STALE biscuits and weak cups of tea with a rather ominous layer of congealed milk on top.

No, I'm not describing my tea break at work - if I had one - but the memory that sprang to mind when I discovered I'd be interviewing comic Russ Abbot.

I was only young when his hugely popular series the Russ Abbot Show and the Russ Abbot Madhouse hit our screens.

However, I do remember chuckling away at his various characters' antics as I sat on the floor in my gran's house desperately trying to avoid drinking the tea and eating the stale Rich Teas.

Recalling Abbot's characters as being very much "in your face" types, for some reason I expected the man himself to be, dare I say it, slightly loud-mouthed.

So when I was greeted with a softly, well-spoken man on the phone I was pleasantly surprised.

It was 30 minutes to curtain-up at the Surrey theatre he was about to perform at when I managed to catch up with him. I imagined he'd be a bag of nerves with little time to chat to a journalist, but he sounded so laid back he must have been horizontal.

Actually he was. "I'm just having a lie down and doing the crossword," he confessed.

"I don't really get nervous these days, well maybe on opening night I'll have a few apprehensions and jitters, but then I'm OK once we're up and running."

Abbot is currently touring in the Oscar Wilde play Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, which will be performed at Malvern Theatres from Monday, March 28, until Saturday, April 2.

The play's a comedy but involves serious stage acting - something the public do not necessarily associate with Abbot.

But he's no stranger to the world of theatre. This summer he opened to rave reviews in the role of Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In fact, you name it, Abbot's done it. From musicals to international television programmes, he even released three hit singles, including the hugely successful Atmosphere, which got to number seven in the pop charts.

"I definitely enjoy live theatre compared to television work. It creates a challenge," said 57-year-old Abbot.

"You have to use a different technique with the theatre and I can never get enough of the smell of the greasepaint and the buzz of the crowd.

"I wouldn't go back to doing sketch stuff. You've got to move with the times. I think it would be unfair to the characters we created to keep pursuing them for ever. There's a time limit for that kind of thing."

And it's the timelessness of his current role that he is lapping up, Abbot explained.

"Oscar Wilde's work is incredible," he gasped. "It's period comedy and when you think how long ago it's written it still very much applies to the modern day."

Abbot, who plays the role of a palm reader who prophesises that Lord Arthur Savile is to commit murder, is joined by an experienced cast in the show, including Sara Crowe, Henry McGee and Josephine Tewson.

For tickets, which cost £16 to £24, call Malvern Theatres box office on 01684 892277 or log on to www.malvern-theatres.co.uk