Victor Pemberton 2009 talking about his life and books

Victor Pemberton has written numerous books all based on family life during the WW2 - Jayne who thoroughly enjoyed reviewing these books asked the questions. We hope that you enjoy the answers from the amazingly creative person.

J: Your latest book ‘When the Swallows Come Again' is about another family torn apart because of the war - what is it about this particular scenario that you enjoy writing about so much?

VP:  The Second World War has always fascinated me. I was a child during those turbulent years, and spent many long, terrifying nights in the Anderson shelter in our back yard with my mother and elder brother, shaking with fear every time a bomb came down nearby, the peace of the night shattered by the constant barrage of anti-aircraft guns outside. Therefore, it is no wonder that family life was disrupted by the ugliness of war, as relevant today as it was then. Husbands and sons and brothers sent off to fight at battlefronts in different parts of the world, wives either looking after the kids single-handed or doing all kinds of war work. No State help for them in those days! For me, writing about the trials and tribulations of coping with family life during the war, such as in ‘When the Swallows Come Again' is the stuff of real drama, and I use it as a kind of exorcism of all the horrors of the blitz.

J: Your stories in your books all have similar themes but were these built on stories of people, you as a family knew from your time living in London?

VP: Yes, all the people I write about are based on individuals I knew before, during, and after the war, and sometimes I use the characters of people I have known in recent years, transplanting them back into the past. Of course, being a lad at the time I didn't know too much about the intimate lives that were being played out behind locked doors, but I can assure you that my eyes and ears were always open! 

J: With the first story ‘Our Family' it was used as a Radio Trilogy - how was is split into the three programmes?

VP: Part one of the ‘OUR FAMILY' radio trilogy was called, ‘THE TRAINS DON'T STOP HERE ANY MORE', which took the story from the First World War to 1931. Part two was called, ‘DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT KIDS' which covered the kids' evacuation during World War 2, and Part three took Letty and Oliver through the autumn of their lives until Letty put herself into the Old People's Residence in 1980.

J: What inspired you to write more stories set in the same time?

VP: The admiration, love, and respect I had for both my parents.

J: Did you ever go on a bus to Southend as a child with the school or the local pub as in When the Swallows Come Again?

VP: Oh yes, I went to Southend on the bus on a day trip with my junior school just before the war started, and then during the war on the local pub Beano', much the same as I related in ‘WHEN THE SWALLOWS COME AGAIN'.

J: I think my favourite book was ‘We'll Sing Again' prior to reading this latest story. We'll Sing Again evoked so many stories about life down in the tube shelters - how do you find people react to them especially with todays violence there.

VP: For the older generation I think stories about life in the air raid shelters recalls a mixture of disturbing, but also humorous memories. The public street shelters were almost like social clubs, with neighbours meeting up each night with their bedding, hot water bottles, and vacuum flasks of cocoa. They chatted through the night, doing their best to joke their way around the noise of death and destruction in the streets outside. The sort of violence as we know it today was not something that anyone really thought about. Yes, there was petty crime during the war, but the real enemy was in the skies above. Strangely enough, whenever I receive emails or talk to any of the youngsters of today, they are fascinated to know what life was like in those shelters - the Andersons, the Morrisons, and the ordinary death trap brick shelters. Many of them find it difficult to understand that, during those dark days, we had little to fear from each other.

J: Did Stan Laurel or Benny Hill ever inspire you to write characters they liked in your books, and if so what characters were they?

VP: Benny Hill was one of the many great British comedians whose humour helped me to shape many of the endearing characters in my books. Old ladies in hairnets yelling out of top floor windows, the naughty looks that symbolized a mischievous next door neighbour, Clancy the effeminate man in the yellow berry, the victim of so much prejudice in ‘OUR FAMILY', and practically every middle-aged or elderly character, male or female, who had a twinkle in the eye. Think of ‘Monsieur Pierre' or Ruby Catmonk in ‘NELLIE'S WAR'. Like Benny, they were pure British Music Hall, which both he and I and so many others loved so dearly. As for Stan Laurel, well he was enough to inspire any writer. With his poignant, innocent looks, large droll eyes, and tiny wisp of hair, he and his partner Oliver Hardy gave me some of the first laughs I ever had at ‘the pictures'. Remembering my meeting with them both in later years, certainly inspired me to write elements of their characters in my novels, especially Stan whose own writing and acting contained moments of real drama. Stan and Ollie were also the basis of those two sinister characters named Mr Oak and Mr Quill in my DOCTOR WHO novel, ‘FURY FROM THE DEEP' .

