Taggart’s outspoken maverick John Michie talks about national identity, family, religion, superstitions – and why his mum wants him to play a doctor.
A regular in the series from 1998 as DI Robbie Ross until it ended in November 2010, Michie has since gone on to appear in other long-running shows, including Coronation Street and Holby City.
I love being in Taggart. I love the character I play, Robbie Ross. He’s not straight down the line and he’s prepared to bend the rules, which makes for an interesting character. God knows why they’ve not fired him yet.
I feel like a child of the British Empire, with a strong sense of Scottishness. My father is Scottish, my mother is English and they met in India – my dad was working for a Scottish bank, and moved to Burma after the Second World War to get work. I was born in Burma, my sister in Pakistan and another brother in Tunisia.
I have a strong emotional attachment to the Highlands. I’ve always found it a place of solace. After a week on a fi lm set I can think of nothing I like more than to trip up into the hills and let it all hang loose. I’m trying to get a documentary together with Cameron McNeish to climb six iconic Munros.
My wife and three kids are the great loves of my life. One of the great things in life – in a very Richard Dawkins way – is passing the genes on. I can see the spirituality of the passing on of genes, in the sense that that is the essence of the success of humanity.
I don’t believe in religion. I sympathise with people who do; I also feel quite sorry for them. I understand that it brings them solace, but it also constrains their lives – it dictates who you are and prevents your natural path.
John Michie as Guy Self in Holby City
I feel sorry for actors who have superstitions. They are self-induced, and it’s a complete and utter waste of time and energy. Why worry about things that are never going to happen?
My mother would have loved me to become a doctor. She still hopes I’ll one day get a part playing a doctor. Then she could die happy.
I’m a passionate supporter of the NHS, and I’m terrified of what the Westminster government is doing – rushing through a pile of stuff that hasn’t been thought through. I think we’re heading for a bad place.
The hatred Scotland has towards England is debilitating. We’re bigger than that. Our history is so fantastic: we virtually created the modern world and have this fantastic pool of greatness. We should concentrate more on being proud of that rather than feeling that we are a wee country overshadowed by England.
I have achieved my ambitions. I’ve led the life of a peripatetic actor, been able to earn a living and raise a family, which is no mean feat.
I’d like to make more documentaries, and work in America: their drama is the best in the world. One of the hardest things to do is be yourself. I try to do that – except when I’m acting, of course. If you are who you are, you’ll be interesting and successful. Success is not being a movie star or earning millions of pounds – it’s being content with who you are.
(This feature was originally published in 2011)
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