I love theatre work. I can pick and choose - I'm not being blas? - but if the right piece comes along and I'm available I'll do it. Otherwise I'll just wait for the phone to ring and take things easy. But I certainly couldn't turn this one down - it's too good.
This is the sequel to Ray Cooney's original farce, Run For Your Wife? It's set 16 years after John Smith had ended up with this double life, with wives in Wimbledon and Streatham. Now he has a 16-year-old boy by one wife, and a 15-year-old girl by the other, and they make contact on the internet and arrange to meet for a cup of tea in one of the houses. Of course, John Smith finds out and is panic-stricken - and dumps the problem on to Stanley Gardner the lodger, the character I play.
It's a hilarious piece. I've always wanted to be in a Ray Cooney play, and as he's also directing I've discovered what a great director he is, because obviously he knows the work inside out. It is also great to be working with Eric Sykes.
I know Eric because we've played golf together many, many times. I've always wanted to work with him. I think he said he wanted me to take part in one of his films once - The Plank or Rhubarb Rhubarb - but I wasn't available at the time. And he paid me a wonderful tribute on my This Is Your Life, so we've been itching to work together, so this is a bonus. But it's a very strong cast all round with Beccy Armory, Helen Gill, William Harry, Carol Hawkins and Robert Daws as John Smith.
