CUIDE RI CATHY – ALEX NORTON
Monday 2 March, 10pm, BBC ALBA
Alex Norton, accomplished actor most famous for his role as DCI Matt Burke in Taggart, talks about his desire to be in the theatre from a very young age, that he swept the stage at the Pavillion for six months in the hope that he would be spotted.
In the latest programme of the Cuide ri Cathy series for BBC ALBA, Cathy MacDonald enjoys a glass of wine with Alex Norton, who’s currently sporting a broken arm and which may have to get written into the current Taggart series.
Alex’s love of performing shines through as he takes Cathy on a trip down memory lane; talking about Taggart film locations and visiting the Gorbals where he grew up. Alex also sings a rendition of a song he performed on a tour of America with Gaelic folk group ‘Na h-Ogannaich’, still remembering the Gaelic lyrics.
Alex doesn’t plan his life, taking a “serendipitous” approach, so when the character in Taggart came up he was delighted to accept. However, Alex tells Cathy how it was so daunting when he took on the role of DCI Matt Burke, having to fill in the footsteps of Mark McManus. Fellow Taggart actor, John Michie, invited him to view the first episode. So terrified, Alex wanted to hide behind the couch but both he and John breathed a sigh of relief when they realised that it was “fabulous".
Leaving school at 15 with no qualifications, Alex was desperate to work in the theatre. With no family links to the business and nobody to guide him, he decided to take a bus into town one day and knocked on the stage door of the Pavillion. When the Assistant Stage Manager appeared he asked him if there were any jobs available. He was led inside and offered a job as a “general dogs-body and electrician”. He worked there for a summer season of the Lex McLean Show desperately hoping that Lex would "spot" him and invite him on stage but it never happened - he swept the stage for 6 months instead!
The actor’s father disapproved of acting as a career and always wanted him to learn a traditional trade. However, on hearing his father coughing his lungs out as he got up in the cold to go to work at 6am, he decided it wasn't for him. He finds it ironic that he now does just that too - albeit on a Taggart film set.
CUIDE RI CATHY will be broadcast on BBC ALBA on Monday 2 March at 22.00 and is available on Sky channel 168 & Freesat channel 110.