Geoff Breton plays Ben Trotter
Tell me about Ben Trotter.
He's a very sensitive and artistic lad. He's striving to make sense
of the world around him and he gets all those frustrations that young
men have growing up.
Why is Ben so obsessed with Cicely?
She's like Adrian Mole's Pandora, the girl that you absolutely crave
but can't get because she seems to be on a higher ground than you and
no way would you be the one to get her!
How does the relationship between Ben, Philip and Doug change
over the course of the series?
At 15 they are best friends and they mock each other and they love
each other to pieces (of course they would never say that), but they're
a small gang of three best friends and they look out for each other
and protect each other against the bullies such as Harding and Culpepper.
They do start to grow apart but really it is all just another part
of growing up; you sometimes grow apart but you'll get back together
if the friendship is strong enough.
Do you think that today's teenagers aren't as involved in
politics as their counterparts in the Seventies?
Perhaps it seems like that, but although Ben and Philip hear about
what's going on in the world and they scratch the surface, they don't
really understand it fully.
There's a great exchange between the two of them: "Er, what's Nixon
done?" "Watergate." "Yeah, but what's Watergate?" "I dunno."
They are more interested in music and personal things that really touch
them, just like teenagers today.
What was your favourite day on set?
There was a wonderful day when we were doing a sports scene. We were
all given these wonderful period Y-fronts and very tight Seventies blue
tracksuit bottoms and jackets with the white stripes on the side.
We all looked very Village People, so we launched out of the wardrobe
van in our tracksuits, trotting along in time to YMCA to a large round
of applause from the rest of the crew.
Do you have anything else coming up?
I have just started my second year at the Drama Centre London and
am very eager to stay on there and carry on my training.
I've just been really lucky to do something like this in the holidays.
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