"‘Ronny’ was inspired by the tales Wendy and Sarah Partridge would tell of their Dad’s implausible (but actual) friendship with Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs. The character of an exiled wildman, living off past glories chimed with that particular melancholy that surrounds blokes on their own generally. Like many facets of gender, in my opinion, the predicament of maleness is no worse or better than that of our sisters but is observably different. I was trying to contrast the slightly bogus grandiosity of his prime with the seediness after the Fall. He does get a happy ending though."
From a December 2016 blog post by Barry Andrews:
"‘Ronny’ was inspired by the tales Wendy and Sarah Partridge would tell of their Dad’s implausible (but actual) friendship with Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs. The character of an exiled wildman, living off past glories chimed with that particular melancholy that surrounds blokes on their own generally. Like many facets of gender, in my opinion, the predicament of maleness is no worse or better than that of our sisters but is observably different. I was trying to contrast the slightly bogus grandiosity of his prime with the seediness after the Fall. He does get a happy ending though."