Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
SAVE THE MAGIC DRAGON
Bungling wizards, an unlikely heroine, amazing special effects... Ricky Tomlinson on his new fantasy film – and how he misses Royle Family co-star Caroline Aherne
Ricky Tomlinson’s emotional today. One minute he’s cackling his head off as he reels off joke after joke like a stand-up comic on steroids. The next he’s gone all wistful and nostalgic, before he turns decidedly maudlin and a little teary.
It’s the thought of Christmas that’s set him off. For years, he was a mainstay of Christmas Day television in his role as armchair-hogging Jim in The Royle Family. This year he’s back in a mind-blowing new fantasy film called The Last Dragonslayer, but there’ll be no Royle Family because there’s no Caroline Aherne after the actress, who played Jim’s daughter Denise, died aged 52 from cancer earlier this year.
‘I do think about Caroline a lot,’ he says. ‘And I’ll be thinking about her on Christmas Day. That scene where she had her baby on Christmas Day meant so much to me because my only daughter Katie was born that day too.’ He’s talking about the tear-jerking 1999 Christmas special, in which Denise goes into labour in the bathroom and Jim ends up comforting her when she confesses she’s terrified she won’t make a good mother. ‘I still remember when we filmed it, everyone had tears in their eyes,’ recalls Ricky, getting a little teary himself. He knew Caroline was ill but didn’t know how ill she was. She kept the severity of her lung cancer so secret even most of her family didn’t know.
‘She was tremendous,’ he sighs. ‘I mean I know everyone says nice things about people when they die but she was great. We’d finish work on a Friday and she’d have half-a-dozen cans of Sainsbury’s mild lager for me and the technical lads. There’d be a bottle of champagne for Sue Johnston and a lottery ticket for everyone. Every single week.
‘We had a ball, we were like family. I still get 50 people a day shouting
Ricky as Moobin, with Jennifer Strange and Lady Mawgon Jim’s catchphrase, “My a**e!”, at me as I walk down the road. People say, “Don’t you get fed up with it?” and I say, “No, I do not.” It means they’ve enjoyed the character. And I know people will be exactly the same with this.’
‘This’ is his new Christmas Day show, Sky 1’s ambitious one-off film The Last Dragonslayer, based on the bestselling book series by Jasper Fforde. It’s set in a magical world where His Royal Wondrousness King Snodd has decided that modern technology is more interesting than magic, so wizarding is dying out. Moobin, played by Ricky, is one of the old breed of wizards, but his magic isn’t as powerful as it once was. He’s an odd-job man but even a spot of electrical rewiring can end in disaster with the house being turned upside down. Literally. ‘It’s more or less me playing myself,’ laughs Ricky. But then he takes an orphan called Jennifer Strange, played by newcomer Ellise Chapel, under his wing. She learns she’s the last dragonslayer in the kingdom, but the only problem is she believes in animal rights and doesn’t want to slay any dragons. Made by the company behind The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the film boasts a starry cast including Pauline Collins as imperious wizardess Lady Mawgon, Game Of Thrones actor John Bradley as Jennifer’s friend Gordon and Richard E Grant as Maltcaisson, the last of the dragons and the source of all the magic that’s left in the world.
Jasper Fforde wrote The Last Dragonslayer nearly 20 years ago, but it was turned down by 19 publishers as it was ostensibly too similar to a certain other children’s tale about wizards. When it was finally published in 2010, it was snapped up by film-makers.
Ricky says he’s excited to be in a show the whole family can watch. ‘This might sound corny but I was delighted to be asked to do it. I’m 77 now but I love kids and I think this is perfect for kids on Christmas Day. I love the BBC but I hope this wipes the floor with all the other channels.
‘It’s got romance. It’s got excitement. It’s got dragons. It’s got the lot. There’s too much reality stuff on TV these days. The world’s a pretty horrible place at the moment so let’s give our kids what we can while we can. Let them go into a fantasy world!
‘Christmas is wonderful. Our house is always like Euston station; there are that many people you’re lucky if you can find a chair. We’ve got five grandchildren and all the neighbours’ kids come over. It’s great – and we’ll all be sitting down to watch this.’
The film was made partly with the help of CGI, and it was the first time Ricky has encountered such a thing. ‘I’m not joking when I tell you I’ve only just learned how to send a text,’ he chuckles. ‘But I’m looking forward to seeing how this comes together. Most of the time our director was working with toy dragons. He’d get out pictures on his phone and say, “It will be like this”. But it’s only now, after I’ve seen a few scenes, that I understand what he was talking about. The special effects are unbelievable.’
He looks serious once again. ‘I don’t want to get too deep but when you think about all the poor kids in the world who have nothing, it makes you want to make your children happier. Makes you want to hug them closer. Christmas is all about children isn’t it? The birth of a child.’
And just for a second he’s quiet.
The Last Dragonslayer will be on Christmas Day at 5.45pm on Sky 1.
‘Romance, excitement, dragons, it’s got the lot’