From the age of fourteen Tim Smith studied with Nottingham's ITV Television Workshop. During his time there he achieved his breakthrough in acting with a guest role on the channel's long-running series, "Peak Practice". A regular role followed, with Tim receiving his widest recognition at that time in another acclaimed series, this time with Channel 4's comedy "Teachers" as student Ian Potter (2001-2002).

JANUARY 30TH 2013

The hugely popular role of Clyde Connelly saw Tim in "Dream Team" for three seasons and feature across 60 episodes. Clyde arrived with a persona of immature and naivety, eager to impress the peers he had long admired in the team. “This club is going to be putting up statues of me!” was a famous line he delivered having scored the goal which saved the club from relegation, then to learn he could be HUFC’s next chairman on the same day. But by the start of his final season on the show, Clyde was on a downward spiral he wouldn’t emerge from; the story went further than a plot of it's nature in recent times would, with Clyde succeeding in committing suicide.

While Tim continues to act on both stage and screen - a theatre tour in 2007 with the Nottingham Playhouse for Giles Croft's production of "Whiskey Galore! The Making of Fillum", and the recent short "Silver Lining" (2011), he has moved into working behind the camera with great success. In 2006 he set up his production company Fourmost Films. Its first project, "Schoolboy", was a well-received short that told the story of the consequences of teenagers carrying weapons.

Since then, Tim has worked on Fourmost’s projects as a writer, director and producer, with the company picking up the award for Film and Television Business of the Year at the 2009 Nottingham Creative Business Awards. Aside from Fourmost, Tim is Co-Founder and Director of Film at Shop, an award winning creative enterprise, and regularly runs classes for budding future film makers and actors at The Actors Workshop, Nottingham.

You could say Tim and his team have done much to keep the arts initiative alive and well in the Midlands.

Hiding out during Jamie's siege

6.30 [290] End Game (04/05/03)

Letting the press know who's boss!

7.1 [293] Groundhog Day (28/09/03)

In a dark place (the Dragons Lair showers!)

8.6 [330] Stonegate (21/11/04)

How did your audition for the show come about back in 2002?

My agent sent me to audition for Dream Team at 3 Mills Studios in East London. It was a really wet day and the drive down from Nottingham was horrendous. We got taken out onto the park behind the studios and were put through our paces by Andy Ansah (football adviser on the show). I didn't manage to impress Andy with my footballing ability and he tried to send me home straight away without even letting me read for the part. However I managed to persuade the Dream Team producers to let me read for Clyde and in the end I got the part. Originally Clyde was only in a few episodes but I was very grateful they developed my part and became a regular part of the cast.

Clyde was a favourite with both the writers and the viewers. Whether it was the whole saga of Chairman Clyde and installing the BO5S number plates to his car, or his whirlwind marriage to Donna (Jo Goldie). Do you have any favourite moments involving Clyde (before the depression came along?)

Clyde had some great story-lines and it was exciting waiting for new episodes to be written as you never knew what was going to unfold and how it would incorporate your character. You could be scoring in the Champions League, crashing Ferrari's, getting beaten up (which happened to Clyde a lot) or jumping off the roof of a stadium. When Clyde tried to take ownership of HUFC I was pretty surprised to be involved in such a major storyline as until then I hadn't been a particularly prominent character. I am still very thankful to the makers of the show as playing for HUFC (or pretending to) was a chance to live out my early childhood dreams of being a professional footballer.

How did you like the pairing of Clyde and Ryan (Ricky Whittle)? Ryan did some rotten things to Clyde, while Tommy (Chris Brazier) was a much better friend.

Working with Chris and Ricky was an absolute pleasure. It would have been nice if the 'Clyde-Ryan-comedy-duo' plot line had been developed further as Ricky and I both felt there was potential for those characters to provide some funny story lines. We had a great laugh filming those episodes too. Chris Brazier is also from Nottingham and we met for the first time on the set of Dream Team. We have since worked on lots of other projects together and have become good friends.

