Talk:Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)

Name

Replacing

"Iain Richard Wilson, according to a TV Tome page"

with

"Iain Richard Wilson, according to an Internet Movie Database page"

since I have e-mailed the person responsible for the TV Tome page, and he says that he got his information from the Internet Movie Database. Which is a notoriously unreliable database, but I'll leave the reference in until it is proven definitively wrong. -- Oliver PEREIRA 22:13 Dec 3, 2002 (UTC)

So what is the support for his name as now shown ? -- Beardo (talk) 14:01, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Well the refs we have including this one use Richard Wilson, so I think the title is OK. It may be that IRW is an alternative name that can be mentioned if we have a more reliable source than IMDb, particularly if it explains where and how IRW has been used. --Mirokado (talk) 16:11, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

On BBC Radio 4 programme Loose Ends on 5 May 2012 Wilson, specifically discussing his Wikipedia entry, stated the birth name given as Iain Colquhoun Wilson was incorrect, and is actually Iain Carmichael Wilson. Dr Walpurgis (talk) 17:39, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

there is a long interview piece published in The Independent in November 2010 which states he was "born Ian Colquhoun Wilson in Greenock, Renfrewshire, to Euphemia Colquhoun and John Wilson." This same name also appears in other pieces such as Daily Record in May 2012. Drchriswilliams (talk) 10:09, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Going back to the 2012 interview Wilson himself gave on Radio 4's Loose Ends programme- it was broadcast after these were published. The Loose Ends episode information is published by the BBC but this episode isn't currently available on iPlayer. Here is a transcript:

Clive Anderson (interviewer): "Of course your real name is Ian Colquhoun Wilson, isn’t it?"

Richard Wilson: "No"

Anderson: "No?"

Wilson: "No" (laughter heard in studio background)

Anderson: "Well that’s what it says in Wikipedia. Normally you can rely on Wikipedia to be…"

Wilson: "My real name is Iain Carmichael Wilson."

Anderson: "So where did the Colquhoun come from?"

Wilson: "Well you have to change your name when you join RADA... Oh, the Colquhoun, that’s a mistake, Wikipedia."

Anderson: "Well we’ve corrected something then."

Wilson: "Vey good. I was called Iain Carmichael Wilson, when I left RADA I had to change my name because Equity wouldn’t allow two actors of the same name". Drchriswilliams (talk) 10:25, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Also found an interview published in The Herald in June 1999 which gives his previous name as Iain Carmichael Wilson. Drchriswilliams (talk) 10:45, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Primary target

I'm intrigued as to why the usual disambiguation arrangements have been changed. Is Richard Wilson the actor really better-known worldwide than Richard Wilson the painter? And likely to remain so? Deb 22:42, 8 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Half cousin?

Richard is also the half cousin of Terry Wogan. - what on earth is a half cousin? ChrisTheDude 10:27, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

I assume it means that he is the half-brother of someone who is the son/daughter of Wogan's brother or sister... dunno if it's true, it needs a citation. Martan 00:24, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I think to be half-cousins they would have to be sons of a parent's half-sibling. Zagubov (talk) 23:23, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

TV

Is there a good reason why the TV section is alphabetical, and not chronological? It would make more sense for it to be made chronological. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MattTait (talk • contribs) 11:39, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

No reason at all, but you can change that. --h2g2bob (talk) 22:33, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was no consensus to support move. JPG-GR (talk) 19:32, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

Richard Wilson (Scottish actor) → Richard Wilson (actor) — The Scottish actor is far better known than the Australian actor of the same name, so doesn't need disambiguation. — h2g2bob (talk) 18:41, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Survey

Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with *'''Support''' or *'''Oppose''', then sign your comment with ~~~~. Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's naming conventions.

• Support per page view evidence supplied below. 2:1 or even 3:1 might not be enough, but the ratio of visits to the Scotch actors page is nearly 10:1 compared to the Aussie. That's enough for me - our readers would benefit by moving the page. Aspie rational (talk) 20:41, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

• Does it really matter? Richard Wilson is still the dab page: it's very unlikely that anyone looking for this actor will know to type in "Richard Wilson (actor)" any more than they'd know to add "Scottish" to the disambiguator. Page views and Google hits really only matter when one is considering moving a disambiguated article to the undisambiguated space (i.e., Richard Wilson (Scottish actor) -> Richard Wilson). In cases like this, I lean towards the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Parsecboy (talk) 15:19, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Discussion

Any additional comments:

I'm unconvinced that the Scottish actor is sufficiently well known to justify this move. What's the evidence? The Australian Richard Wilson has had a little international exposure through playing Sean Howard in early episodes of McLeod's Daughters, but apparently these havn't been shown in the UK. Andrewa (talk) 05:52, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

The Scot's been in a few movies, notably How to Get Ahead in Advertising; plus several UK TV series including One Foot in the Grave and Merlin. A google search puts the Scot top. Wikipedia page view counts are Scot: 7,800 and Aus: 800. IMDB links: Scot's IMDB, Aus IMDB. --h2g2bob (talk) 21:42, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

These certainly make it seem unlikely that the Australian would qualify as the primary usage; If there is one at all it's the Scot. But that's not enough. What you also need to establish is that there is a primary usage, and I think these figures are too close to establish that. Andrewa (talk) 10:11, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Dancing

He did a wee 'how to dance' video once, saw it on http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eJcwgs07J4s&feature=related which you can use as a reference. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.107.99.19 (talk) 21:07, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Link removal

I checked out the link here -- One Foot in the Grave Page at "British TV Heaven", a website run by M. David Bennett -- and discovered it is now redirecting to unrelated material and does not appear to be a TV site. I have removed the link. Danahuff (talk) 03:31, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Research scientist?

