NICHOLAS Parsons takes his tea strong, with just a splash of milk. He's not terribly keen on dairy products and, as he is in his 70s and still very sprightly, avoiding them can hardly be said to have been to his detriment.

In fact, the veteran entertainer is in peak fitness and appears much the same as he did when I first saw him on the TV screen back in the 50s.

Taking tea with this ageless actor at his cottage home in the Cotswolds was akin to a comedy sketch. At times I felt the ''script'' could have come straight from one of the ITV shows in which he starred as straight man to comedian Arthur Haynes all those years ago.

The fact is that Nicholas Parsons, so often typecast as the foil for comedians, is a very funny man himself. He just cannot stop joking, which makes an appointment with him top class entertainment.

I had taken four members of Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Society's Youth Section to meet Nicholas, who is appearing in a show being staged by the youngsters at the city's Swan Theatre, next month.

WODYS is producing Return to the Forbidden Planet and he will be adding a touch of humour as he appears on video several times throughout the musical in the role of newsreader.

Having impressed upon the teenagers the importance of meeting an important celebrity, who only the other week had been at Buckingham Palace to receive his OBE from the Queen for services to drama and broadcasting, I was feeling quite confident of their behaviour.

As we arrived, the sky was beginning to darken and the photographer was keen to take the pictures in Nicholas' lovely cottage garden before the rain arrived. He is a keen gardener, having appeared on several gardening shows, and was quick to recite the names of all the various plants to his guests.

So this star of stage, TV and radio, who's been a household name as long as I can remember, turned to me and said: "My wife's out. Can you make the tea while I go outside for the photographs?"

Making tea is no big problem. However, when you try taking the lid off the kettle only to find out that it's a false one and the water is introduced down the spout then, because the photo-shoot overshoots, leave the tea brewing so long so that it's thoroughly stewed and, finally, over-compensate in a panic by topping up with too much water and milk, it all becomes a bit of a farce.

"Oh, my dear, it looks like soup," says our host, with a twinkle in his eye. "You can't drink that."

But drink it we did, while he told the teenagers how, like them, he had wanted to be an actor from a very early age, though he became an engineer to please his family, because that wasn't a time when you did what you wanted, it was a time you did what you were told.

He went to Glasgow, studied engineering and served his apprenticeship on Clydebank. Turning on a perfect Glaswegian accent - one of a multitude he can adopt at the drop of a hat - he baffled his young audience with his versatility.

Nicholas' outstanding career has encompassed everything from serious acting, solo cabaret work, TV and radio to comedy, farce and pantomime - although he does admit to finding two panto performances a day a little bit much to tackle now.

He has been the calm and collected host of ITV's Sale of the Century and is the skilled and quick-witted chairman of Radio 4's long-running Just A Minute. Of all the mediums he has worked in, radio is his favourite.

He puts his success down to versatility, which he encourages all young budding actors and actresses to strive to achieve.

"Most people in our profession stick to one thing. If you do one thing, say get on to a TV soap or something, you may become famous quicker, but when that dries up what do you do then? You must have another string to your bow,'' he tells them.

"If you want to be in musicals then don't just be a singer. Make sure you can dance and act too. The more strings you have to your bow the more you will be in work and, if you are successful, remember you are only as good as your last job. That's the one people will remember. But, at the end of the day it's important to follow your heart."

Although a fan of Return to the Forbidden Planet, Nicholas will not be able to be at the show in person as he is taking his Nicholas Parsons Happy Hour to the Edinburgh Fringe for the fifth year running.

"That was a bit of a gamble all those years ago, but it paid off. It was something new, and I'm always looking for new ideas," he said. His phone never stops ringing, with people wanting after-dinner talks, performances of some sort or another or bookings for jobs on a cruise liner.

What about retirement? "As long as I can go on working and the public wants me to work, I will continue doing it. I'll go on until they bring the coffin to take me away," said Nicholas.

A gentleman to the last, he was even concerned that we had only had biscuits with our tea, recommending bananas, one of his favourite snacks.

I just hope he made a decent pot of tea when we left. I doubt it. He was due to drive himself up to London for yet another engagement. Cheers to a true professional and long may he continue to entertain us. It may be the day of alternative comedy, but this veteran is still a class act.

n Return to the Forbidden Planet runs from Tuesday, August 3 to Saturday, August 7 at The Swan Theatre, Worcester. For tickets contact Huntingdon Hall box office, Worcester, on 01905 611427.