Nigel Havers

The distinguished actor talks to Alec Marsh about his illustrious career, the joys of country living, his passion for racing and why he is a fiend for game

- PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD CANNON

TO MEET Nigel Havers is to be in the presence of an actual living national treasure. And not just any flyby-night national treasure but a full-throated, 150-watt version of that rarified species, whose ranks include Dame Judi Dench and Sir Michael Caine: both friends of Havers, as it happens. Havers - the youngest-looking 73-year-old outside Beverley Hills - is impeccably groomed, wears a jacket, jeans and a pair of brown suede shoes, and is, in a word, charming. But not too charming. The social register of his accent is what you might call smart, as opposed to cut-glass.

He's meeting The Field today because over Christmas he is starring - alongside Julian Clary, Catherine Tate and Jon Culshaw - in Sleeping Beauty at the London Palladium for what will be his 10th consecutive year in pantomime there. What's the enduring appeal of panto? “The money,” he fires back, with the glint of a smile. While it’s clear that this is a sound venture - “a wonderful theatre, 2,500 people twice a day... they must be making a fortune” - it’s obvious that Havers has a ball doing it, too.

“There’s always been me, Julian Clary and a guy called Paul Zerdin, who's a ventriloquist,” he explains. “We write our own stuff during the year and then we just pitch up and throw all that out the window because it’s crap and start again.” In