The Joy And The Terror

As he approaches 80, screen and stage actor Clive Russell relishes his newfound popularity but admits he still dreads being left idle

- LAURA COVENTRY

GAME OF THRONES, Outlander, a long-running UK soap and a Netflix drama - achieve just one of these acting credits, and you are doing pretty well. However, Clive Russell has ticked them all off and, at the age of 79, has never been busier.

Having recently spent three months on location in South Africa, the Scots star has just finished filming a new BBC thriller called The Guest and starring alongside Danny Dyer in his comedy series Mr Bigstuff.

He also has no fewer than four Netflix projects in the pipeline for 2025.

That's not bad going for a former schoolteacher from Fife who is on the brink of turning 80!

Last summer was a particularly enjoyable job - for he and his wife spent three months living in Cape Town while he starred in One Piece.

However, we won't see Clive in this for a while.

"It has so much CGI in it that it won't be out until 2026," he explains.

"They should have been starting to film this in October 2024, for the start of the South African summer, but Netflix was desperate to get the second series out as the first series was so successful.

"So instead, we shot in mid-winter in Cape Town which was our summer. It wasn't cold but it was very, very wet so there were a lot of weather problems. But it was a hugely enjoyable experience.

"Often you will go to an exotic country for 10 days. I was there for three months; my wife came out to join me. It is a beautiful country with very friendly people."

Born in Hampshire, Clive arrived in Scotland as a baby.

"I was actually born in Winchester when my dad was waiting to be demobbed at the end of the Second World War, and they were staying with my mum's family.