Actor Nicholas Gecks’ career spans five decades, during which he’s starred in high-profile productions ranging from Doctor Who to Nicholas Nickleby. Overseas Living caught up with the actor to talk about everything from his Broadway experiences to his penchant for the hills of Prague and his apparent likeness to travel writer R.L. Stevenson

You joined the acting profession in 1978. How has the industry changed since then?
The single most important change is i...

If Switzerland was human, it would have starred in Gattaca alongside the young Jude Law. Not only is the country beautiful in that gene manipulated way, it also possesses other attractive qualities such as excellent infrastructure, a good banking system, great healthcare and a population of multilingual and generally hardworking natives. Other desirable national characteristics include political and economic stability, as well as, perhaps most importantly, low tax rates. No wonder, then, that...

“Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?”

I don’t usually drink tea but on this occasion I readily accepted the offer and practically bounded up the steps to the front door. Georgina was equally enthusiastic. After a week of struggling away with our pidgin Italian it was a relief to find someone who spoke English and this lady didn’t just speak English, she was English.

We were once again in the Garfagnana, an enchanting province of northern Tuscany not unlike the En...

Tuscany is not all sunshine, fine wines and ice cream. It has some pretty fierce winters, especially in the mountainous Garfagnana region where Georgina and I are in the process of buying a home. But one of the reasons that Georgina is excited about our move is that she is keen to take up skiing again after a break of several years. The house we’ve set our hearts on is just 40 minutes by car from Abetone – a ski resort high in The Apennines – where, I am reliably informed, the snow is e...

How, I asked myself, is it possible to be imprecise about the ownership of a house? And so began a voyage into the murky labyrinth that is Italian inheritance law and a side trip into the arena of familial bickering.

A few weeks ago, after several months of searching, Georgina and I found our dream home in Italy. It is a grand old house in a picturesque hilltop village in the Garfagnana region of northern Tuscany. It needs a bathroom, it needs a kitchen, it needs to be painted and furn...

Surely this must count among the finest opening gambits ever uttered during house price deliberations. Later, in Roy’s office, I joked that the entire community would hate us if we bargained too hard and left them without enough money to pay for repairs to the church roof. As it turned out the canonica, or rectory, in the hilltop hamlet of Bargecchia, was for sale with only the tiniest of gardens so it didn’t suit us. But if outside space is not one of your priorities and you’re looking...

Those doom-laden words rang in my ears as I climbed into my rented car and set off to view a property in the hilltop village of Prignano Cilento. The warning had come two weeks earlier from my friend, Gianpiero, when I told him I was contemplating a permanent move there. Given that Gianpiero is a highly intelligent, well-travelled, street-smart Italian if I hadn’t already paid for the flights I might have had second thoughts. But it was too late to back out so a fortnight later Georgina...

“The house is in great condition,” said Claudio, “but it needs complete restoration”

I considered asking why a house in great condition would need complete restoration but thought better of it and let him prattle on for another couple of minutes. I then politely declined an offer to view the property and crossed Claudio off my list.

I am seven weeks into my search for a home in Italy. Claudio is not the first estate agent to be crossed off the list and I dare say he won�...