Peter Pan

"So you're a virgin then?" he chuckles cheekily.

But we weren't discussing anything sordid - I'd just admitted to Geoffrey that I'd never been to a pantomime.

As far as Geoffrey is concerned, he is somewhat of a pantomime veteran.

This festive season, he takes on the role of Smee in Peter Pan at The Mayflower in Southampton.

"I've done loads of pantos in the past," he says. "But I haven't done one for six years. I've been doing Heartbeat for four years and the time before that I was going to Australia with different plays.

"I've never done a panto in Southampton before. I'm quite looking forward to it."

Southampton isn't too far from home for Geoffrey these days. A keen sailor, he lives with his wife on the Isle of Wight.

Geoffrey came from a humble working class background in Liverpool.

"I had an English master at school who did a lot of amateur dramatic work and so from the age of about 13 I would go and help build scenery with his group," he recalls.

"When I was just about to leave school I was in a play by a Liverpool playwright called Alan Owen. Alan was visiting Liverpool to see his dad because he wasn't well.

"He saw that amateurs were doing his play, came to see it, and came up to me and said 'have you thought about a career in the theatre?'"

Geoffrey is best remembered for the four characters he has played on television over the years - Eddie Yates from Coronation Street, Onslow from Keeping up Appearances, Twiggy from the Royle Family and Vernon Scripps from Heartbeat.

"I've loved all the characters I've played over the years," says Geoffrey.

"The only ambition I've had within the business is to do good work and to be respected.

"Most actors would give their right arm to have one successful character and I've had four.

"But between television and theatre, the theatre is my main love. There is no contest.

"From an actor's point of view, with the theatre you have control. With television or film the director and producer are in control.

"I love doing pantomimes. The jokes can be the worst but people will still laugh.

"Smee is a great character, bless him. He's a buffoon.

"He's absolutely useless and always gets things wrong but that's part of his charm."

So how will Geoffrey be spending Christmas this year?

"I'm usually working if I'm doing panto," he says. "You get Christmas day off but you are usually doing two shows on Boxing Day and probably two on Christmas Eve."

Peter Pan, which also stars Paul Nicholas and Nadia from Big Brother, opens at The Mayflower, Southampton, on Friday, December 17 and runs until January 23. Tickets: from £12.50. Box office: 023 8071 1811.

Read our interview with Nadia in tomorrow's Weekend Magazine, free with your Daily Echo.