Nigel Havers is keen to have his own 'Bobby Ewing moment' by bringing Corrie conman Lewis Archer back from the dead to marry Audrey Roberts. Dallas fans will remember how Sue Ewing woke up, went to the bathroom and found her ex-husband Bobby standing there - making his death all a dream. And Nigel says Sue Nicholls, who plays Audrey, has an idea that Lewis could be brought back to Corrie by giving him a long-lost twin.
Still handsome and debonair at 74, he says: "Sue Nicholls said to me, 'do you know you had a twin brother living in Australia?' I said, 'good gracious who knew?' It would be a riot wouldn't it? So never say never."
Lewis Archer's tumultuous history on the cobbles
During three chunky stints on the cobbles, between 2009 and 2019, male escort Lewis wooed Audrey, before fleeing the country with stolen money from the bookies; returned - reuniting with Audrey, then they split and he had a revenge affair with her daughter Gail, fleeing to Belize with her £40K.
Then he returned as part of a fake psychic scam, but won Audrey's heart again. More shenanigans followed, but he had a fatal heart attack and died, lying on the bedroom floor, holding an engagement ring he'd planned to propose with.
He says: "I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of making that show. The team, the crew, they're just amazing, a really great family. I still owe the Platt family a few grand. When I was in Corrie, people used to shout at me, 'pay Audrey back that 25 grand you owe her!' They were very cross."
A career spanning six decades
His reputation as a charmer was sealed when he played Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire. Nigel says: "I can't get away from Chariots of Fire. It hasn't really dated, because it was already dated when we made it. David Puttnam, the producer, and Hugh Hudson, the director, made a really clever film."
But the BAFTA-winning actor admits that while he feels young, his fans generally aren't. He says: "I still feel like I'm in my mid-20s. It's amazing. When I'm out and about, a middle-aged woman will come up and say, 'can I have your autograph?' And I go, 'of course.' How exciting! And then they say, 'it's for my mum - she's 80.' And I go, 'right, good, good.'"
New role in Golden Boys
But retirement is a long way off for Nigel, whose next meaty role is in Golden Boys - a four-part series starting on August 10 on Viaplay. Inspired by Sweden's largest ever financial crime - the Trustor affair - Golden Boys follows the meteoric rise and dramatic downfall of two cousins, who were behind a financial heist that made headlines across Europe.
In Stockholm in 1997, financial criminal Joachim Posener, newly released from prison, along with his cousin, Thomas Jisander, mounted a hostile corporate takeover of a major Swedish investment company – using an enigmatic British aristocrat, Lord Moyne aka Jonathan Guinness, as their front man. Lord Moyne, now 96, was declared bankrupt, questioned and prosecuted in Sweden, but eventually acquitted, due to a lack of evidence showing he'd knowingly participated in the fraud.
Nigel, who plays Lord Moyne, says: "It's a hell of a role. These criminals wanted someone from the aristocratic part of society to make it look good. So they hired Lord Moyne, part of the Guinness dynasty, to make it look credible. I have to be careful what I say, because he's still alive - he's 96 - but these guys sort of got away with it. Lord Moyne got out before it got too hot. It's a fantastic tale, and the whole story's true."
Other notable roles and personal life
During a career spanning six decades, Nigel has also starred in classics such as A Passage to India, Empire of the Sun and Farewell to the King. Other hits he's appeared in include The Charmer, Downton Abbey, Finding Alice, The Life of Rock with Brian Pern, Benidorm and more recently The Gentlemen and Black Ops.
From 1983 to 1990 he played Dr Tom Latimer in comedy Don't Wait Up, drawing 16 million viewers each week at its peak. But most fans these days recognise him from a show he's never watched. He says: "People are coming up to me and saying, 'oh, you're so funny in Celebrity Gogglebox!' And I go, 'Really?' Because I haven't even seen it. I just sort of sit there with Julian Clary laughing."
Looking ahead, Nigel says he never hankers after roles, having learned a harsh lesson when he did. He says: "One of my favourite books is Fair Stood the Wind for France by H. E. Bates. A few years ago, I suddenly realised the BBC were going to make a TV series of it. I thought, 'that's my part.' I went for the audition and I said, 'let's not beat about the bush, it's my favourite book, I'm the right age, I'm exactly the right type, you might as well offer it to me.' I didn't get the job. I was mortified. I thought, 'I must never do that again. I must never hanker after a job.' Now, I'm always amazed if someone offers me a job. I never go in with any expectation at all." But he does admit, he'd love a part in Rivals. Nigel says: "I want to be in that - it's fantastic telly."
Three times married, his wife Georgiana Bronfman, who he wed in 2007, would prefer him to enter the Love Island villa. Nigel says: "That's what she watches." A grandfather-of-four, with one daughter from his first marriage, he and Georgiana are inseparable. He says: "I do a one man show and she tours with me. I wouldn't tour without her. She comes on stage a couple of times to help out. But she doesn't speak at all, because I'd have to pay her if she speaks."
A neat freak at their Wiltshire home, he continues: "I've probably got OCD. I'm constantly tidying things up, and I drive my wife mad. She said, 'you've tidied me into a cupboard.' If she puts a cup down, I'll wash it up before she finishes her tea."
And earlier this year, the couple became teetotal. Nigel explains: "I wasn't a big boozer, but at the start of the year I had a chest infection and the taste of alcohol was horrible. I haven't had a drink since. Now, I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke, I eat very carefully and I exercise a lot. I'm so boring. I don't miss alcohol at all. My wife has stopped too. Safety in numbers."
Along with his one man show Nigel Havers: Talking B*ll*cks, which he's relaunching in October, he will soon be doing his 11th panto at the London Palladium. Nigel says: "It gets you out of Christmas. This year, we're doing Cinderella and we've got Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders playing the Ugly Sisters - so strap yourself in for a ride." Firm friends with the two comedians, he adds: "They're just so funny and so sweet. I will give Dawn a hard time, though, on stage. I just criticise her! 'Get off stage, what are you doing here? You're taking up my time!' She loves it."
Golden Boys is available to stream on Viaplay via Amazon Prime from 10 August.
