to the extent it could have done. HOW DID YOU GET ON WITH CATHERINE SCHELL ? Catherine's sweet, one thing about that whole show is that if you've got a unit which, I suppose if you take into consideration everybody who worked on the show from the highest to the lowest, numbered about 70, it's a lot of people and there was very, very little upset or bit- ching or rowing going on. It was a very, very happy org- anisation which worked together very well. What went on behind the scenes and who called who, I don't know but, on the floor, it was very smooth. DID YOU GET MUCH CHANCE TO DEVELOP YOUR OWN CHARACTERS ? Oh yes, we all kept saying things and, indeed, we would try and change dialogue or add bits or subtract bits provided we didn't overstep the mark. Ultimately Freddie Freiberger, more than Gerry, seemed to be the one who said 'yay' or 'nay'. There was one big, big battle going on about the script "All That Glisters." I got zapped pretty early on and spent my time walking around like a zombie carrying a piece of rock. Martin was desperately unhappy about the whole script, he thought it was abso- lute rubbish, as indeed we all did. Freddie, once he saw the opposition, just became utterly entrenched and would give nothing at all - that was the greatest episode of the series, it was the most sci-fi type of story - that was going to stay and he would prove his point. Short of walking off the set, completely screwing the whole series up, there was nothing we could do about it. DID YOU SEE MUCH OF GERRY ANDERSON IN THE SECOND SEASON? He tended to be more background, I'd seen him around more	be actually sitting up on some platform at the other side of the studio and sometimes that went a little crazy and there was a bit of a delay. THE COMLOCKS HAD A BIG, THICK WIRE COMING OUT THE BACK, THAT OBVIOUSLY HAS TO GO BEHIND YOUR ARM OR SOMETHING. Well, it runs up your sleeve. The things we had clipped to our belts were just wooden things with a painted thing on it, it would have no functional parts at all, you just sort of mimed that sort of thing that Martin used to do, slightly give it a shake, make it look like we're swit- ching something. When it came in to the close-ups that you saw then they wired you up and with the wire up your arm. The same with the laser guns, they were plastic or wood, you just pointed it and they laid the laser beam on afterwards. WAS IT DIFFICULT TO REACT TO THAT SORT OF THING ? SAY YOU GET ZAPPED, DOES SOMEBODY SAY, "OK, TONY. . .RIGHT, YOU'RE HIT !" ? It varies. Some directors like to talk you through things it's no more difficult than doing any ordinary show - reactions to something where the camera's just on your face and you're reacting to, I don't know, somebody be- ing murdered. Some directors like to talk you through & say, "Now you see him put the thing round her throat, you're worried, should you call the police or should you try and get over." Other directors you can say, "Look just tell me what the scene is about and let me do the reactions and just photograph me." So, if you're being zapped, all you have to know is the timing of it, when do I get hit, when I get to the door, as I turn round at the door, or what ?
on the sets of "The Protectors", he took a back seat, or appeared to take a back seat. THE LANDAUS - DID THEY CONSIDER IT JUST ANOTHER JOB OR WERE THEY REALLY INVOLVED ? I think they were very involved. They were THE stars of the show and if it was a disaster it would be that much more difficult for them to work as actor and actress sub- sequently, whereas if the show became a big success and was acclaimed then they'd go up in the ratings and so their livelihoods and their careers were going to develop further. So it was very much in their own personal self interests to make the show work, plus the fact they're very professional. They always were there, turned up on time, knew the lines, didn't much about. One has worked with other people who, because they're the star, think that nothing moves without them, but there was nothing of that with Martin and Barbara. SO YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAD QUITE A BIT OF SAY IN THINGS ? I think they had, but how much and on what levels I'm not sure. I did say to Martin, who was quite upset about that particular episode, "Well, if you feel that strongly why don't you just refuse to do it ?" He said he found it very difficult to work like that, it would mean a whole unit standing around wondering what the hell was going to happen, the schedule would be put back, it would cost more money, ill feeling, so for the sake of one episode it really wasn't worth it. But there are actors who would do that. DID THE MECHANICAL FLOOR EFFECTS TAKE A LONG TIME TO SET UP ? No, on the whole it was pretty good. The one thing that used to take a little while were those little monitor sets, where he'd press a button and be patched through to somewhere and it would be a face on the screen. We'd	ONE THING ABOUT THE SECOND SEASON, THERE WAS MORE LOCATION WORK. . . . Yes, I personally don't recall being on anywhere else but in the studio, but I remember one episode, Freddie Jones was in it, and he was trying to beam Martin and Barbara & Nick somewhere and he got his calculations wrong and they wind up somewhere pre or post the battle of Bannockburn, and some of that was done outside in a wooded glade some- where. SEVERAL TIMES THERE WERE REAL ANIMALS ON THE SET, WAS THIS EVER A PROBLEM ? The only one I recall had a black panther and they ahd the whole of the set and a giant cage with the trainer there and the cameraman looking very worried as this beast seemingly leapt at him. They had a chimp, too, and it had to climb over my face and slobbered all over me - fairly disgusting. HOW CLOSE DID YOU COME TO A THIRD SEASON ? I don't know because those kind of decisions are economic decisions made by grey accountants in the back rooms. I think they quite literally look at balance sheets and say, "Well, we've got to get rid of five million pounds on the budget - now what can we chop ? Ah, yes - THAT !" WAS THE SERIES FINISHED ON FILM BEFORE ANY EPISODES WERE TRANSMITTED ? No, because that's the reason I got rid of my then Agent ! We were around August or September of '76, we started end of January and finished just before Christmas, when they began to be transmitted in Britain and, therefore I pres- ume, the States as well. The sort of remarks we got were that people were liking it and it was OK. WHAT WAS THE FAN SPIN-OFF ? One got followed round the Zoo and recognized everywhere. It was interesting, actually, because one could 'sus' out who the viewers were and they were teenagers on the whole.

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