THERE is no escape. Fans will find you wherever you are if you've appeared in a cult TV series. Alan Cumming knows this all too well. People come up to him in Hollywood and say, "Oh dearie me" or want to talk about Shona Spurtle.

Those in the know will recognise catchphrase and character from the BBC comedy The High Life, which he wrote and starred in with Forbes Masson as camp airline stewards Sebastian and Steve. As the series is being run on TV in America, where Cumming has spent much of the past few years, recognition is inevitable.

To hear him utter those three words "Oh dearie me" - even if it is down a telephone line from Los Angeles - can't help but induce delight in a High Life devotee.

The series ran for just seven episodes back in 1994. "People come up to me saying things about it. It's so surreal because it was such a long time ago," he says.

Masson has remained over here (currently being seen as accused teacher Rod in EastEnders) while Cumming has made a name for himself on the other side of the Atlantic in theatre and movies. Playing the Emcee in the stage musical Cabaret, first in London and then on Broadway, brought him awards galore and offers of work from the US.

"Cabaret certainly made a difference," he says of the production for which he won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.

"As soon as I arrived in New York, I realised this was a bigger deal than I thought. It's so different from what I experienced in Britain. There's nothing to prepare you for how huge it is."

Having accumulated that amount of kudos you can understand people asking what on earth he's doing in a movie like The Flinstones In Viva Rock Vegas.

"I just wanted to do a big, silly film and thought it would be quite a laugh to play a cartoon person," he explains.

"I'm not an avid Flintstones fan but they are really bonkers about it over here. There's also my nephews and nieces, sometimes I get asked to do things like this and it's great to do for them. I'm the coolest uncle - I've been in Spiceworld and GoldenEye too."

Cumming gets to be two characters in the Flintstones prequel which tells how Fred and Barney found romance with Wilma and Betty. He plays the Great Gazoo, a little green alien sent to Earth to observe the mating rituals of humans, and also thick-lipped singer Mick Jagged.

Not that he needed the extra work as he was filming a remake of the musical Annie and lending his voice to the animated series God, The Devil And Bob at the same time.

"My assistant had this board with my schedule on. The Flintstones was marked in blue, Annie in red and God, The Devil And Bob in black. Each day I would walk in and look at the colours to find out what I was doing," he says.

Originally he was only going to play the Great Gazoo. Then, at the read-through, he was asked to do Mick Jagged, who's seen performing in Rock Vegas with his band the Stones, as well. "It's more of a homage to Mick than an impersonation," he says.

At least, he got to work with other actors in those scenes. As the Great Gonzo is a large head on a small body, Cumming filmed his scenes alone in front of a blue screen. He was then shrunk and the other actors added through computer wizardry.

l The Flintstones In Viva Rock Vegas (PG) opens today.