Hello I'm Kestey 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 1996 and the presenter was Sue Lolly. My castaway this week is an actor, a shy rather solitary boy from a remote part of Northumbria.

The theatre was said to be in the family genes, but lacking encouragement to head for the

professional stage he trained as an accountant. A year before qualifying he quit, enrolled

at drama school instead and paid for himself by busking at Oxford Circus.

It was a bold but inspired decision after After a long apprenticeship in Rep, ten years ago he began to make his name in television.

First as Neville, the carpenter who missed his missus in our feeder's own pet,

three years later as the dependable Sergeant Lewis to John

Thors Morse and in the 90s as the dynamic Dr. Jack Karouche in peak practice,

three of the most successful series in recent television history.

Acting is a refuge from reality he says and it's also a therapy for being shy.

He is Kevin Wakeley.

So you hide do you Kevin behind the characters you inhabit? I think I do I do it

less now than I used to when I was younger I didn't have any time for my own

character at all and the acting was a sort of release for me.

So does that mean as a shy person, which you say you are,

you enjoy playing more dynamic roles

because you sort of try being somebody you're not really?

Definitely, yeah, yeah.

I'm not lacking in energy, I do put a lot of energy into my work, but I'm a fairly

laid back easy person and I like playing more dynamic characters.

...