Stars of the hit 1970s TV show, The Comedians, are reuniting for a threatre tour. Viv Hardwick talks to baby of the bunch Mick Miller.

MENTION the name The Comedians and it conjures up happy memories of wise-cracking club comics in dinner jackets producing quickfire quips. Now four of the TV jokers from the 1970s are taking to the road this month on a 30-date tour of Britain's nightspots, including Newcastle City Hall, Durham's Gala and Scarborough's Futurist, to bring the format to a live audience.

Frank Carson, Roy Walker, Mick Miller and Ken Goodwin have agreed to take part in the tour.

Miller says original TV show producer Johnny Hamp decided to put the tour together following several years of successful repeats on UK Gold.

He jokes: "The viewing figures were quite high, even though the dicky-bows took half the screen up. About six months ago I was contacted and I thought it was lovely because it was just before the summer season. It's a lot of travelling and it will be nice to see the lads, but we'll probably be sick of each other after five weeks."

How did the comics get on originally when they were all just starting out on TV?

"We all help each other out to this day. If I'm after a certain subject for a gag, I'll always phone my Uncle Frank (Carson) up and vice versa. We see each other at these charity golf games and Frank, Roy and myself play quite a lot. Roy's a good golfer, but Frank just talks a good game. We're travelling around in one of those people carriers so I've ordered some ear protectors. Frank's absolutely amazing - he travels all over the world and never stops talking. Now he's got a pensioners' supersaver on the train. He's everywhere."

Was Miller surprised when Carson volunteered to take part in the recent I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here series before being turned down on health grounds?

"No, I'm not surprised. Frank used to be in the paras so he's quite fit. He's 70-odd but he'll still do 18 holes of golf and do a gig. I've got years on the rest at 54, so it's a bit like doing a tour with your granddad."

Miller goes on to recall his favourite moments from those TV days.

"I wasn't in the original series - I appeared in the second series in 1978 with Roy Walker and Stan Boardman. I was the luckiest one because I was the only bald one, everyone else had a perm. I was bald before it was fashionable, I was born bald. But they recognised me because I was the bald one with long hair at the back.

"I was lucky because Johnny Hamp spotted me in summer season in Blackpool. We'd all go in and do ten minutes each and they'd cut it to pieces for the show. There are only so many gags and if you've got ten comics doing ten minutes over three nights then everything in the book went.

"You had an idiot board with all your stuff on and you'd give it to the floor manager and when you came on he'd put it up, so if you forgot anything you went straight to your board. Apparently there was one story about Bernard Manning who found they'd put George Roper's board up so Manning did all of Roper's act which meant you had to keep your idiot board close to your heart. If anyone said 'What are you doing tonight?' then you replied 'What's it got to do with you?'."

Success on TV has kept Miller in work for years on the circuit of summer season, cruises, after dinner speaking and panto appearances like at Darlington's Civic in 1980. In his younger days he played for Port Vale as a goalkeeper after being signed by the legendary Stanley Matthews when he was 16.

He says: "I was a 16-year-old and would turn out at these charity games where you'd get 5,000 spectators. I played at Hereford against the great John Charles and I came out for a corner and found myself upside down in the net. But he was a gentleman and he pulled me out.

"I played against Brian Clough when he was at Hartlepool. The North-East was also my training ground as a comic. I used to stay at a farm in Spennymoor and work from there all around the North-East."

Miller now lives in Blackpool and is lining up to play the famous North Pier in the summer.

"This tour goes from Dartford to Bolton and back to Frimley Green and from Newcastle to Weston-Super-Mare, that's not a bad one... in a car with Frank Carson. I think I'm going to phone the AA and get a silencer fitted." Miller doesn't feel that comedy material has changed much over the years and sees current crowd-pullers like Peter Kaye actually helping the comedians of yesteryear because he's bringing a new audience to old-style routines about grannies and mothers-in-law.

"It's going to be a clean show, so Bernard's not doing it... there might have been a few rude words flying about on the bus."

And how is Miller preparing for the tour?

"We're getting in shape for the tour by not eating until we reach the motorway service stations... and I've got ear muffs for Frank."

* Tour dates: Newcastle City Hall, May 7; The Futurist, Scarborough, May 22, (01723) 374500, Box Office: 0191-261 2606 and Durham's Gala Theatre, May 30, 0191-332 4041.

Published: 15/04/2004