In Wednesday’s Guardian there was a major obituary of the actor James Grout who has died aged 84. Who he? would be the reaction of most people; but if you learn that, for many years, he played Chief Superintendent Strange, Inspector Morse's boss, you'll know who I’m talking about.

That might be what he is best known for as far as the television public is concerned; but he had a long career as, in the Guardian’s words, “a supporting actor of authority and distinction”. On television he was in, for example, Rumpole of the Bailey, The Beiderbecke Affair and Yes Minister. But he appeared in many stage plays, too, and it is one of these, from 1981, which played a minor role in my own life.

Five years before all this, half way through a four-year term as a lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Oran in western Algeria, I had been entitled to a free trip back to London. As I was already thinking of what I would do when the contract was up, I went to Highgate to talk to Andy, a friend of a friend who was running an English Language school for Eurocentres, a Swiss organisation.

We hit it off from the start, spent a hour or so together at a local pub and I left thinking that his life didn’t sound too bad. So, a few months before I was to leave Algeria, I wrote to him to see if there was anything going in his organisation. By coincidence he had just given in his notice and had been asked by his boss if he had any ideas for which of the three or four internal candidates should replace him. Andy said that there would be grumblings whoever they went for, but if they were looking for someone from outside then there was this feller .....

So, by pure serendipity, I found myself in 1978 the Principal of Davies’s School of English, Highgate.  (As you can see from the photo above, I didn’t really understand why they had chosen me, especially with that beard and haircut.)

Anyway, roll on three years and I get a phone call from someone saying that Harold Pinter was to direct a play called Quartermaine’s Terms by his friend Simon Gray, and is there any chance that they could come up to our school the following week to record some of the students.

The play was set in a language school in Cambridge, similar to ours, and the  idea was to have authentic background conversation for the start of two different scenes: firstly, at the beginning of a new term when the students have just arrived in England and would probably be looking out people with whom they could talk in their own language; and secondly, once their English had improved and the conversation would be more general.

No problem, I said; we would be delighted to help out. The students were just as keen on the idea of contributing to a West End play, so, by the time the group arrived, they were all well briefed and ready to go. 

It was a fine, sunny day and we went out into the garden for the actual recording.  Harold Pinter told them that they should imagine what they would say to each other on their very first day, talking to people from their own country, and the resulting babel/babble of Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian and Japanese was judged fine by writer, director and sound guy on, I think the third take.   The second sequence went even more quickly, and everyone, student volunteers included, sat down in the garden for a special tea I’d arranged.

Later on, once everyone had left, my secretary Sally told me that my boss had phoned while all this was going on, wanting to speak to me. “Well, he’s in the garden having tea with Harold Pinter, but if you’d like me to disturb him ..?”  “No, no .. that’s all right”, was the reply. And I never did find out what the call was about.

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The original 1981 production starred Edward Fox and Prunella Scales, as well as James Grout.  They gave us loads of tickets for the previews, as well as a hundred pounds to go towards our end of term party.

In 1987 there was a film version featuring Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Eleanor Bron, Peter Jeffrey and  Clive Francis. (Click here for a link to YouTube).

By chance, early next year there is to be a revival of the play. with Rowan Atkinson as St. John Quartermaine.

It is to be at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, from Tuesday 8 January-Saturday 12 January, then at the Theatre Royal, Bath, from Monday 14 January–Saturday 19 January 2013.

It then transfers to London, for 12 weeks from Wednesday 23 January, 2013 at Wyndham’s Theatre.

(Click for a link to the box office)