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From the Vault

Here is a mixed bag of old bits of telly, early films, questionable wigs, fake beards, ridiculous costumes, backstage oddities and other scraps of career archaeology that somehow escaped the bin.

Channel 4 · October 1996

Wanted

While still a university student, I appeared in Wanted, one of the UK’s earliest reality television shows. Broadcast on Channel 4 in October 1996, it predates the reality-TV explosion by several years.

I won enough money to buy a high-end Apple Mac with a whopping 4GB of memory. It got me through my degree.

Watch Episode 1 on YouTube →

First film job

Kill the Day, 1996

My first ever job on a film was as an art department runner on Lynne Ramsay’s Kill the Day. I also ended up appearing briefly on screen as a drug dealer driving a car. This was after I had already crashed the producer’s car.

Archive production still from Kill the Day

Archive photographs

The evidence cupboard

A few respectable credits, several questionable decisions and at least one wig that could probably claim its own agent.

DI Banks and Columbo side-by-side comparison — When I told the costume department what a huge *Columbo* fan I was, they later put together this outfit for Banks to wear in future episodes.

Drew Cain in an Emmerdale mine-rescue sequence — The riggers got my harness and pulley wrong, which left me dangling above that water tank for over an hour. Not one of my most relaxing days on *Emmerdale*.

Archive photograph from the Coronation Street set — I’d already appeared in *EastEnders*, *Emmerdale*, *Doctors* and *Hollyoaks* before a brief appearance in *Coronation Street*. I was delighted. It felt like finally bagging the last of the Big Five.

Drew Cain as Guido in My Parents Are Aliens — Guido was so much fun to play, but every shot was filmed against green screen. Try wearing a neoprene suit and rubber hair under massive studio lights. It’s not pleasant.

Drew Cain holding his DI Alistair Banks cast card at the Soap Awards in London — DI Banks brought his own ID to the Soap Awards in London.

Drew Cain as Leonardo da Vinci in Ye Olde Dragon's Den — Leonardo da Vinci had one of the dodgiest Italian accents you’ve ever heard. This job was a proper laugh.

Drew Cain in period costume wearing a long curled grey wig — Not much to say about this one. It’s just me in a gigantic wig.

Behind-the-scenes photograph in an Italian power station with Drew Cain upside down — Filming a corporate safety film in an Italian power station where my character died in a horrible accident. Weirdly, I also attended the filming of my own funeral.

Drew Cain as Sir Robert Peel in Albert: The Power Behind Victoria — Sir Robert Peel. Surprisingly, not a wig. The make-up team bleached my hair, dyed it red, then curled and blow-dried it every day. They even dyed my eyebrows. I looked dreadful when I wasn’t filming.

Blink and you’ll miss it

Still Game, 2004

I was only a year or two out of drama school when I got this tiny role in 2004. Still Game was already hugely loved in Scotland, and it’s still a cult classic now. For a Glaswegian actor, even a brief appearance in it felt like a big deal.

Further excavation

Old films, ads and oddities

2004

The Race

Shot entirely on location on Barra in the Outer Hebrides. On the final night, the cast and crew played a huge game of rounders, then had an all-night barbecue on the beach. Still one of my happiest filming memories.

Watch on YouTube →

2013

Ye Olde Dragon’s Den

One of the maddest characters I’ve ever played. Shot on the real Dragon’s Den set at BBC Salford. Those thick tights were the bane of my life. They simply would not stay up.

Watch on YouTube →

2005

S1 Jobs

Directed by the wonderful Still Game director Michael Hines. This was the job where I learned that less really is more. Every time I reacted to my “mother”, the tea lady, Michael would quietly whisper, “a little less”. A valuable lesson that stuck.

Watch on YouTube →

2010

Glenfiddich Explorers

A real oddity. A web-based treasure hunt where I popped up from time to time to talk about the history of the place. Shot in the famous Warehouse Number 8, we had to evacuate several times when the ethanol alarms went off.

Watch on YouTube →

2005

Quantum Claims

Shot against green screen in Edinburgh, then traced frame by frame in pastel chalk. The poor artist must have been sick of the sight of me, especially when I came back the following year to make another one.

Watch on YouTube →

2004

Benjamin

I knew the director, who booked me for the video. When the singer’s management saw me, they quietly decided I looked too old for the role. Slight problem: I was already on set, booked, dressed and surrounded by a crew ready to shoot. Too late.

Watch on YouTube →

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