I'm Alan Alder and this is Clear and Vivid. Conversations about connecting and communicating.

I remember being maybe three or four years old and some friend of the family came and said

to me as a four year old, so young man, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I said actor and my dad said it's pronounced doctor. He denies it but my mom was there so she's

my witness. So you know my passion to be involved in this world was there from a really early age

but there was no real support, there was no route that I could see through to it and that came

through after having some life experience and I'm very grateful to the camera that way round I think.

That's Sanjeev Baskar. An actor better known in the United Kingdom than the United States,

according to one source, he's the 277th most influential person in Britain. He also happens to

be the chancellor of a major university. In the US you can catch him as the co-star and Masterpiece

Theatre's drama series Unforgotten. Sanjeev and I have been friends for years ever since he

invited me to join him in the living room of his fictional parents. This is so great. I'm so glad

to be talking to my pal. I'm over the moon. I cannot tell you. They're indescribable feelings.

I have feelings that I've never felt before. I don't know what they are. I've never felt them.

I'll have to look them up afterwards. We met so the audience knows if there's anybody listening.

They should know that we met on your wonderful program called the Kumar's in number 42.

That's right. That's wonderful premise that you had always wanted to be a talk show host

and your parents set you up in the backyard with your own talk show.

And you had these cheeky questions like you kept asking me things like, are you rich?

Like the epitome of bad interviewing. Did you draw on your experience as a person being interviewed?

Like, did you think of the worst questions to ask your guests?

I actually know. I mean, I had the idea before I started acting.

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