From what I gather your skills as a footballer were quite good, having had trials at Notts County and then (before Ricky Whittle's accident) a regular at the charity matches. Do you think you could have been a rival for Clyde?

I played for my school team and a local team my dad managed called Wollaton Hall FC when I was a young lad. I had trials for the East Mids Notts Schools Team but I didn't get selected. At 14 I decided to concentrate more on my acting than football and I joined the Television Workshop in Nottingham and got a part in Peak Practice. Playing in Dream Team charity matches was an absolute privilege and the highlight of my footballing life. To play in stadiums in front of thousands of people was a dream come true. I met so many footballing legends, playing alongside the likes of John Barnes, Peter Beardsley and Glenn Hoddle. A highlight was nutmegging Nigel Winterburn! Going over to Ireland to play in games was a fantastic experience too. The show was hugely popular over there so every time we went we got a fantastic reception.

The end of your time on the show saw Clyde's suicide - a story that was very well received and handled. It's still very hard-hitting to watch again. What did you think when you heard you'd be getting this as your final story?

I felt very grateful to be given such an emotional and compelling exit. As an actor, storylines like that don't come along very often and I really appreciated the opportunity to explore Clyde's character in a way that we hadn't previously seen. I certainly went out with a bang!

It looked like a lot of planning went into the story from all areas as well - the change in Clyde's appearance and how he slowly became less groomed, losing all of his cocky bravado I thought was excellent…

When I heard about the storyline, I decided to stop cutting my hair. That was one way to physically prepare for Clyde's psychological demise. I also researched depression and spoke at length with a close friend who was suffering from severe depression at the time. Looking back at it, mentally it took me to a pretty dark place and I learned a lot about myself in the process.

And Clyde was right about Barker (Jon Morrison) all along, with him turning into a mass murderer and everything...

Haha, I suppose he was. Jon Morrison is a top bloke and a fantastic actor.

Do you still see or are in touch with anyone from the show? I see a few of them have cropped up in your current role at Fourmost!

Yes I'm still in touch with a lot of them. Phil Brody (Jaws) has been in a couple of my short films. Clair Bretton (Director) came and worked with me on two of my films. Alex Lawler (Sexy) has helped me out a few times and he directed some football scenes in my most recent film. I try to catch up with the lads when I can. The cast and crew at Dream Team were amazing and I miss working with them. They were good times.

How about your time since Dream Team, any projects you've been proud of?

I worked hard after leaving Dream Team to learn how to make films so going to Cannes and New York Film Festivals to screen my work was really rewarding. Along the way a couple of my films have picked up awards which is an awesome bonus.

Over the past six years, you've established two successful businesses - Fourmost Films, an award-winning media production company. And Co Founder and Director of Shop, an award winning creative enterprise. Talk to us more about both.

In 2006 I made a short film called Schoolboy. That was the start of my production company Fourmost Films. As I learned more about film producing I went looking for bigger projects. Before I knew it, I was producing more than I was acting. In 2010 I set up a company called Shop in order to expand my interests into Art, Music and Events. I now also run acting and film making classes at The Actors Workshop, Nottingham. If anyone out there is interested in my recent projects or would like to see some of my short films, they should visit: www.fourmostfilms.com

Thanks to everyone for supporting HUFC all these years. I still meet Dream Team fans all over the place and it's always a pleasure chatting to them. Best wishes to you all!

Tim Smith on Imdb

Tim on Twitter

Fourmost Films on Vimeo 

Clyde Connelly's profile on DTdh

Another production Tim played feature parts in was the BBC's documentary series "Days That Shook The World", with former Dream Team director David Bartlett and featuring several of Tim's DT co-stars.

As Roy James of The Great Train Robbery in 1963

Grand Heist: TX (01/11/04)

As Mr. California in Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds radio hysteria of 1938

Fact or Fiction: TX (03/11/05)

A scene from "Schoolboy" (2007), produced by Tim and directed by Clair Breton