From soap star to gun-toting nasty in the gold rush
Erik Thomson has had lots of fun wearing a new hat, says David Stephenson
YOU MIGHT recognise Erik Thomson from BBC One’s New Zealand daytime soap 800Words. Thomson played George, a widower from Sydney who drifted across the Tasman Sea for a new life with his two children. A newspaper columnist, hence the “800 Words”, he appeared to enthrall the female population of the small coastal town ofweld, something that can’t have been based on his surfing technique. He’s still down under, and still on BBC One, but as a very different character in gold rush drama The Luminaries – undesirable Dick Mannering’s approach to women is very 19th century.
“He’s a very different character from George in 800Words,” he tells me from Australia. “He’s the resident, gun-toting whore-monger! He represents what happened then around gold rush towns like this, with a swathe of diggers spending their money in this fashion, but Dick is really just a bit of a gangster who runs a gaggle of women through various hotels and bars. I relished the opportunity of putting on the guns and riding the wagons around!”
He was also keen to take part because of the reputation of Eleanor Catton’s Luminaries as a book. “I was born in Scotland, but brought up in New Zealand and it’s a Booker prize-winning Kiwi novel and I was just thrilled to be part of a BBC drama.they’re really well-regarded in this part of the world, so that was the main attraction.and the period and everything else was so far away from anything I’d done before.”
The set, he reveals, was created for the show. “The whole town was put up from scratch. It was amazing and really helped with the performance. Fans of 800 Words might also recognise the black sandy bay on the West Coast that was used. Director Jane Campion also filmed it in the famous New Zealand film The Piano 25 years ago.”
Thomson is a fan of other atmospheric gold rush dramas. “Deadwood was certainly a reference for me. Having things that you can create a reality around is important so the audience can just dive right into it.
“I think people also love a good epic, romantic, lyrical period drama that the BBC do so well, so to shoot one in our backyard was a real special opportunity.”
Now 53, Erik left his native Inverness in 1974 when he was seven and his family emigrated. Initially, it wasn’t a blissful experience. “I felt a bit of an outsider really,” he says. “I was bullied and teased at school there for my Scottish accent. But the thing I soon realised was that no one could give me a hard time when I was performing in plays because it was all under supervision. So it really got me into acting and storytelling. I went on then to do a BA in English Literature, and then drama school.that was 30 years ago and I never looked back. I’ve been working solidly since.”
The comedy-drama 800Words ran for three series and 40 episodes. “It was shot in and around the town ofwarkworth in New Zealand, near the east coast. So we used to go to and fro fromwest to East coast during shooting.at that point, there is only 25 kilometres from coast to coast.”
But there’s little hope of the series returning. “No, I’m afraid it’s all done and dusted,” he says. “Finished shooting in 2017. It’s sad but we kind of felt that the story had been told. But you never know in these times. It does seem to have been pretty popular. But I would love to go back and see what happened to those characters.”
Britain is showing a record amount of Aussie and New Zealand drama because of a global shortage of TV. “It’s great really. I think people are looking for something different.there’s a lot of content that they might not have seen because there’s nothing being made in the UK or the US and we’re now back in production here.
“In New Zealand, they’re finishing off the Avatar film, and the Lord Of The Rings TV series for Amazon – expect to see a lot coming your way into the next 12 months.”
IS THERE an escapist appeal? “There is that, too – an exotic thing. But we’re all from the same stock. European immigrants to this part of the world are mostly from Britain. It’s a long way to come to New Zealand and Australia, so it’s on people’s bucket lists.that was the great thing about the British reaction to 800Words.they said it was a great opportunity to see a different part of the world, and get lost in its charm, and I think a major reason for the interest in down under shows.”
Erik gets back to Scotland as often as he can with his family. “Fortunately, I managed to take my family back a couple of years ago. My mum’s from the Shetland Islands so we went to visit that side of the family and Dad is from Fife, near St Andrews, so we went there too.we also got to the Highlands.we had intended to come this summer too, but Covid put an end to that.”
His Luminaries’ character has a Scottish accent. “My father was a fisherman’s son, and as with a lot of places in England and Scotland, you have local dialects. In Scotland there is an educated Edinburgh accent which is almost posh Scottish. I went for something like that, because my father spoke like that. It was an affected Scottish accent, but I was aware that this show was going to be watched by my family in Fife and fortunately they’ve been in touch to say that I’ve done a reasonably good job so far!”
Erik is recognised for all sorts of reasons now. “I did get spotted for 800 Words when I was last in the UK,” he says. “But generally that thing is a bit weird. I did a show in Australia called Packed To The Rafters, and people often mention that. But because I’ve been around for 25-30 years people come up to you all the time. Some people have got no reason at all why they recognise you. It’s just one of the side effects of being around a long time. Sometimes I think they recognise you because you have failed to go away!”
●