In "Mark Lawson talks to Richard Wilson", BBC Four, Wed 30 Sep 2009, Wilson states several times that he was a laboratory technician, not a research scientist and on at least one occasion that he had no responsibility for the research. As this is my first post, I'll leave it to others to take the necessary action... Elstano (talk) 13:09, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

I'd correct this if I could, but ...

While I have no idea why this article is semi-protected (I assume it's only semi), I note a change worth making. Under Television, High Stakes should be pipelinked to High stakes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.211.130.243 (talk) 08:40, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

 Done Rodhullandemu 13:36, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Catchphrase

The article needs more detail regarding the origin of "I don't believe it!" as a catchphrase for the actor. The reference here is vague. In what show was it introduced and in what context? It got a big laugh when he used it in character as Gaius in the Merlin Children in Need mini-episode, but it needs to be explained for non-British TV viewers. 68.146.64.9 (talk) 04:29, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

I know this section was a while ago, but about the catchphrase...I think it would be important to mention that he hates being hounded about it, so much so that he will only now perform the famous "I don't believe it!" if someone makes a donation to charity. Also, a sentence about him highlighting this in the Father Ted episode "The Mainland", reference on the BBC, I'm sure there are more in depth sources, but the BBC is somewhat reliable. --112.205.11.129 (talk) 12:25, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

"Wilson, who is gay..."

DJFairborne77 made a series of edits that included mentioning Wilson's sexuality and political work, both of which appear to be well supported by this reference but JasperDeng reverted these as "unsourced BLP". I've restored them. Let discussion commence.... Alistair Stevenson (talk) 19:02, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't buy the reliability of this source. This source tends to have sex-themed articles, of which I cannot see where they got the info.Jasper Deng (talk) 19:09, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

It's not that it's unsourced, it's that the source is not reliable? Consensus seems to accept the source, but if we accept it's probably true that Wilson appeared as a representative of Stonewall (UK), see here, could we thereby avoid a tricky debate about whether Pink News is a journal of record? Alistair Stevenson (talk) 19:24, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

It is up to the person himself to say that he is gay, or indeed straight or anything else, not for one writer on one website to assert that. If he has indeed volunteered this information (or there is some other reason for the information to be properly public knowledge) there will be (other) reliable sources including an interview or whatever. I will remove the information and that ref for now as a BLP issue without prejudice to an outcome of this discussion, which had basically stalled. Remember that content added to Wikipedia is repeated uncritically in many other websites almost immediately which is why the BLP policy exists. It was in any case incorrect to restore information removed for a BLP reason before the issue was resolved. --Mirokado (talk) 20:20, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

I'll actually take a few minutes more to update the article based on

It is something that Wilson, if not pre-occupied with, certainly takes an active interest in. He is a supporter of gay rights and has appeared at events hosted by the gay rights charity Stonewall.
However, Wilson has never, from what I can garner from previous press interviews, discussed his own sexuality.
I don’t stand on platforms; I’m not a gay campaigner in that sense. I haven’t come out as gay – although Wikipedia says I am – I don’t know who told them that.

--Mirokado (talk) 20:31, 7 October 2011 (UTC)

Here's a more recent quote (it sounds like he might be becoming more open about his sexuality): "I am not really a spokesman for the gay community. I have always been a quiet gay." Yorkshire Post, 29 October 2012 -- Gorky5 (talk) 11:17, 2 November 2012 (UTC)

Reflist added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Beardo (talk • contribs) 26 November 2011 21:00:39‎

Thanks, tweaked. --Mirokado (talk) 22:11, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

More on this:

In 2005 Wilson confessed that he had been in love only once, with a female doctor.

He said: 'It was a woman. She's now married with a family, and the last thing I want is for people to find out who she was and make her life a living hell.

'I don't think they would now, but when One Foot In The Grave was very popular, any bit of tittle-tattle was jumped upon.

'That was the one enduring relationship.

'There were other little ones, and I've had male friends but not lovers.

'That was the one I would call a love affair.'

Which suggests he is prepared to go out of his way to scotch such rumours but anything beyond that, he is playing his cards close to his chest on his romantic situation. See also Patrick Moore. (Emperor (talk) 19:55, 26 October 2012 (UTC))

Wilson came out as gay in an interview with The Daily Mail today. (92.7.4.155 (talk) 11:28, 2 March 2013 (UTC))

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2285971/Richard-Wilson-I-dont-mind-people-saying-Im-gay-I-am.html Damson88 (talk) 14:19, 2 March 2013 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Sheila Allen (English actress) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 09:15, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

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Court physician

Drchriswilliams, how exactly is the link court physician speculative? And are you suggesting that court physicians exist only in fiction? Surtsicna (talk) 20:08, 11 July 2021 (UTC)

@Surtsicna: I'm suggesting caution in applying a redlink to the lead of an article of an actor playing a fictional character, where the character itself (eg in List of Merlin characters) hasn't even had such a link applied. I have noted there are other articles where such subject matter may exist, eg Physician to the Queen. Drchriswilliams (talk) 20:20, 11 July 2021 (UTC)

Why is caution needed, in your opinion? Court physicians have indeed existed. Surtsicna (talk) 20:21, 11 July 2021 (UTC)

This isn't an article about a court physician, but about an actor that once played a character described in the lead of the article as a court physician. The reference given instead describes the character as a "Royal physician". If you are creating a redlink, then it is your responsibility to check for coverage. Drchriswilliams (talk) 20:32, 11 July 2021 (UTC)