Victoria Wood put me on the map, says actor DUNCAN PRESTON

Actor Duncan Preston, 78, featured in most of Victoria Wood’s TV shows including Dinnerladies and Acorn Antiques, writes Peter Robertson. 

He also starred in the sitcom Surgical Spirit and has had roles in EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street. 

Last seen in the Christmas Special of All Creatures Great And Small, he will next appear in The Good Ship Murder, also on Channel 5. 

Divorced from actress Susan Penhaligon, Bradford-born Duncan now lives alone near Ilkley.

What did your parents teach you about money?

My father Sonny Preston was a haulage contractor, but much of his time was taken up with my mother Vera because she was schizophrenic and often required care. He tried his best to raise the three of us, but never talked to us about money. 

I taught myself how to manage money. I now live near the mental health hospital where Mum was treated. It’s been converted into flats and I nearly bought one until my younger brother Alan talked me out of it.

What was your first pay packet?

My first job was at 16 with the Halifax building society in Bradford and I started on £25 16s 8d per month. I spent that fairly quickly. I lasted two years and ended up in the Subscription Share Department. I had to work out all the interest in my head.

I wanted to do something more exciting so I joined an amateur theatre and someone said I should go to drama school. I couldn’t believe it when I got into Rada.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Yes, when I trained at Rada, I tried to add to my grant of £112 a term by gambling in a casino and lost it in about 10 minutes. That stopped me gambling.

I was homeless at one point and three fellow students let me sleep on the floor of their flat in Belsize Park, London. One was Michael Kitchen, who starred in Foyle’s War, and we’re still friends. 

I was on the breadline when I tested for the role of Maximillian Largo with Kim Basinger for 1983 Bond film Never Say Never Again, doing a love scene. I was in love with her for about 10 minutes, but her fella was always within 10ft! Sadly I didn’t get the part.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

I was the male lead in ITV sitcom Surgical Spirit from 1989 until 1995, but Nichola McAuliffe was the real lead. My first pay packet for that was £2,500 per episode. By the fifth series, I was on £13,500 an episode which was ridiculous to me. It ran for seven series.

What’s been the best year of your financial life?

I suppose it would have been the later years of Surgical Spirit. I didn’t do a lot of telly – I was always a theatre actor. But I got that part because they’d seen me on Victoria Wood shows. She put me on the map. I used to say she was responsible for 80 per cent of my wages. In a group of actors Victoria regularly worked with, I was the token male! Julie Walters and I were an item at one point.

I asked her to marry me but she wouldn’t. But I look at her Christmas card with joy every year.

Are you a spender or saver?

I started off being a spender, then I learnt and I saved. I’ve had some terrible and some good financial advice over the years – but I mostly took the bad advice. Marks & Spencer shares went down hugely after I bought them. Then after I’d sold them, they climbed again.

I didn’t mind if I was rich or poor as long as I had enough, and I made that happen by buying and selling property. In about 2000, Amanda Holden, who I met in panto in 1995, persuaded me to buy a two-bed flat in Highgate (overlooking Hampstead Heath) which I didn’t think I could afford. It was a pivotal moment in my life, and why I can afford to do what I do now.

What’s the most expensive thing you bought for fun?

I’ve wasted so much money on cars. I used to buy one every year. The Lexus I’ve got now I’ve had for five years.

Victoria Wood also lived in Highgate and I used to take her to work in my Saab convertible which she called ‘yer soft top!’

What’s your biggest money mistake?

In 1974 I’d been engaged to someone and we broke up, so I put everything I had – £2,000, which was a lot in those days – on a horse which was second favourite to win the Epsom Derby, and it came third so I got nothing. I keep to a fiver on horses now, and do the Lotto.

The best money decision you’ve made?

Your first property is always the big one. Mine cost me £11,500. That was a one-bedroom flat in Canfield Gardens, West Hampstead, now worth around £600,000, but it could have been a mansion as far I was concerned.

Do you have a pension?

I have two, with Aviva and Standard Life, and neither of them are worth much. Of course I get the state pension now.

Do you own any property?

I sold the Highgate flat for a good profit and bought a place twice as big for half the price coming back up to Yorkshire in 2015 after Susie [Penhaligon] and I split up, and that’s the house I have now. It’s in a lovely village and looks out over Ilkley Moor. It’s a 1950s detached property with four bedrooms and I rattle around in it, but I love it.

Do you donate money to charity?

Loads, including cancer charities, NSPCC, Barnardo’s, Smile Train, and Save The Children. Victoria [Wood] asked me who I contribute to and I said: ‘Mostly it’s for kids. I reckon all the old people have had their go and they’ve missed it.’ And now I am an old person! Sadly I don’t have any children.

If you were Chancellor, what would you do?

I’d certainly give the elderly the winter fuel allowance back. That’s Starmer and Reeves signing their own death warrant. It’s a crime what they’ve done.

What is your top indulgence?

I usedcto enjoy golf and had a handicap of nine at one point. But I’m too old for that now so I sold my clubs. My indulgence is telly, and I’ve got three huge TVs in my house.

What is your No. 1 financial priority?

To have enough to see myself out and certain other people too. I consider myself retired but if anything comes up that I want to do I will. I’d love to do one last really nice part.

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