Family
Business - Trevor Peacock plays Arthur Brooker
 Trevor
Peacock may be best known as the bumbling old Jim Trott in the hit
comedy The Vicar of Dibley, but he's nothing like this alter ego.
His
TV career has spanned five decades, while he has also enjoyed a
less-known, but equally successful, career as a composer.
Indeed,
Trevor is credited with writing many tunes that graced the hit parade
at the very beginning of British pop.
"Me
and my mate Jack Good co-discovered these fellows called Cliff Richard
and Adam Faith," laughs Peacock. "And we laboriously taught
them how to sing and gyrate!"
Trevor
has even written a song that became a number one hit in America,
out-selling a certain King of Rock 'n' Roll, and went on to sell
14 million copies worldwide.
"Herman's
Hermits were supposed to be the biggest thing in the world then
and Mickey Most the great producer needed a song to complete their
album. I gave them 'Mrs Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter' which
I wrote for a play I was in with Tom Courtney. The American kids
demanded that the song be released as a single and it went on to
knock Elvis off the top spot!
"I
used to write for all sorts of people but it wasn't my world, I
couldn't play an instrument and all I wanted to do was become a
legitimate actor."
Trevor
puts most of his musical talent down to his upbringing in the church
where his father was an evangelical preacher in Tottenham.
He
spent a lot of his youth attending Sunday school and Bible class
and he feels that all this sparked off his love of performing.
"I
used to put on shows in the streets during the blitz," explains
Peacock.
"The
local papers would print stories like 'Trevor Peacock and his gang
have made yet another one and nine pence for the Red Cross effort'.
"I
think I learnt to perform from my time at church because it has
similarities to the theatre - it too has a stage and an audience."
In
Family Business Trevor plays Arthur Brooker, father to Marky, grandfather
to James and Lauren, and husband to Iris.
The
series starts at a point of change for the whole Brooker family.
Marky has taken over the family building firm and has grand designs
on keeping the family close to him by moving them all under one
roof.
"Arthur
started a family and a business in the East End and now that he
has retired he hasn't got much to do because all he knows about
is building, while his family are all grown up.
"He
is a traditional family man, so when his son says, 'If you sell
your bungalow and we sell our semi, we will buy a house in Hertfordshire',
Arthur goes along with it.
"Initially
he loves being so close to his family but they all reach a crossroads
at the same time and you see all the difficulties for all three
generations when suddenly their lives change so much."
The
major change to the Brookers is the disappearance of Marky's son,
James. This sparks a chain of events that make the whole family
reassess their priorities.
"Arthur
is 70 and loves his family, West Ham United and a few pints in the
pub, but they all have to find a new way of living with, and relating
to, one another.
"His
wife, Iris, still wants adventure and to start a new chapter in
their life. She tries to get him to go out more; go to the Globe
Theatre and the like and he just thinks she's a cheeky mare!
"But
then he realises she is right; if you want another couple of chapters
in your life, you have to invest and find them.
"He
is rather pathetic and nearly bursts into tears because he thinks
'Where will I start to give her adventures?' but then they start
to experiment, even in the bedroom!"
Thanks
to the success of The Vicar of Dibley in the States, Jim is becoming
re-acquainted with his fan-base of the Sixties.
"Kids
write to me from all over the world, including people from America
who love the series.
"When
I was a kid I loved the Crazy Gang and I wrote to them asking for
signed photographs. They sent me these huge black and white photographs
so I thought they must be my personal friends now.
"I
wrote notes on all their scenes and how they could improve their
comedy - I think I was only eight!
"Because
of this I can't bear to not write back to these kids who take the
time to write to me so I always reply to them."
But
sometimes the fans go to extraordinary lengths to meet their hero.
"Once
some Americans actually turned up in their big cars at my house
and said 'We are here for tea!'. That was a bit of a shock!"
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