NHS

One of the things one learns in life is that no one is actually on your side. You are in a cold and lonely world, one which you have no escape, no respite and certainly no access it seems to a second opinion. My doctor, Mr Gleedle, was definate when he stated I had sustained wounds which needed treatment. Well I had. But Dr Singh said my wounds were minor and didn't need any further medical intervention and discharged me. As I battled with him, first verbally and then a struggle with him and the guard, it became clear!

ACTORS ARE A THREAT

There. I said it. We are a threat because we see things as they really are. Yes, Mr Tonner in the next bed was told he didn't have anything to worry about. Yes, Mr Yorath was happy enough with his service and treatment. But how much better informed they were when I told them their real situation. Lifting the veil of medical mumbo jumbo, and revealing the naked truth. Now, I have had no medical training, I should make that clear. I did once administer a plaster on Casualty, which I think goes someway toward it, but I grant you, is not a comprehensive knowledge of medicine. Yes. their relatives cried when I told them the truth. Yes, they were angry at not being informed of the true seriousness of the situation. And yes, there was something of a squabble. But as the Sergeant said to me "sometimes it's best to just keep this (indicating his mouth) shut."

Actors see through falsehood, you see. When I appeared as Tarvon, the green alien searching for meaning in a far off galactic mining colony in the sci-fi series Plutok, I tried to be truthful there. And yes, I managed it in a speech about fairness, about liberty and about the timetable adherence on the Piccadilly line. All of which were met with silence by the cast, director and crew. They knew I spoke truth. That as Tarvon I could say what Tarquin McPhereson could never do. And yes, the scene was deleted, because of the powers that be decided that - and I quote - 'a ten minute rant on where to put your luggage when using the toilets in Tottenham Court Road was not integral to the plot'. If you ask me, someone got to them. Like they have got to Mr Singh. Or Dr Singh, as he prefers to be called.

In short actors must absorb the cold, hard truth of reality for the rest of you, much as I had to absorb the impact of the pavement outside Out Patients on my behind.