Price of FAME

BEN MILLER on the adventures ahead as his popular dramedy returns

- SEAN MARLAND

AUSTIN NEW FRIDAY, 10.40PM & 11.05PM (TIMES VARY), BBC1 COMEDY DRAMA (BOX SET, BBC IPLAYER)

A familiar face on the small and the silver screen since the early 1990s, Ben Miller has an enviable CV that includes hit dramas Death in Paradise and Professor T, plus the Johnny English and Paddington film franchises.

But the 60year-old actor reveals he has never been more nervous than when the first outing of Australia-set comedy drama Austin arrived on BBC1 last year.

As co-creator alongside screenwriting duo Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf (Click & Collect) and director Darren Ashton, Ben was involved in every step of its development. So it was a special moment when the initial eightepisode run not only proved popular with critics and viewers alike, but was also picked up for a second series.

'I don't think you ever open a new show without wondering how it's going to go down,' he notes. 'With Austin, it was even more scary because we were all so invested in it. It was a huge relief that it was well-received.'