An Evening With Oscar Wilde (and a Certain Rob Titchener)
Cotswold Life|May 2017

Timothy Watson is the gorgeous-voiced actor who’ll be appearing at Chipping Campden Literature Festival this month. He’s a familiar figure from film, from TV screens and theatre, and from Radio 4 plays. And Katie Jarvis might just get round to asking him about his most famous role to date – as the Archers’ arch-villain, Rob Titchener.

Katie Jarvis
An Evening With Oscar Wilde (and a Certain Rob Titchener)

Timothy Watson has one of those – oomph! - gorgeously distinctive voices that stops you in your tracks. (Well, me in mine, anyhow.) Could be you’ve heard him doing a Radio 4 play; could be on a video game (the role-call of stars on video games is stellar – scroll to the credits and be amazed). Could be on film, stage or TV.

Or it could just be you’ve heard him playing the Archers’ arch-enemy *cue booing* Rob Titchener.

Aha! The dreaded Rob Titchener. Hold that thought.

Right at this moment, his voice is having an effect on me. And on Stanley, too.

“I’ll lower my voice,” Tim says, discreetly, as over the phone-waves comes the sound of impatient barking.

Stanley is an eight-week-old whippet, who has brought to the Watson household (Tim, Helen, plus children aged six and 12) the kind of unalloyed joy Archers fans felt when they heard that woman-abuser Rob Titchener was finally buzzing off to the States. (The States? No comment.)

“My wife [the actress Helen Grace] was begging to get a cat; we had two who’ve both passed. I said, ‘If there’s to be another pet, it has to be a dog!’; so we’ve compromised in as much as a whippet is as like a cat as a dog can be. They just want to snuggle up on the sofa.”

Err. Aren’t they pretty nippy, though, too? “I’m already getting tiny glimpses of the turn of speed and bursts of acceleration,” he says, ruefully.

Their older dog, Biddy, (the two are collectively known as the Baxters. Clearly.) is the best natured Labradoodle in the world. “Her favourite thing is to go down to the beach at West Wittering and to find another running dog – a whippet or a greyhound – and just set off until she can’t keep up.

“So we got Stanley to try and keep her fit and well for as long as possible.”

Denne historien er fra May 2017-utgaven av Cotswold Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra May 2017-utgaven av Cotswold Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA COTSWOLD LIFESe alt
Gloucestershire After The War
Cotswold Life

Gloucestershire After The War

Discovering the county’s Arts and Crafts memorials of the First World War

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
THE WILD SIDE OF Moreton-in-Marsh
Cotswold Life

THE WILD SIDE OF Moreton-in-Marsh

The days are getting shorter but there’s plenty of reasons to be cheerful, says Sue Bradley, who discovers how a Cotswolds town is becoming more wildlife-friendly and pots up some bulbs for an insect-friendly spring display

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2020
Mr Ashbee would approve
Cotswold Life

Mr Ashbee would approve

In the true spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement, creativity has kept the Chipping Campden community ticking over during lockdown

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2020
The Cotswolds at war
Cotswold Life

The Cotswolds at war

These might be peaceful hills and vales, but our contribution to the war effort was considerable

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2020
Trust in good, local food
Cotswold Life

Trust in good, local food

‘I’ve been following The Country Food Trust’s activities with admiration since it was founded’

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
Why Cath is an open book
Cotswold Life

Why Cath is an open book

Cath Kidston has opened up almost every nook and cranny of her Cotswold idyll in a new book, A Place Called Home. Katie Jarvis spoke to Cath ahead of her appearance at this year’s Stroud Book Festival STROUD BOOK FESTIVAL – THIS YEAR FREE AND ONLINE: NOVEMBER 4-8

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2020
From the Cotswolds to the world
Cotswold Life

From the Cotswolds to the world

Most people know that the Cotswolds have featured in a fair few Hollywood movies and TV series.

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
The Wild Hunt
Cotswold Life

The Wild Hunt

In search of the legendary King Herla in the Malvern Hills

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
Fighting spirit amid the flowers
Cotswold Life

Fighting spirit amid the flowers

Tracy Spiers visits Warwick, a beautiful town that is open for business and ready to welcome visitors

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2020
Final journey
Cotswold Life

Final journey

Cheltenham author and volunteer on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR), Nicolas Wheatley, recounts the fascinating story of funeral trains

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020