{"id":24692,"date":"2022-10-27T18:24:01","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T16:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1729406"},"modified":"2022-10-27T19:03:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T17:03:44","slug":"robbie-coltrane-paul-abbott-pays-tribute-to-the-cracker-and-harry-potter-star","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/robbie-coltrane-paul-abbott-pays-tribute-to-the-cracker-and-harry-potter-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Robbie Coltrane: Paul Abbott pays tribute to the Cracker and Harry Potter star"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Robin Parker\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 27 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

This interview was originally published in\u00a0Radio Times magazine<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Robbie Coltrane had already clocked up several TV credits, including Tutti Frutti, Blackadder and a string of films for Channel 4\u2019s The Comic Strip Presents\u2026 when, in 1993, he landed the lead in Jimmy McGovern\u2019s ITV drama Cracker.<\/p>\n

The Comic Strip Presents\u2026 demanded a lot from him \u2013 marching in a suit along the seashore in one long take, as waves splashed over him in The Bulls***ters; on double duty as Charles Bronson playing Ken Livingstone in GLC \u2013 but his fearless performance as gruff criminal psychologist Dr Edward \u2018Fitz\u2019 Fitzgerald is what cemented him as a magnetic and uncompromising drama heavyweight.<\/p>\n

Coltrane, who died earlier this month aged 72<\/a>, won three successive Baftas for Cracker \u2013 in 1994, 1995 and 1996, one for each season \u2013 paving the way for returning roles in James Bond<\/a> and the\u00a0Harry Potter films<\/a>. He was, Cracker writer Paul Abbott tells RT now, the perfect \u201cneurotic nihilist\u201d for the part. When Abbott flew to Scotland to \u201cgain the actor\u2019s approval\u201d to join the show\u2019s second season, he found that in the Stirlingshire village of Killearn where Coltrane lived, \u201ceveryone knew him. He was like the town governor\u201d.<\/p>\n

At a little over 6ft tall, Coltrane knew he cut an imposing figure, and was not averse to wielding his position to assert his principles. \u201cGuinness wanted to sponsor Cracker, but Robbie refused because they\u2019d closed their Scottish distillery in the 80s,\u201d Abbott recalls. \u201cHe said he\u2019d walk if they didn\u2019t back down \u2013 ITV knew they couldn\u2019t make the show without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pete Postlethwaite and Robbie Coltrane in a Cracker comic relief sketch.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC\/Comic Relief via Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Coltrane greeted Abbott in his repurposed Parisian taxi \u2013 \u201cI\u2019d never seen anybody with so many cars, unless they were nicked,\u201d laughs the Shameless creator. Later, Coltrane even sold Abbott a Triumph Vitesse. \u201cThe chassis was cracked from where he\u2019d been sitting on the driver\u2019s seat. It cost a fortune to fix!\u201d<\/p>\n

Coltrane was hard to resist, a wit and raconteur who loved an audience. Abbott was never happier than when shooting the breeze with him on set or watching Coltrane converse with his similarly erudite friend Stephen Fry.<\/p>\n

\u201cRobbie had an encyclopaedic knowledge of any subject,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019d get him in a good mood by letting him talk. If he lent me a book, he\u2019d tell me its entire contents before I started reading it.\u201d<\/p>\n

At work on Cracker, Coltrane also knew when to step back. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t adjust a single word. He didn\u2019t want to compromise the material by chipping in \u2013 he wanted people to do what they do best.\u201d He would, though, wade in on a rare case if a script got too heavy. \u201cSometimes he\u2019d say, \u2018There\u2019s not a lot of laughs in this one,’\u201d says Abbott. \u201cCracker was a dark drama with more laughs than the average sitcom. He was right \u2013 you missed them badly if they weren\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Robbie Coltrane.<\/span><\/figcaption> Gustavo Caballero\/Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Famously, Cracker featured intense interrogation scenes decades before Line of Duty<\/a>, with Fitz breaking down suspects by chipping away at their weak spots. Guest actors could be in tears after 18 takes, but Coltrane\u2019s energy never lagged. Abbott says he was helped by one unusual production intervention: \u201cWe were lucky he could smoke in the scene, so he didn\u2019t have to budge!\u201d<\/p>\n

The production schedule generally bent to Coltrane\u2019s dietary and physical needs; he\u2019d want a drink by 5pm and, says Abbott, \u201cYou could tell if Jimmy McGovern was p***ed off with Robbie \u2013 he\u2019d write \u2018Fitz runs for a taxi\u2019 into the script!\u201d Coltrane would inevitably ignore the directive and walk.<\/p>\n

Abbott was unsurprised at Coltrane\u2019s popularity as Harry Potter\u2019s Hagrid \u2013 he was always good with kids. Once, while the writer was in fraught negotiations with the owner of the house that doubled as Fitz\u2019s home, Coltrane happily looked after Abbott\u2019s two-year-old son for more than an hour, singing songs and using the set as their shared playground. \u201cHe was a generous man, strong and full of warmth,\u201d says Abbott. \u201cI\u2019ve never met anybody like him. His was a very American personality in a way \u2013 he loved the Hollywood side of the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite that, Coltrane was never seduced by the glitz and glamour of the industry. In 1997, he and Abbott were at the US Writers Guild Awards as news spread of Tony Blair\u2019s election victory. Coltrane joined in the subsequent cheers and Mexican wave. \u201cWe were then invited to New Yorker editor Tina Brown\u2019s party,\u201d says Abbott. \u201cSomebody came up to Robbie and said, \u2018You\u2019ve been here for ten minutes and you haven\u2019t spoken to Tina.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cRobbie\u2019s reply? \u2018Well, nobody\u2019s poured me a drink yet\u2026’\u201d<\/p>\n

Visit our TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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