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TIM FERGUSON AS "EYE IN THE SKY" VOX (‘TONY VAUXHALL’) |
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Vox is the Greek Chorus of the series. He’s a presence in the radio station, although he doesn’t quite interact with the others in the same way.
Vox exists in a different plane literally - high above CHAT-AM in a twin engine Cessna. It’s a parallel world of news reports, weather and sporting results that reflect events in the station below.
He’s an all-knowing, all-seeing, deep-voiced narrator of the decade that was the 80s. Outside the booth he’s a shadow, amounting to little more than a stray word of commentary here or there.
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"Walk into any radio station and you meet these guys who are just sad, unlovable, slightly pudgy creatures. VOX is pretty much useless to anybody. He can’t do anything on the ground.
"He couldn’t pick up a girl without the mystique of a media career and even then a one-night-stand is as far as it would go - there’s only so much ‘Menage for Men’ a girl can tolerate.
"He’s a lonely geek who ironically has the whole city listening to him. Vox knows to ignore all the big news stories that can be so depressing. Why talk about the Falklands War when a Samantha Fox tour is rumoured?"
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TIM TALKS ABOUT THE CREATION OF SHOCK JOCK |
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"SHOCK JOCK was inspired by the recent crisis in radio with the legends of talkback being dragged before the ABA and asked in stern but impotent voices to explain what they’ve been doing for the last 40 years. I thought it was amazing that what was once par for the course was suddenly so offensive. It was a media version of the shunning of shoulder pads. I wanted to get under the skin of talkback, to see what could motivate people to think one thing and say another, to invent an opinion where they have none, to express a view for money. The Greed Disease hit its peak in the 80s so it seemed a good place to start."
"An important example of the greed mentality in SHOCK JOCK is the evolution of Barry Gold. Barry starts off as a cynical young jock with no firm convictions beyond his own ambitions. Gradually, as the ugly delights of the world around him lift their skirts, he is forced to make a stand. In the face of big money, criminal deception and mate-to-mate treachery, Barry has to ‘get real’. Except for the free furry steering wheel covers, he turns out to be pretty decent - for a jock."
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"Shock Jock mainly just enjoys the time it’s in. The era is the backdrop, not the star. Sure, the hair gel is there and the New Romantics, Space Invaders, Bondy, Skasey, Hawkey, Whispering Jack and Ultravox, but it’s just background stuff for people to pick up and enjoy. Shock Jock is driven by its characters and stories. Mind you, we may be on the crest of a new wave - 80s costumes were quite hard to find...
"It’s strange to consider that the confident swagger the world adopted in the 80s proved to be so misjudged. Business icons we admired are in jail or exile. Clothes we loved are the subject of ridicule. Don’t even mention Boy George. We felt worldly but it appears we were inocents. What are we doing today that will make us cringe tomorrow? Will Chat Rooms be the ballroom dance halls of the future?"
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TIM TALKS ABOUT FASHION IN THE 80s |
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"You always assume that the clothes you are wearing now are the end-point of fashion. We stare at the mirror and say ‘This look is the logical conclusion to 2000 years of Western fashion. This is it and there is no other advancement of which we can conceive that could be more practical, sexy or stylish.’
"Then the next thing you know, Bolero jackets are gone and baggy track suits are cool. It was only five years ago when guys had that Julius Caesar brushed-forward hairstyle which went away for 2,000 years because it was so poncy. I reckon big 16th Century wigs for men must be only 20 years away. Things don’t go out of fashion - they just move to the back of the queue."
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