I grew up in Ibiza where we had an idyllic, bohemian lifestyle. We lived in a house with no electricity on a hilltop overlooking Talamanca. I would go off and play in the valley and my dad [Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee] sounded a cowbell when it was time for dinner. My older sister, Dariel, and I were never patronised, we were always made to feel part of whatever was happening with the adults. That’s what I remember – freedom and respect.
Like every little boy in the 70s, I watched Doctor Who every Saturday night but I was the only one watching it sitting on the Doctor’s knee! I loved the programme and it was the phenomenon of its time. But I’m not sure if I completely enjoyed having the Doctor for a father; I used to get really grumpy when he’d spend time with other kids and other families. I wanted him all to myself as any son or daughter would.
In my teens I didn’t get along very well with my father. It was like having two fighting cockerels under the same roof. I got into all kinds of trouble (and so did he at that age). One thing he did instil in me, though, was a feeling of self; that you have to achieve everything off your own back. When I decided I was serious about becoming an actor and auditioned for the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, I didn’t tell him, because I had to do it for myself.
I think his nose was put out of joint because that’s the one thing he felt he could have helped me with, but it was the one thing that I needed to do on my own. I needed to prove to him, and to myself, that this was all on me. After I graduated from the Old Vic and he came to see me perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company, he realised why I did what I did. I know for a fact he respected me for it.
My father died in 1996 and I miss him greatly. There’s so much I want to talk to him about. We disagreed a lot but I realise now that there’s so much he was right about. I’d just like to say: “Papa, you were absolutely on the money with that one!”
My mother, Ingeborg, was yin to my father’s yang. My mother and I are very emotionally alike as were my father and Dariel. My mum’s always had this attitude that everything will be all right while Dariel, just as my father did, likes to observe the lie of the land more.
My wife, Jacqui, gave birth to our twin boys in 2001 and we lost one. We lost Gilbert while Alfred (Freddy) survived, which was a miracle because they were born prematurely at 25 weeks. Gilbert lived only four days and Freddy survived after being in a coma for three-and-a-half months. When Freddy pulled through I made a pledge that I would always be proud of him, always be by his side. Whatever decision he takes in life, I’ll support him to the best of my ability.
Freddy is 13 now and is an extra–ordinarily calm child. He always has been; he’s got an older soul – I don’t know whether it’s because he’s got his brother on his shoulder with him, but he’s got this extraordinary calmness, which is something I never had. I was always frenetic, all over the place and angry about things and he’s not like that. This is one of the reasons he survived. His soul was there although he was in this coma.
My father would have been a wonderful grandfather to Freddy. When I was younger, he used to say, “Hurry up – I want to be a grandad!” I think he would have been a really hands-on grandfather because he was remarkable with kids. He had a natural affinity with them. The way he’d muck about and do voices, like when I was a kid. He would have been brilliant.
• Gotham, starring Sean Pertwee, returns to Channel 5 in March
