Philip Voss is acknowledged as one of the country’s fi nest classical actors, having excelled in leading parts for the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. Playing the villainous bandit Acomat in Marco Polo was an early entry in his 50-year screen career. “It was extraordinary,” he recalls. “It was done in Lime Grove in a very small studio. The set I was on was about a yard square. We lived in a cave, and I emerged when Derren Nesbitt returned from one of his travels with just a few blades of grass in front of me. And that was the set! It was a wonderful experience, actually. Derren used to play games to keep us all amused and occupied.
“William Hartnell kept himself to himself. He was pleasant and everything, but he didn’t join in all the fun. But he was a very nice man, and I think he was an excellent actor. He was ahead of his time really, because he didn’t go over top, did he? His performance was well thought out. I think he’s one of the best Doctor Whos of the early lot.”
Philip’s transformation into a Mongol bandit was not without diffi culties. “It was torture on many levels. I was very young and I had no money. I could hardly aff ord to eat. And I had on this dark Mongol wig, but worst of all they had gauze things attached to my temples, pulled round and tied behind my head. And I spent the whole time in the studio not being fed and in agony with this particular make-up. I looked amazing, but I wouldn’t be cast now, would I?