Ian Cheeseman Talks: If you could time travel where would you go?

In his column this week, Tameside Radio presenter Ian Cheeseman discusses the thought of travelling back in time and looks ahead to his chat with actor Paterson Joseph.

If you could time travel where would you go? I assume that you would try and get out of this horrible 2020 as quickly as possible, but at what point in history would you go or would you rather travel into the past? 

I think I know where I would go and I suspect there will be many who would do something similar to what I’m about to suggest.

I’d go back to the early 1970s. The reason I’d do that is because my mum passed away when I was only 17, so I never really knew her as an adult and I’d love to tell her what has happened to me and the family I now have, since she moved on. 

Most of all I’d want to give her a hug and a kiss and tell her how much I appreciate everything she did for me. 

In the circumstances we are all living through at the moment I suspect many of us feel that way about our loved ones who are being protected from us so are kept out of reach. 

My dad is in a care home so that means no visits or kisses and cuddles and we all need a few of them don’t we.

Away from the obvious family reasons to time travel I’d go back to 1979 because during that year my favourite pop group, Abba, were touring the UK and I got to see them three times. 

The first was at Wembley Arena and then successive nights at Bingley Hall in Stafford. They are still my favourite concerts. 

We all have different musical tastes of course so you might not agree with that particular choice, but even if the Hacienda was your chosen venue for music or you were into punk or the disco of the time, I bet you’d love to go and relive a day in the era of your choice.

I guess another time I might visit is early 2021 to see if life is back to normal then; maybe it would be best not to know that for now, but some certainty about when we can return to “normal” would feel reassuring to me.

My guest on my Tameside Radio show this week is an actor called Paterson Joseph who has done a bit of time travelling himself. 

He’s one of the most talented and versatile actors this country has and has appeared in everything from Casualty, Cold Feet, A Touch of Frost and Peep Show to the recent hits Noughts and Crosses and Timeless. 

In that last programme he played the inventor of a time machine, his character being called Conor Mason. 

If you haven’t discovered Timeless check it out on Netflix if you have access to it. 

Paterson has won awards for his performances as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company and so brings all that skill and character to his performances but he also has brilliant comedic timing, all are on display in his performances.

During our chat he explains how close he came to being cast as Doctor Who at the time when Matt Smith succeeded David Tennant. 

I think he would have made a brilliant Dr Who. 

As a black actor, I also asked him his views on how we try to make the world fairer and racism. I highly recommend you listen to our chat.

That’s at 1pm this Saturday on Tameside Radio 103.6FM when “Ian Cheeseman talks... to Paterson Joseph.”