Stephen Tompkinson may be here in body, but his mind is still in Africa. Katherine MacAlister reports.

IF YOU see a hot air balloon drifting over Oxford next week it may well be Stephen Tompkinson taking his eight year-old daughter Daisy up, up, and away for the first time.

He, of course, is a balloon pro, having completed a coast-to-coast trip of Africa recently, which is being broadcast on our screens next month in a three-part documentary about his adventures from Tanzania to Namibia, appropriately named Stephen Tompkinson’s Great African Balloon Adventure.

“It was absolutely breath-taking.

“And we felt like the only people on Earth because for 360 degrees around us there was no sign of man.

“Of course we had to be pretty careful of our route because we went past The Congo and Zimbabwe, so there were a few political hot potatoes.”

Stephen is, however, used to filming in Africa, and is due to commence the next series of Wild At Heart in July, in which he plays Danny Trevanion.

“Put it this way, the novelty hasn’t worn off yet,” the 43-year-old grins. “So we go back to South Africa this summer to start filming the fifth series.

“I just hope they re-commission it next year because it’s the World Cup and I’m already proving very popular, because all my friends want to come and stay.”

In the meantime, Stephen is starring in Sign Of The Times, coming to Oxford’s Playhouse from Monday, and jumped at the chance to work with Tim Firth, of Calendar Girls fame, again.

“Tim got the idea for Sign Of The Times when he was on a train and went past some sign-builders 60ft in the air and wondered what they talked about, and the characters for this play come from there,” Stephen explained.

“But Sign Of The Times is also all about ambition and happiness and is a fantastic antidote to these troubled times, because I think humour really helps.

“And doing a comedy like this and seeing people laugh every night is so rewarding, so I found it very hard to say no.”

And what about when Stephen first saw the script for Wild At Heart. Did he wait a couple of seconds before he said yes?

“It was the giraffe on page 3 that had me,” he laughs.

“The thought of being that close to the animals. I hadn’t seen a script like that since Ballykissangel. And it’s so perfect for that Sunday night audience, and is always on in January when everyone has post Christmas blues and needs cheering up. It’s delightful escapism.”

But what about him? Is Stephen a David Attenborough at heart?

“I have always been a huge animal lover. But I never thought I’d ever get so up close and personal.

“In fact I got a bit too close and personal with Hobie the lion. We filmed a scene for Wild At Heart inside his cage and had a safety flap, just in case something went wrong.

“But Hobie saw some meat under the flap, leapt over the safety line and sat on the safety flap, so there was nothing between us and him, and the crew shut the cage so he couldn’t harm anyone else. Luckily Hobie was in a good mood and nothing happened.

“But as all the animals on the sanctuary were abandoned, many of them are hand-reared which means you can get closer to them than you would imagine.”

“And when I’m not in Africa I do dream about the animals because seeing them in their own environment is so humbling, because they’ve been there a lot longer than we have.

“And my daughter Daisy has spent half her holidays with me in Africa for the past four years which has been amazing, so she knows all the animals by name and gets to see them up close as well.”

Until then the Tompkinsons have their balloon ride in Oxford to look forward to. “It will be Daisy’s maiden flight and she’s really looking forward to it,” Stephen said. “So I can’t wait to come to Oxford, even if it is the end of the tour.”

Sign Of The Times comes to the Oxford Playhouse from Monday. Box Office on 01865 305305 or online at oxfordplayhouse.com.