Miles Jupp stares out at an empty Oval cricket ground. \u201cThis is absolutely one of my favourite places in the world,\u201d says the actor, writer and comedian. We sit for a moment in silence, a couple of groundsmen wrestle with a hose and start watering the square. \u201cThis is almost blissful,\u201d says Jupp in a hushed reverie. \u201cYou know, that day, 12 September 2005, was life-changing for so many of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final day of the 2005 Ashes series did change the course of Jupp\u2019s life, at least for a little while. In his early 20s he was a nascent standup comedian and actor; in 2001 he won the long-running newcomer comedian competition So You Think You\u2019re Funny? \u201cThe final was held on 25 August, the same date Michael Atherton played his final innings for England. In my victory speech, I dedicated my prize to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
A short while afterwards Jupp took the role of Archie the Inventor in the BBC children\u2019s show Balamory. The show became a terrestrial TV juggernaut, people would shout \u201cArchie!\u201d at Jupp in the street, more series were commissioned, arena tours were sold out months in advance. A short, steady acting job had gone somewhat awry and morphed into something of an albatross around his neck.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was feeling pretty lost at that time if truth be told. I felt stuck so tried to rid myself of the stupor by taking not one but two shows up to the Edinburgh festival in the summer of 2005. I was so busy, but all I really wanted to do was watch the cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Ashes going down to a deciding Test at the Oval, Jupp had finished his Edinburgh commitments and found himself in London \u2013 \u201cI was torturously close to the action.\u201d His days were spent at the National Youth Theatre rehearsing the next Balamory live show. \u201cI knew I just had to get here [the Oval] and watch some of that series in the flesh.\u201d<\/p>\n
A free man on the final day of the series, Jupp joined the thronging early morning queues in Kennington where a ticketing guardian angel sold him a spare for a tenner. He was in. \u201cI sat in awe, Kevin Pietersen\u2019s hooked sixes off Brett Lee after lunch sailed just over my head in the crowd. Just amazing. For an England cricket fan in the 90s, 2005 was the end of the movie in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the afterglow of England\u2019s first Ashes series victory in 18 years Jupp peeled off from the beery renditions of Jerusalem and glanced up through the ticker tape to the press box. He saw the journalists hunched over their laptops. \u201cSomething in me clicked, that\u2019s what I should be doing with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n