‘Rod Osborne.....’
To celebrate 17 years of Series 3, we have an exclusive
interview with Mark Stobbart who played Rod Osborne in
this series. Mark has not only agreed to answer questions,
but has also kindly donated his scripts used during filming to
help build a better picture of what was filmed and what was
not used. We ask mark how he first got involved with the
show, if he’d worked with the cast previously and he also tells
us how Jimmy Nail who played his on screen father Oz,
stopped him being a nervous wreck!
Copyright: Images, articles and text are copyright awpet.com.
Acknowledgement: Mark Stobbart
Site Release Date: April 28th 2019
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Auf Wiedersehen, Pet 1983 - 2019
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!
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and are not to be used or copied without
permission.