Hello I'm Krestey Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1988 and the presenter was Sue Lawley. My cast away this week is an actor, a man who's forecast to be Britain's next big international star.

He first came to public attention as the decent but dashing Sergeant Guy Perrin in Television's jewel in the crown.

After that, on film, he played the dastardly Lord Errol in white mischief.

And most recently, back on television, he was the suave but misguided scientist Edward Forrester who

fathered in more ways than one a child which was half gorilla half man with a

name like a cavalier and a face like a noble Roman it's perhaps not surprising he's

become known as the thinking woman's crumpet he is Charles dance

Charles I only put that phrasing because I know it makes you cringe doesn't

it heaven's above what an introduction.

Well it doesn't make me cringe so much as it sort of leaves me quite cold now.

When it was first coined by a shrewd journalist, in fact, it amused me greatly and came as quite a surprise

because it's certainly not something that I'd ever thought of myself as before the jewel in the crown, which was my break as an actor.

I had played mostly rather peculiar or steer villainous characters I suppose on the stage.

And I'd never seen Guy Perron as a romantic lead.

He was just a very likable amusing character I was glad to be with for 18 months

and when people started using phrases like the thinking women's crump it was as I say mildly music.

But it was meant to be a compliment.

Yes indeed and I was very flattered we all have egos and it's nice to have them stroked from time to time

but you know one can't really take that sort of thing too seriously.

How good are you going to be at coping on the desert island?

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