TV actor hails auditorium upgrade

The actor, who is best known for playing Carson the Butler in the ITV 1 period drama, was head prefect at Ashville College in Harrogate in 1966.

The college’s Soothill Hall is to receive a major facelift taking the college’s spending on its facilities to more than £8m in the past six years.

The project, which is set to be completed by November, includes creating motorised lighting gantries, new seating and a balcony area which will take the venue’s capacity to more than 600.

Mr Carter said: “I’m delighted to hear about Ashville’s plans to upgrade the school auditorium to make it a top class performance space. I applaud most enthusiastically any efforts to encourage more students to take up arts subjects at GCSE and A level, and having an inspiring venue will surely give a huge boost to all. I started acting when I was at Ashville, purely for the fun of it, with no intention of making a career as a performer.

“However, the pleasure I derived from those early forays into drama gave me the confidence to take up acting professionally.”