'I owned the Rovers Return'

Three years in Coronation Street may have not have been the dream job John Bowe hoped, but he's one of the few people who can boast: "I owned the Rovers Return".

As Duggie Ferguson, he helped save the historic Weatherfield hostelry, where some of soap's greatest dramas have been played out, from being taken over and turned into the Boozy Newt.

Eventually, he became the sole owner before dabbling in property development led to his death at the hands of serial killer Richard Hillman.

Bowe now finds himself back in the company of one of his Street co-stars, Suranne Jones, and Dallas' Sue Ellen, Linda Gray, in the world premiere of Terms Of Endearment at York Theatre Royal.

He walked the famous cobbled street from 1999 to 2002 before being killed off. "They called time, and I'm glad they did really," he says of maker Granada's decision to axe him.

"It wasn't the experience I hoped it could be. Although the cast and crew were fantastic and I had an unbelievable time, I didn't find the work fulfilling."

One problem was that the schedule didn't allow him to do any other acting jobs and he loves variety. The idea of doing lots of different things was what attracted him into the business.

"Starting out I did everything really - comedy, tragedy, everything. It's one of the reasons I became an actor. That's why I hate the celebrity thing, I don't like to reveal myself.

"Being in Coronation Street was a fantastic experience and pushed me to work on levels I'd never gone to before - and never want to experience again. And I can say I owned the Rovers Return."

For a time, life after the Street wasn't easy. "I had nothing to go to and it was quite difficult for a couple of years because you get pigeonholed. I stuck out for things I wanted to do and that made for a very barren time. Now, it's come good."

One worry about Terms Of Endearment, adapted from the Oscar-winning film and book, could be following in the footsteps of Jack Nicholson, who played the role of Garrett on screen. He becomes the object of feisty widow Aurora's affection as her relationship with her daughter suffers its ups and downs.

Bowe is confident people's memories are short. "They don't remember what happens and a lot of people don't even remember the film. I haven't looked at it since I saw it all those years ago because I don't want to be influenced by what Jack was doing," he says.

"Garrett is an ex-astronaut and lothario, a truly honest man. I think that will be a refreshing change for audiences today who are fed up with a glut of idiot men. The great thing about Garrett is that he's appealing to both men and women."

He was a huge admirer of Linda Gray when she was in Dallas. "I have to say she's a fantastically easy person to work with, charming and giving. If I wasn't a happily married man..." he says, his voice tailing off.

His previous theatre work includes spells with the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as roles in such plays as The Lady From The Sea, Heartbreak Hotel, Cyrano de Bergerac and the Tin Man in The Wizard Of Oz.

"I've been asked to do quite a few things over the last couple of years, but when this came up it was a little bit different, and different too for me to get back to comedy. I don't get asked to do it on television at all, although was asked to do when I was in classical theatre.

"The way Dan Gordon has adapted the film script for the stage, I liked very much when I read it. It was very faithful and skillful - and I'm sure to get the laughs."

He knows from experience that actors can get stuck in a rut not of their own choosing on television. "They see you as one thing and can't see you as anything else," he says.

Finding the right accent for Garrett, who's Texan, has taken a bit of trial and error. "I had tapes sent over from Austin in Texas and started doing a broad Texan accent, but the assembled view was it's a little hard and slightly alienating so I've changed it slightly."

One thing that made him consider carefully before signing up for Terms Of Endearment was that the 11-venue tour would take him away from home in Cornwall until December. He and wife Emma have five children, whose ages range from 12 to under a year.

He also has a grown-up son from a previous marriage. Having a large family is "the single most wonderful thing I've done in my life", he says. There's no way he can drag them around the country with him, so he faces a long spell away from his family. He notes that after the last date on the tour in Aberdeen, it'll take him two days to get home.

"I haven't really toured since the 70s and 80s. It's going to be quite interesting going back to some places I haven't been for a long time. I don't mind because it's a small company, we're all going to look after each other."

As an actor, he's pursuing a career planned from when he was very young. He did a Cheshire education drama course and then went to drama school. "It was just something I was good at and enjoyed doing," he says.

"I did languages at school and there was a time I was thinking about becoming an interpreter. It was a very different world then and certainly was different for an actor ten or 20 years ago. I enjoy performing and being someone else."

His first TV break was playing a suspected killer in the first Prime Suspect story, and he'll be back on screen this autumn while he's out on tour.

He's among the star-studded cast of BBC1's Cranford Chronicles, based on three Elizabeth Gaskell novels set in a small Cheshire market town in the 1840s. Bowe plays Dr Morgan in a cast that also includes Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Michael Gambon and Julia Sawalha. The series is scheduled to be shown on BBC1 this autumn.

* The world premiere run of Terms Of Endearment opens at York Theatre Royal this Friday and continues until September 15 (tickets 01904-623568), and then plays Darlington Civic Theatre from September 17 to 22 (tickets 01325-486555).