Adrian Dunbar: ‘On holiday during the Troubles, everything felt freer'
I had something of a Mark Twain childhood in the Sixties. Summers were all about fishing on lakes and holidaying in Bundoran, a popular surf town on Ireland's west coast. My home town, Enniskillen, might only be a few miles away from the Northern Irish border, but crossing over felt like entering into a much freer, more open and easier society. This was during the Troubles, so going on holiday had a kind of double whammy: you'd hit the open air and seaside, and you could just run free.
Bundoran had a mini-Blackpool vibe with slot machines, a huge dancehall called the Astoria, rides, and piped music (it was often the Beatles). All these decades later, Bundoran is still a large feature of my life, as I have a house nearby.
I always look forward to returning to Belfast when filming Line of Duty. Vicky [McClure], Martin [Compston] and I stay in the same apartment block. We're up too early for a big breakfast during the week, but I'll often cook us a fry-up on a Saturday morning.
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I've visited some fantastic places — some for work, others not. At drama school in the early 1980s, I had a very lovely girlfriend called Anat Topol, daughter of Chaim Topol, known for playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Anat and I visited Israel together on a number of occasions; on one trip we travelled to Galilee and Kamon, then on to Be'er Sheva, Eilat and all the way down to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. I was introduced to a lot of very interesting Israelis who gave me an amazing insight into the country, and I remain friends with them to this day.
When the kids were young, around 30 years ago, we took them out of school on an extended holiday for three months — we thought, this is for their education, so let's take them out and just do it. We started in Thailand, where we visited Bangkok and Chiang Mai and several small villages along the way. After a couple of weeks we flew to Sydney, where my wife Anna is from, to meet all her relatives. From there we went up north to Cape Tribulation, Byron Bay, Manly and Watsons Bay, ending the trip in Bali, Ubud and Candi Dasa in Indonesia. It's a trip we still look back on, and it was really educational.
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In 2005 I filmed Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped for the BBC in New Zealand and Tasmania. In New Zealand we filmed in Alexandra, Auckland, Oamaru and Queenstown, where during my time off I set out alone on a six-day tramp through the hills in snowy weather conditions. I stocked up on nuts, bread, cheese and tinned sardines and set off for Glenorchy, a lovely spot at the start of the Greenstone cable track, planning to stay in these huts along the route that you have to pre-book.
I trekked the first 14km without any issues, arriving late at night to the first hut, and I was on the road early again the next morning. The scenery was spectacular and it looked like the sort of vista you'd see in Scotland or the west of Ireland, except suddenly there would be a 4ft-long mountain parrot ripping the bark off a tree, looking for grubs.
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When I reached the next hut I realised I didn't have enough food, because I was burning a lot of calories wading through deep snow. Fortunately four old Kiwis arrived and took pity on me, giving me a delicious bowl of rice pudding with raisins and cinnamon. Over the next few days I built fires, helped an American boy who had fallen into a hole and joined forces with two paratroopers for part of the walk. It was a fantastic trip — I loved it.
We film Ridley on the Lancashire Moors, and during filming I stay in central Manchester, in an apartment around Cutting Room Square. I love the city — there are so many great restaurants and bars and the people chat to you. A friend of mine owns This &That, an Indian restaurant in the town centre, which is great value: for £7.50 you get rice, three curries and a garlic naan.
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One of the reasons I got excited about Ridley was to be in the moors, among the old industrial wasteland and the beautiful hills and valleys. We shoot during winter, which is quite bleak, but there's a stark beauty that's wonderful. Having said that, it's not so nice when you're on the side of a hill and your face is so frozen that you can't speak.Series two of Ridley airs 8pm on Sunday nights on ITV and STV and streams on ITVX and STV Player
In our weekly My Hols interview, famous faces from the worlds of film, sport, politics, and more share their travel stories from childhood to the present day. Read more My Hols interviews here
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