David Walliams – Snapshot in Time: David travels the globe to meet up with long-lost schoolfriends in order to recreate a photo of an old school play
At the age of eleven, on the 28th March 1983, David Walliams stood on the stage at his Surrey grammar school and made people laugh for the first time. It was a night that was to change the course of his life and a moment that was captured in one of Walliams’ most-treasured photographs. 30 years later, David wants to travel back to that day and recreate an experience that changed his life.
David credits the photograph of his stage debut as Queen Henrietta Maria in a school production of All The King’s Men, as capturing a defining moment in his life. In this one-off documentary, David sets out to find the classmates who played his ladies in waiting, and to discover what’s happened to them in the 30 years since it was taken. The journey takes him to his old school as he attempts to reunite his school friends, hear their stories and recreate the image in the present.
David’s first port of call is Reigate Grammar School where he meets up with his English and Music teachers, Keith Shipton and Robert Marsh, who introduced him to the stage. David didn’t audition for the role but was asked to play it by Mr Shipton. With the help of the school’s alumni team, David begins to identify the other five boys in the photograph with him as he hopes to reunite with them and recreate the image that capture the moment his career began. He starts by hitting the phone to make contact in the hope of using his persuasive talents to secure a reunion.
Struggling to trace all his classmates, David meets up with his best friend from school, Robin Dashwood, who also displayed an acting talent. Robin now works as a director for the BBC and together they discuss the impact their school days had on their future career paths.
As his search goes on, David discovers that the boys in the photo are now living in all corners of the globe, having pursued lives and careers overseas. So David now has to track them down and convince them to fly back to the UK to put on lookalike dresses and re-join him on their school stage.
David Walliams: A Snapshot in Time airs tonight on ITV at 9pm
Leave Your Comments Below.
Comments
Post a Comment