Tony Britton was stopped recently in a London newsagent by the cashier. She leaned over the counter and whispered in his ear: "Didn't you used to be that actor?"

"I still am that actor," he replied.

He enjoys recounting this anecdote. He was big on TV and became a housewives' favourite for his seven-series TV show Don't Wait Up.

He was sad when the series stopped: "The writer, who had written 52 episodes, dried up and couldn't think of any more plots, but we enjoyed it enormously and all got on very well."

But he has always been happiest in the theatre. "Being known on TV always helps you in the theatre," he says. "I did quite like it, but you can have enough of all those cables, and five takes, and all those cameras on you. Half your mind has to be concentrating on the technology and half on the acting."

Next week he stars alongside Angela Thorne in Old World at the Oxford Playhouse, which he hopes will progress to the West End.

"Not many people have heard of Old World because it hasn't been done since 1975. It is set in Russia and is about two people 'of an age' who meet in a hospital. They are opposites in character, but knock spots off each other. It really is one of the most enchanting plays I have come across," he says.

Tony Britton was born in Birmingham and made his professional debut at 18 with a repertory company in

Weston-Super-Mare.

He then went into the Army and was demobilised in 1947, after four and a half years with the Royal Artillery. Shortly after, Tony was engaged as an assistant stage manager at the Manchester Library Theatre. He was playing leading roles before the season ended and made his first appearance in London with the company.

"I have been very lucky," he says.

He has three children, Cherry, Jasper and Fern, of This Morning fame, and now has four grandchildren, all of whom look likely to follow in their grandfather's footsteps.

Although touring means spending less time with his family, Tony Britton still enjoys it. "I love this country and I'm able to see parts of it other people don't see in a lifetime," he enthuses.

But the man who made so many hearts flutter still has a touching dash of vanity. He refuses to give his age,

admitting only that he's "a bit more than 32."

Old World opens on Monday and runs until Saturday. For more details, call 01865 305305.