Having
survived four and a half years as a stand-up comedian, performing
in front of live audiences is all in a day's work for Neil.
"You
get used to performing in front of audiences, but you never stop
being nervous. You learn to block it off and you know instinctively
to raise your game.
"If
you don't tell a gag properly or you don't get your timing right,
the audience lets you know one way
or another. And when it is told right, it goes down a storm.
"The
audience acts as your barometer - they let you know exactly how
you're getting on. It's a great climax to perform in front of the
audience."
Indeed,
it was during his career as a stand-up comedian that Neil came into
contact with Peter Kay.
"Peter
and I entered the BBC New Comedy Awards. We were joint winners of
the North West heat and both of us went to the final in Edinburgh.
"That's
how we started working together and became friends. We share a lot
of the same interests and favourite comedies.
"That
year, Peter won So You Think You're Funny for Channel 4. Part of
his prize was a half-hour comedy pilot, and he wrote a thing called
The Services. I chipped in some of the material and I played a little
part in it.
"The
Services went down very well, and from that Peter was commissioned
to do six half hour comedies," Neil continues.
"Peter
asked me and Dave Spikey to help him write the six half hour comedy
documentaries, which were later called That Peter Kay Thing.
"We
won the British Comedy Awards, which opened a lot of doors for us.
"One
of the episodes of That Peter Kay Thing was called In The Club,
and it was set in The Phoenix Club. When we were commissioned to
do another series, we decided that that was the best one to expand
because of the strength of the characters. That's how it was born.
"We
only said we'd do two series of Phoenix Nights, but the second series
went so well that, time permitting, we'll do another one.
"But
Peter's busy, I'm busy and Dave's busy. Success breeds that - it's
very hard to get three people in a room together. We'll wait and
see.
"I'd
love to do another one. But if we don't, I'm extremely proud of
what we came up with. It did incredible things.
"I
love writing it, and I really enjoy playing the dodgy DJ Ray Von.
I'm so fond of the characters: they all depend on each other - singularly
they're useless, but together they are a little bit of a family.
As such, there are real parallels with Eyes Down."
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