Madam, - Peter Caffrey was an acclaimed and much loved actor whose career spanned theatre, film and television. I was fortunate enough to work with him once and I write because it was probably the only performance he ever gave in which he wasn't credited.
His was the voice in the Barry's Tea Christmas commercial entitled "Train" - about a father who, remembering the joy of receiving a toy train when he was a child, buys one for his son.
I wrote it when I worked in Irish International Advertising. It has been on radio every Christmas for several years and while I think the writing is nice and the production exemplary, thanks to Paddy Gibbons, the sound engineer, it would have been a small enough thing but for Peter's performance.
It is 90 seconds long but during those seconds, he gives us a sense of a character as rounded and multi-layered as if it had been a three-hour play. And he gives it the same attention and focus and respect as if it were indeed a play or a film. For him it was never "just a commercial". Every year many people take the time to write letters and e-mails expressing affection for the commercial, saying that it's part of Christmas for them. The letters are addressed to Barry's Tea, the agency and, sometimes, to me. But of course they were all meant for Peter.
He was a lovely man and an extraordinary actor.
- Yours, etc,
CATHERINE DONNELLY, Roscrea, Co Tipperary.