'I can't wait to bring my own spark to the mad genius'

HE HAS TROD more boards than Horatio Nelson, but when Brian Conley talks about joining the Back To The Future musical he sounds as hyper as a kid at Christmas.

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The veteran West End star is playing Dr Emmett Lathrop Brown, inventor of the DeLorean time machine that whisks Marty McFly back to 1955.

"I'm so excited," gravel-voiced Conley enthuses. "I'm sitting in the DeLorean!

"Doc Brown is a strong role, loaded with comedy. They've let me add some gags."

He's not daunted by the volume of dialogue.

"I'm used to that. On EastEnders I had to learn a lot of lines every week."

Paddington-born Brian, 64, was touring in the Prat Pack show in May, with fellow entertainers Bradley Walsh, Shane Richie and Joe Pasquale, when he was asked to audition for the musical's renowned director John Rando.

The 24-date Prat Pack tour sold out in 40 minutes. "Brad thought it was a glitch in the system, but no. A mate rang the ticket line and was 14,000th in the queue.

"What an experience! Everyone put their ego to one side. We had lots of laughs, we teased each other about our age and our ailments."

And squabbled about which Rat Pack original they each resembled. "I told Brad he should be Frank Sinatra because he's the richest - his drive is so long, it's got a McDonald's on it."

All four comedy entertainers began their careers as Pontins holiday camp bluecoats.

Conley lived in a council flat until he was eight, then a council house in Wembley, before his parents "scraped together enough money for our little house in Watford, in the same road as Brad" - a far cry from Brian's lavish Bucks country pile.

Playing Doc Brown at the Adelphi brings back floods of memories.

Conley made his stage musical debut there playing Bill Snibson in Me And My Girl in 1991 when he was dating future wife Anne-Marie.

They'd met backstage at Wimbledon theatre that January when he was in panto with Barbara Windsor and ventriloquist Ray Allen.

Ray's wife Jane introduced them.