Anthony Head Credits

Sensitive Skin

Television guest star appearance (UK)

Role: Tom Paine
Episodes: 2.03 - The Signals and 2.06 - Here I Am
Original air date: July 10 and July 31, 2007
Network: BBC2
Availability: Currently available on DVD

Summary of Anthony Head's storyline:

Episode 3 - The Signals: In the episodes leading up to this one, Davina Jackson has been recovering from the death of her husband and has moved onto a houseboat on the Thames.

As this episode opens, Davina comes across a gift her husband had given to her before his death: a brown striped sweater. She puts in on despite thinking it doesn't suit her. As she is walking back to her boat wearing the sweater, she passes Tom Paine who stops her and bluntly tells her that the sweater does not suit her at all. Shocked at his forwardness, Davina objects but must ultimately admit he is right. Tom tells her that he is a personal shopper and it is his job to help women discover what they should be wearing to look their best. He gives her his card and invites her to pay his store a visit sometime.

Davina takes Tom up on his offer and they spend the afternoon together shopping. She ends up buying everything he suggests, saying it's time for her to indulge in this sort of thing. They have lunch and agree that they don't want the afternoon together to end. They end up at on a paddleboat at a lake. However, the boat is broken and they cannot move. Tom jokes that he is going to dive in and swim for help, but asks for a kiss first. Davina agrees. Tom then starts to take off his shirt but looks at the water and changes his mind. He sits back down and they agree to wait for help.

Later, they are having coffee and start discussing the future. Davina acknowledges that she has always waited for things to happen to her but now she realizes that she must make them happen herself. Tom talks about his desire to open up a sanctuary for women where they can go to discover what truly makes them happy and become closer to their real selves. He has talked to the store where he works and they will match any funds he raises on his own. Davina offers to become an investor but he turns her offer down saying it might not be ethical. Davina wonders why not.

The scene cuts to the next morning with Davina waking up in her bed and Tom, dressed in a robe, bringing her coffee. Davina feels guilty about having had sex for the first time since her husband's death but Tom soon talks her out of it and they head back under the covers.

Several days later, Tom arrives to pick up Davina for a visit to see her mother in hospital. She tells him he doesn't have to go but he assures her he wants to. Davina isn't too sure when she sees Tom's car for the first time: a 1970's sports car that looks like it would be at home on Starsky and Hutch and which Davina refers to as a pimp's car.

They arrive at the hospital and Tom hangs in the background while Davina and her sister bicker over old grievances. Tom finally steps in only to ask Davina's sister why she wears her hair that way as it doesn't suit her at all.

Tom drops Davina off on the street near her houseboat. Worn out from the stress of the day, she doesn't invite him in and says goodnight. She is almost home when Tom chases after her and pulls her into a passionate kiss.

The kiss is observed by Davina's neighbor Lizzie. When Davina returns, alone to her houseboat, she is stopped by Lizzie. It turns out that the day Davina first saw Tom, he was leaving Lizzie's houseboat. Lizzie tells Davina that he had asked her for money for his sanctuary for women and then broke it off with her when she said no. Upset by this turn of events, Davina ends things with Tom (although we do not see this take place).

Episode 6 - Here I Am: Davina's neighbor Lizzie commits suicide by jumping into the Thames in front of Davina. This causes Davina to take stock of her own life. One of the things she does is to pay Tom a visit at his store. Tom denies ever having had sex with Lizzie, much less having asked her for money. Davina gives him a check, telling him that Lizzie left him almost all her money and he now has enough to open his business. Tom is shocked and Davina sarcastically tells him that for £300,000, he must have been a great 'friend'.