MY TV LIFE Richard Strange

Richard, 70, has appeared in Gangs Of New York and Tim Burton’s Batman. He found fame as the frontman of 1970s art rock band Doctors Of Madness

What was your first TV memory?

The arrival of the first rented TV set at our house in Tooting in 1956 or 57. It looked more like a piece of furniture than a doorway to an exotic world. It had wooden doors and an antenna aerial – the reception was never good. We got it for the Cup Final.

Who was your first TV crush?

A French pop star called Francoise Hardy on Ready Steady Go – the cutest, most elegant erotic vision I’ve ever seen in my life. It was total love and remains so, even to this day.

What was your first TV appearance?

With Doctors Of Madness on The Twiggy Show on the BBC in 1975. I was 24 and a 6ft 4in stick insect with blue hair. Then I sang a duet with Twiggy – talk about Beauty and The Beast! In 1981

I was banned from the BBC for life for swearing on Pebble Mill.

What is your favourite current show?

I’m catching up with Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, the Adam Curtis six-parter which is dark and complex, a compelling new narrative of history. I love it!

Which TV show would you take to a desert island?

All of Nick Bloomfield’s documentaries. I’ve always admired his tenacity and his air of shambolic naivety.

What TV show would you like to put out of its misery?

Question Time which has out-stayed its welcome and become like a soapbox.

Guiltiest TV pleasure?

I’m a sucker for cookery programmes and also for spending five days in front of the telly watching a Test Match.

What are you up to at the moment?

I have a new updated audiobook version of my autobiography, and a new Doctors Of Madness album, Dark Times. Our single, Walk Of Shame guest-starring Joe Elliott from Def Leppard, is also out now.

● Strange: Punks And Drunks And Flicks And Kicks is now available as an expanded audiobook via bandcamp.com