Actor and DJ visits pupils at his old school

Mr Rodigan, 60, visited Gosford Hill to speak about his career in radio over the past 30 years. One student he spoke to was Daniel Sarbatta – more widely known as D-Sarb.

The 18-year-old has reached number one in the iTunes world music chart, amassed more than 250,000 views on YouTube, been interviewed on Radio One and is about to start a nationwide tour with Dappy, lead singer with the group N-Dubz.

After meeting Mr Rodigan, who was made an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list, D-Sarb said: “David shared his experience and the way he coped with his quick rise. It was phenomenal. We spoke about how it can be lonely and challenging flying off around the world. It has been a big inspiration, especially because he started at Gosford Hill. I’d love to follow in his footsteps.”

Mr Rodigan, who now lives in London, lived in Kidlington and attended the school during the 1960s.

He was presented with a programme from school play Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, in which he appeared and which helped spark his career.

Mr Rodigan said: “I had an inspirational teacher with a passion for literature and I looked forward to class. That man and that production introduced me to the joys of theatre.”

After leaving school, Mr Rodigan starred in Doctor Who before starting his 34-year long career as a DJ.

With a passion for ska and reggae, the DJ – known as Ram Jam Rodigan – worked on Captial Radio, Radio London and the British Forces Broadcasting Corps for 25 years and joined Kiss 100 FM in 1990 where he can still be heard every Sunday at 11pm. He said Gosford Hill School had changed a lot but he was buoyed by its continued focus on the arts.

Lucy Truman, 15, said: “It has been slightly surreal because we have just walked around the school with this successful and famous man.”

Headteacher Stephen Bizley got in touch with Mr Rodigan about a visit after reading the Oxford Mail’s article about the DJ’s MBE success.