J: Did Stan Laurel or Benny Hill ever inspire you to write characters they liked in your books, and if so what characters were they?

VP: No, I can't say I have ever used stories I may have heard from other entertainers.

J: Do any of the characters in your books resemble people that you have met and what were your reasons for writing books on the war years?

VP: For me, all the characters in my books represent a huge repertory of people I have known or have met during my lifetime; they regularly dance in and out of my dreams in a great procession. Also, as I have already explained, I found those war years very traumatic, and the only way I can stop reminding myself of what it was like, is to exorcise them in my writing. The wonderful gift a writer has is not only to hold on to those he or she loves, but also to use the written word to bring them back to life.

J: What did you enjoy most about working with Jim Henson on the programmes that his company produced, and did you write scripts for him as well ?

VP: Jim Henson was a magician, a man of immense artistic skill and talents. He also had a tremendous sense of humour, which is quite apparent in his creation of the Muppets. I worked for him with Duncan Kenworthy on a wonderful series called ‘FRAGGLE ROCK', first as a scriptwriter, then as producer. Physically, Jim was a towering man, and watching him work under the floorboards in cramped conditions with his Muppet characters was a sight to behold. We all learnt so much from him, about how to enjoy the work we were doing. As far as everyone was concerned, the Muppets and the Fraggles were real. My favourite creation on ‘FRAGGLE ROCK' had to be Sprocket the dog!

J: What was it like working on the early Dr. Who programmes, and which was your favourite Dr.?

VP: Many of us who worked on those early days of DOCTOR WHO now consider ourselves to be pioneers! Most of the shows were shot live in the BBC Lime Grove Studios every Saturday evening, and it was always a race against time to get them ready on time. The studios, formerly the home of Gainsborough Films, were minute, which made it quite a challenge for the the technical staff to fit everything into the limited space. Television cameras, mammoth sets, Daleks, Cybermen, technical crews, make up artistes, and costume assistants all competed with each other for what space was available, often tripping over cables as they did so! But we were all like one big family working as a team, especially the team I liked most, namely Patrick Troughton, my own personal favourite Doctor, together with his two companions, Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines. It would take a whole book to record those days, which I cherish to this day.

J: What do you think of the modern day Dr Who programmes with all the CGI special effects.

VP: I´m afraid I am not a fan of the modern day DOCTOR WHO programmes. I promise you it´s not sour grapes, just that I always feel that CGI special effects are nothing without a good story. Yes, I know there are exceptions, but, for me, the way the show is presented these days is not how it was conceived.

J: How many more books do you think you can write on this era of the war?

VP: Many years ago, I enjoyed the work of R.F. Delderfield, who wrote so many wonderful London sagas.

J: Who are your favourite writers and did they influence your writing?

VP: I am a great fan of thriller writers such as John Grisham and David Baldacci. In the classics there is my icon, Charles Dickens. If anyone has influenced my writing, then it certainly him. And surely there is not an original story in the world that wasn´t written first by William Shakespeare.

J: What have been your favourite books to read?

VP: ´DAVID COPPERFIELD´, ´THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP´, ´THE GATHERING STORM´ by Winston Churchill, and, more recently, ´THE KITE RUNNER´.

J: What the tv documentary that won an Emmy award?

VP: ´GWEN, A JULIET REMEMBERED´. This was the life of a dear friend, Dame Gwen Ffrangcon'Davies, who was one of the great classical actresses of the twentieth century. At the age of 98 she was still giving acting lessons to students from the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company. The documentary film was made by my own independent company, Saffron Productions, for the BBC, and won the International Emmy and New York Film Festival awards. It was wonderfully directed by David Spenser.