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A&E: Who is Wellard?
Terrance Corrigan: He's a very young
midshipman who basically gets put upon by the captain of the ship—gets bullied
and beaten senseless and to the point of unconsciousness. He hangs around with
Hornblower for a lot of the story and gets his mini-revenge on the captain.
A&E: Wellard is the same age as Hornblower was
when Hornblower first went to sea. So, do you think that affects their
relationship? Does he see something in Horatio that he aspires to?
TC: Well, he definitely looks up to him, but
I don't know whether he considers that. I think that is something that
Hornblower would consider more, because he's seeing the young midshipman as he
was. Whereas, I look up to him and see someone a couple of years older, much
more experienced, but sympathetic nonetheless.
A&E: What did you think about the character when
you first read the script?
TC: I thought "wimp." (Laughs)
A&E: He suffers brutally, it's true. But in the
end, he has this marvelous moment. What was that like?
TC: Well, it was interesting to play because
I didn't really know how the story was going to develop with Wellard into the
second episode. So, it was interesting to read it and see how he was developing.
You can sort of see towards the end of the first episode, he's grown a bit in
confidence because Hornblower's taken him under his wing and sort of given him
some things to do to take his mind off the captain. And as soon as the captain
is out of action, you get the feeling that Wellard is coming into his own. He's
sort of come out of his shell, and then in the second episode, that comes out
even more.
A&E: Can you imagine at all what it would have
been like to go to sea in those times?
TC: I can imagine it's a lot smellier and a
lot less fun (Laughs). A lot more cramped, a lot more people vomiting. I'm not
too bad with the sea, and I'm not too bad with heights, but I reckon if I was on
a real ship in those days on a rig and all the way up to the top of the mast, I
can't imagine what it would've been like.
A&E: What do you think is next for Wellard?
Where does he go if you were writing this?
TC: I'd write a spin-off series for
Wellard's hat. (Laughs) I've thrown it away so many times it's probably gone on
its own little journey. I'd have to do a little flashback to when I first got my
hat. So I'd obviously, be in the first ten minutes of it.
A&E: There's a lot of action in this story. Tell
me about shooting the battle scenes.
TC: We have battle scenes on the boat, in
the fort, and in the tunnels in the fort. It's the kind of thing you dream of
doing when you're a kid, and you're sort of messing around in your garden or
trees and stuff. But I'll be honest, there was a lot to learn. If an explosion
wasn't right, it wasn't right. You had to do it again.
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