“The worst day of my life wasn’t when your dad died but when I had to put him in that home.”

• 09.17.2019

This morning, Chris was on BBC Radio 2 to speak about his memoirs coming out on this Thursday. Here's a resume of what has been said during this interview:

• Chris said how his father was someone who had troubles to express his feelings but he could read all of them through his mother who is very expressive.
• His father was the one who introduced him to the art of language.
• The radio is an important media to him because when the television didn’t exist, people gathered around radio sets.
• He loves the song What Difference Does It Makes? by The Smiths that was on the soundtrack of Our Friends in the North.
• The title of his memoirs comes from a sentence his father was always saying to him. He added that at that moment, his father knew that one day, he wouldn’t recognise his son.
• His mother was doing the caring since his father wasn’t expressing his feelings easily.
• He quoted his mother: “The worst day of my life wasn’t when your dad died but when I had to put him in that home.”
• It was weird to him to act this experience of losing someone in Our Friends in the North and to really go through it years later. He shares it all in the book.
• He admitted that he was ashamed of his mental health issues back then. Today, he hopes that him speaking up takes that shame away so people can speak more easily. He feels better not to carry this secret anymore.
• He said that the pressure was more on women and how they are idealised but in the 80s, the men’s bodies were going through the same.
• He hopes that the third series of The A Word will be out around February. His character, Maurice Scott, is an homage to Peter Flannery, the producer of Our Friends in the North.
• The A Word is creating a platform for people with mental disabilities and Maurice is a gift.

xxx

Listen to the interview (around 2:05:00)