GARY Mavers is perhaps best known for his role as the charming Dr Andrew Attwood who sent housewives into palpitations up and down the country during the six years and eight series he was in the ITV medical drama Peak Practice.

In real life, or telephonically at least, he loses neither the charm or the thick Liverpudlian accent of his television character. I catch up with him in the middle of rehearsals for his latest theatrical role as Tom in Richard Stockwell's psychological thriller Bad Blood, in which he co-stars with EastEnders and Footballers' Wives star Gillian Taylforth.

"It is a bit of a shock coming back to theatre work after being on TV. It's much harder. On a TV series you kind of get pampered but with the theatre you have to pull your finger out."

Despite this protestation, the softly-spoken actor seems happy to be treading the boards after a nine-year break.

"Television and theatre are two completely different mediums but you can't have one without the other. It is a bit lazy and relaxed in TV and you can sit back, so you need to go back to theatre work to shake the cobwebs away. You feel a lot better for it."

Bad Blood is the latest drama story from the writer of Killing Time, billed as an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Gary is keen not to give too much away.

"I play Tom, who is a normal working class guy made good, happily married to Vic. He has always wanted children and when she eventually decides she is ready to have them, they find it is too late and this is a bit of a thorn in the side of the relationship. When a stranger suddenly turns up and it is uncovered that Tom has a daughter no-one knew about, their world is turned upside down. I am not going to say any more, only that there are lots of twists and turns."

After his long stint on the small screen, Gary is enjoying taking on the challenge of interpreting the written word onto the stage.

"Stockwell is unusual in the way he writes. His style seems almost dated, although it isn't. You have to be full of energy which is difficult for an actor coming from TV. I just have to trust my instincts and go with it."

Gary shares the stage with other familiar faces from the world of television, including Julie Buckfield who plays Julie Matthews, Tony's runaway fiance, and soap veteran Gillian Taylforth.

"Gill is so professional. This is the first time she's done theatre but you would never know. She blew us off the stage."

It seems a testament to Gary's huge audience appeal, that the Peak Practice ratings began to fall following his departure from the show.

I ask him how appearing on a national television series changed his life.

"It was very full-on as it was so high profile but you know that it is all part and parcel of the job. You do get recognised which takes a bit of getting used to but I think it is a bit much to be freaked out by it.

"I had six great years at Peak Practice and have lots of fond memories but you have to move on. Everything comes to an end and I got really bored with it and fed up with the TV conveyor belt. In the filming breaks from Peak Practice, when everyone else was resting, I was always whipped off to film a mini- series or screen test. Not that I am complaining but there was no time to sit back and assess what I had been doing."

Up-and-running, as opposed to sitting back, seems a more appropriate adjective to use when describing Gary's professional life at the moment, with Bad Blood poised to go on a national tour next month, after its two week run at Windsor.

Bad Blood is playing at Theatre Royal, Windsor from Tuesday, January 28 to Saturday, February 8 at 8pm. Call the box office on 01753 853888.