Says ex-EastEnder Leslie Grantham as he's put back in the dock for a Jeffrey Archer thriller.

IF you ask Leslie Grantham questions about THAT Internet episode or his family he'll put the phone down', I was warned. But as he recently hit the headlines again about being allowed to return home by his wife it was a risk worth taking. And, the phone does go down. . .

'twice', but only because his mobile reception fails. Leslie remains chatty, upbeat and optimistic about his future as he brings Jeffrey Archer adaptation Beyond Reasonable Doubt to Darlington's Civic Theatre next month.

But what does the actor, who was reported to have been axed from TV soap EastEnders for being more Dirty than Den in an Internet webcam chat with a female fan, have to say about such a publicly painful moment?

"That's a separate part of my life and part and parcel of being me really, so I usually just keep me head down and get on with it and that's what I do. We all do silly, stupid, spur of the moment things and then we regret them for the rest of our lives. . . or for a couple of months. Mine tend to hang around for a lot longer but, in the end, the people who you do the most damage to is your own family. But we're happy and getting on with it and here I am gainfully employed, " he says.

Has there been a setback in his TV career?

"I don't know. I'm actually more in love with the theatre and I only ever went back into EastEnders for 18 months to tie up the character for the 20th anniversary. I haven't stopped working since I left, so I've been very lucky. I have gone down in history as the only soap character to be killed twice and got huge viewing figures both times, so I must have been doing something right there, " adds Leslie.

He mentions he's glad to have been eclipsed by England footballer Wayne Rooney in terms of alleged scandal.

Interestingly, Leslie reckons that no member of the public has ever raised his notoriety with him and thousands have booked to see him in Beyond Reasonable Doubt, some stopping him in the street to congratulate him on his night's work. The good folk of Barnard Castle are likely to get a chance for a conversation because Leslie has rented a house in the area for the May 8-13 run of the drama at nearby Darlington. "We couldn't get anywhere closer, everywhere was fully booked, " he says.

Leslie plays top QC Sir David Metcalf facing a charge of murdering his terminally ill wife. He jokes about being locked in legal combat with the prosecuting counsel played by Simon Ward. "I can't think where Jeffrey Archer got the name Anthony Blair Booth from for Simon's character, " he jokes. The actor admits, in the past, he'd have probably have read Mechanic's Weekly if that had been choice alongside a Jeffrey Archer book for a long-distance flight. "That's because his books have been given a certain reputation, but when I read the script it was wonderfully written and I knew I had to do it, " he says.

After this current run, the actor is negotiating a tour with musical A Slice Of Saturday Night and is discussing another play and two panto deals.

The West Ham fan is testing his North-East hosts by predicting victory in his team's FA Cup semi-final with Middlesbrough. "Simon Ward asked me what I thought after Middlesbrough beat Charlton and I predicted a ChelseaWest Ham final. I said 'if I can do a Jeffrey Archer play as a knight of the realm then West Ham can beat Chelsea in the FA Cup Final', " he laughs.