TOM BUDGE AS STATION ALL-ROUNDER, CLIVE RANK

In his late teens, Clive is a small, wiry figure with unkempt hair, who looks like he’s just seen a train go by very fast. He’s the cheery, lonely, helpful, jack-of-all-trades around the station; a whiz at the mixing desk, a master of cables and wiring, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the record library. He’s got a real crush on Tracy, but he hides it well. For a lot of the time, Clive lives in his own head, a little fantasy world where he is the king of the jocks and Tracy is his queen. Clive’s hobbies include Rubik’s Cubes, BMX bikes and developing a theory on chaos.

BUDGE ON CLIVE RANK

"Clive is probably the ultimate innocent in CHAT-AM. They sort of think he’s just the work experience kid. I think he’s finished school, he hasn’t really got a family and he feels he might be adopted. His past is really quite unknown even though it’s actually quite surreal and strange. He was even in a bikey gang for a while. Whilst he’s extremely innocent in many ways he’s very open minded as well. He hasn’t got the prejudices of life that many people have." "He’s never really noticed girls before but now there’s Tracy. She’s the only girl around so he’s obviously going to be infatuated with her. I thought of Clive as a pretty asexual sort of a person when I went into the role, but that Tracy thing sprung up on me so I had to sort of invent a way for him to suddenly get interested. He’s got his own fantasies about being a DJ - even doing a Tom Cruise/Risky Business scene in the white shirt and underpants."

TOM TALKS ABOUT THE 80s

"The eighties for me were great times. They were the first eight years of my life. I remember a lot of the fashion mistakes looking back on things. For me it seemed like a time when everyone was in business, had lots of money and was happy. It was a surreal time I guess compared to the 90s. The 80s were an extreme time in so many aspects."

TOM BUDGE - MINI BIOGRAPHY

Tom’s television credits include lead roles in Round the Twist III and IV, guest roles in Blue Heelers and an ongoing role in Neighbours. Tom has several major television commercials under his belt including the recent Pepsi commercial with Kylie Minogue where Tom plays the male lead. Theatrical work includes lead roles at Melbourne Grammar School in The Wizard of Oz, Oliver, Once a King, Threepenny Opera, Twisting the Knife and The Winters Tale. Budge also wrote and directed Liquid Denial and played the role of Grant.