Smiles galore with comic Miles

He describes his new show as “a rant about me, you, domestic imprisonment, fatherhood, having to have opinions, hot drinks, the government, bad balance, housing, ill health, the ageing process, navigation and other people’s pants”. That’s a very long list of thing to be fretting about. “Oh, I’m not a fretter,” he replies thoughtfully. “More a despairer.”

But his fans shouldn’t despair, nor indeed fret; in conversation Miles is warm and witty, and in no way negative about his situation in life. It’s just that the modern world can – in his word – “discombobulate” him.

Many of Miles’ fans will be keen listeners to Radio 4’s topical comedy show The News Quiz, which he took over as host of last year, and which he is enjoying enormously. “I love working as part of a team, and I hope people listening get some sense of me as a person, rather than just some bloke capable of reading stuff out loud.”

Miles’s father was a minister in the United Reform Church and he himself studied Divinity at Edinburgh University. While still a student there he started acting and, for those of a certain age, he will forever be Archie the Inventor in CBeebies’ Balamory.

“I often get people come up to me and start talking about it,” he says. “For me it was a long time ago, but for them it’s a defining part of their childhood.”

He usually gets to play posh and/or clever chappie roles, but says he would really love to be cast as a baddie. “You would get to cut loose and say bad things,” Miles says. “You can be unpleasant without having to apologise for it.”

In the meantime, audiences at his live shows will be able to enjoy the real version of Miles having a rant at modern life’s multiple irritations – politely, of course.

For more details on the show, and ticket information, see www.derbytheatre.co.uk

Photo of Miles Jupp by David Secombe