Traversers Book of Riddles: Episode 1 the Dressmakers.” Scenes from a Teahouse.

Spotlight on the “Tegra Fez Tea House"

I assume the story of Quest for Steel is and would have been commonplace in 1953 London. Thus, a tea house aptly named “Tegra Fez” would have been situated on the High Street.

This is the place where Time War agent, Harriet Hughes sits to observe her targets; two suspected Traversers, dressmakers Damien Bowler and Phillipe Catcher. Originally, I was going to have it as an outdoor Parisian style café, with checkerboard cane chairs spilling out onto the footpath. But I thought of the distraction traffic and weather would cause to the scen and besides, indoor tea houses afford far more cosiness and I love to create comfortable and elegant environments.

Although, we are showcasing the early 50’s, like a lot of the environments, the building would be older, late 19th century and the establishment 1920’s. I guess the quintessential illustration I did of a topless Tegra Fez guided this, as the 40s and 50s would have been far more conservative with the imagery than the roaring 20s.

First off was getting the door right, gold lettering on glass/ chocolate painted framework and ornate brass edging. I love the idea of having the menu official and finite. Large silver art deco lettering announcing Scones, Teas and Sweets.

The Tegra Fez Tea House even has its own branded chocolates, liquorice and truffles. These would have been hard to come by in time of rationing, but by about this stage, restrictions started to ease. The tea sets are authentic pieces from the era as are other touches.

After I filmed Quest for Steel, I took a few years off away from film, so getting back was obviously going to take some preparation. Therefore, I thought the very first person I would film would be me. I have already stitched my part of the scene together, so I am back into the real swing of things. Happy that there has been a lot of technical advancements too since 2019 and I am feeling really ready for business.

Here, I play Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Huntingdon Sears. I based this role off one of the characters in one of my favourite films “The Man who Never Was” Where Navy personnel worked behind the lines to foil the Germans with the famous Operation Mincemeat.

In this Traversers, episode, a branch of British Intelligence, whom Sears was working for at the time, have given up on observing the two time travellers because it is akin to watching paint dry, so they have provided the duty to the department of Time War. He is still highly sceptical of the duty, so I was happy to play someone craggy.

Stay tuned for more casting announcements and insights.