I'm Starstruck!'

Jason Watkins on working with comedy legend John Cleese and the role that changed his life

- Judy Ewens

Over recent years, Jason Watkins has quietly become one of our most versatile and highly regarded actors.

His roles have ranged from Simon ‘Yes, no, brilliant’ Harwood in BBC2 comedy W1A to his BAFTA-winning portrayal of a retired teacher who was wrongfully suspected of murder in ITV fact based drama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies.

He is also supermarket manager Gavin Strong in Sky One comedy favourite Trollied and last year was creepy forensic investigator Tim Ifield in BBC1 thriller Line of Duty.

‘It is nice to flip from one genre to the other,’ says Jason, currently starring in BBC1 sitcom Hold the Sunset as Roger, a fifty something who leaves his wife and moves back to live with mum Edith (Alison Steadman), scuppering any plans she had of moving abroad with boyfriend Phil (John Cleese).

Here, in an exclusive interview with TV Times, Jason, 51, tells us why he loves the show…