I tell this tale over and over again, I think most friends and relatives have heard it at least three times by now. Still, my Dad kindly laughs every time he hears it. Mrs Sciencebase just rolls her eyes…and not in a good way.
Anyway, we were on a camping trip to one of our favourite spots, Stiffkey, on the proper North Norfolk coast. It’s pronounced Stoo-kee by the locals although incomers and posh residents prefer it to be pronounced as it’s spelled. We were pitched just around the corner from the Red Lion pub, on the High Sands Creek campsite, where a couple of years later myself and artist friend Rog would almost drown trying to get that last rising tide photo. So, supping a Stiffkey Brew or too, erstwhile backing singer with my band C5, Jo, says, Oh look it’s that actor!
We all turned in concert to look where she was looking. Thankfully said actor had his head buried in his iPad and didn’t notice our less than discrete mass manoeuvres. That’s not just any old actor, Jo, I whispered loudly, that’s David Bradley, you know the guy who plays Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films?
Really? the others asked surprised. So, up I get, leaving my brew on the table, and head over to say hello to my namesake. Excuse me, I say, I’m David Bradley, just thought, I’d say hello to the more famous David Bradley. The far more famous DB stands up grabs my hand to shake it, looks me squarely in the eye and says, I know you, I’ve got your book! I was shocked, we both laughed, we didn’t do a selfie, proper famous people didn’t do selfies back then. But, I asked, might I have your autograph, it seemed the right thing to do. Certainly, of course, yes…but…only if I can have yours, David Bradley says to me.
So, we swapped autographs, said “tara”, like fellow Northerners do, and I went back to my friends waiting expectantly at our table with their brews (I think the ladies were drinking Hendricks G&Ts with slices of cucumber). I tell the tale, show them the autograph and they’re all fairly well stunned and pleased that I’d had a celeb encounter of that kind. I could almost hear Mrs _Sciencebase’s eyeballs rolling in their sockets in anticipation of years of repeated anecdote.
I should’ve asked him though whether, having had a copy of my book Deceived Wisdom, whether he’d read it or enjoyed it or even both. I doubt he’s the sort of fellow who posts on Amazon, and even if he did, there are so many other David Bradleys out there how would I know which…
David Bradley the actor is probably best known for his roles as Filch in the Harry Potter films, as William Hartnell in the Doctor Who biopic he plays alongside Brian Cox as TV producer Sydney Newman in An adventure in space and time. He’s also Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, he’s in both Hot Fuzz and The World’s End. Plays Jack Marshall in Broadchurch, he was Eddie Wells in Our friends in the north. Have a look at his IMDB page, he’s done masses. Not to be confused with Dai Bradley (formerly David Bradley) who plays Billy in Kes.
There’s an odd antefootnote to this tale. Before Mrs Sciencebase was Mrs and before Sciencebase even existed. She went with friends to Stratford-upon-Avon to see the RSC (not that one, the other one) performing Doctor Faustus with David Bradley as , Mephistopheles. They’d all had tickets in advance, I tagged along for the ride, but did a walking tour of the town while they watched the play.
So, second encounter with a David Bradley from the RSC after this DB from the RSC for the pre-Mrs Sciencebase.