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Q1. How did you get involved with the series? A. It was all rather fortunate, as a lot of job offers can be in this industry. A friend of mine, who was quite successful in television in the late 90’s/early 00’s had asked me whether I’d had a meeting for the Auf Wiedersehen, Pet revival. Several of her friends had been, but she rang me as she thought I’d be perfect for it. At that time I had only been out of drama school for a couple of years and I’d only been involved with stage work and musicals. After speaking with my agent it became apparent there was a role for a twenty something actor who could sing. Having a prominent nose would prove to be highly beneficial...... Q2. What were your favourite memories from filming, do you have any funny stories? A. The budget on AWP3 was significant. So the costume department didn’t have as much accountability for spend as they do now. At that time there were just the two BBC channels so the budget wasn’t spread as thinly as it is now. For a character like Rod, who had 3 or 4 prominent scenes, to get a couple of days shopping for threads with the costume department would be unheard of now. So that, as a 22 year old actor who didn’t have a pot to piss in, was a proper day out. Three pairs of trainers, three pairs of decent jeans and a full array of shirts and jackets from Duffer St George (proper 00’s clobber) was a decent haul, and I got to keep what I wanted after I’d finished! I remember one afternoon, all the main gang (at least, all the boys who watched me perform in the club- Tim, Pat, Kevin, Noel and Jimmy) were all sat outside on a break. Pat’s character always came across as a gentle giant, softly spoken, always a voice of reason. But that afternoon sat listening to them all chat, Pat was the one regaling story after story of his wrestling career, holding court. Nobody could get a word in edgeways. Q3. How long did you spend filming? We think all or most of your scenes were filmed in and around London? A. I had about five days in total. I can’t for the life of me remember where. The club was in Ladbroke Grove. The fight was somewhere in West London, and the bar reunion with Jimmy, absolutely no idea! Q4. Being from the North East, had you seen the original Series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet? Were you a fan? Family watched it etc? A. It was huge wasn’t it? I mean massive. Being from the north east I think that whole generation had been greatly influenced by the two original series. With Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and later Spender, it really brought the spotlight onto the area. As I said before, with only terrestrial channels, viewing figures were huge for a series like Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Was it something like 15M viewers for the series I was in? 15M viewers all sat at home on a Sunday night watching it as it aired. The exposure was hugely significant for a young actor. Without Auf Wiedersehen, Pet I would never have had a ‘northeast actor’ tag and therefore unlikely to have got 55 Degrees North two years later and indeed the career I’ve had. Q5. Had you acted alongside any of the cast before?, (Mentioned above that it was one of Mark’s first acting job) and since filming back in 2001? A. The read through was so daunting. My first television job. My first television read through, sat round a huge table with every department for the series, make up, costume, producers, actors. All these actors that everyone, and I mean everyone, knew. And me! I workshopped Sting’s musical ‘The Last Ship’ with Jimmy a couple of years ago, and I’ve done some radio with Kevin, but other than that I’ve not worked with any of the others in the cast. I got to know Joe Renton (who was in the series with me) relatively well afterwards, and spent I bit of time with him socially for a few years. It was a shock and very saddening to hear of his passing at the start of this year. Working on TV drama is a case of starting a new job every time. New friends, new colleagues. You become good friends whilst you’re on the job. Spending time away from home, in each other’s pockets for the filming schedule. And when it finishes you move on and try your best to keep in touch but the friendships always drift after time, as you’re constantly moving on to the next ‘new’ family, so it can be tough to make the time for each other. It’s always nice to bump into Liz White or Noel Clarke around town. Q6. According to IMDb, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was one of your first acting jobs. Were you a fan of any of the cast, looked up to them, got any tips from them? A. I was too scared to speak to them never mind asking for tips! Q7. You must have had fun acting with Jimmy who was one of the stand out characters of the whole series? Any favourite moments? A. Honestly, without Jimmy I’d have been a wreck. We did the club scenes where I performed the Dusty numbers in a proper dingy club under the flyover in Ladbroke Grove. The extras that the production got in were mostly comfortable with that kind of club shall we say! So it was so daunting for me, particularly at that time and at that age to do those songs in that get up, to a crowd of people that could all do it as well! Jimmy came down onto set when the cameras were on me, to talk me through it and make me feel comfortable to perform. I look back now and feel mortified that the director and camera crew had to deal with me being so nervous. We recorded the tracks separately with Jimmy and a music producer after the filming had finished. Jimmy doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his musicality. Yes he’s had hit songs and big selling albums but I don’t think people realise how gifted he is. Really gifted. Perfect pitch. The ear to assist the production of the tracks effortlessly. It was amazing to be a part of that day’s recording. Q8. Did you take any pictures of the filming? If so please share! A. It was before the convenience (or inconvenience....!) of camera phones so for a young actor to turn up on set with a big camera would have been a bit punchy, so no I haven’t!!! Q9. In recent times you’ve starred in Line of Duty, Vera, Moving On. What’s in the pipeline? A. I’ve just finished filming a series called ‘Clink’ for Channel 5, and a film called Muscle, directed by Gerard Johnson (‘Tony’ and ‘Hyena’) that’s hopefully going to be at the big film festivals this year. We actually shot that in and around Gateshead and Newcastle last year. It’s dark. Really dark. And really funny. But dark! One that the kids won’t be watching! Or the mother..... The official Fansite would like to thank Mark Stobbart for taking the time to answer questions on his time on Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. You can follow Mark on Twitter and Instagram! © The text & images are copyright awpet.com and are not to be used or copied without permission.