The continuing popularity of the BBC series Dad's Army has ensured Ian Lavender is an actor remembered with great affection. After a short stint in Eastenders, he's hoping that goodwill will carry him through his next venture on the theatrical talk show circuit.

Ian Lavender was watching his mini-TV on the train the other day when he was shocked by a commercial that appeared on the 3ins screen. It was advertising a new magazine and DVD collection featuring the classic BBC series Dad's Army.

And there was fresh-faced Ian, in his early 20s, playing the character with which he's still most associated - naive Private Pike, the youngest member of the Walmington-on-sea Home Guard.

His surprise was understandable because when he filmed the first series of the David Croft and Jimmy Perry scripted show nearly 40 years ago, he didn't expect it to last beyond that summer.

But since its debut in 1968, Dad's Army has earned a place in the BBC's comedy hall of fame. The series is endlessly repeated. There was a film and a stage version. Recently, it's had a new life on audio tapes, video and DVD.

If Lavender resents still being tagged as Private Pike, he doesn't show it and talks happily about his experiences on the show. "I'd been out of drama school for a year and done a couple of plays before auditioning for Dad's Army," recalls the actor, who trained at Bristol Old Vic School.

"I went to see David Croft along with how many other people, I don't know. I saw several people of my age that I knew and assumed we were all going for the same part."

He didn't think Dad's Army would last, not because he didn't think much of it but because it was simply "six tellys for that summer and that was it". Only, of course, that wasn't it.

He'd heard of the Home Guard because his dad was a policeman and called on to lecture these units, but many others of his age wouldn't have been aware of these volunteer outfits.

"It seemed to me it was going to be of limited comedy appeal. You don't think it's going to be your ticket for year after year. I thought when TV went over to colour, that would be the end because Dad's Army was about the war and so fitted black and white. I really thought they wouldn't be making any more."

He was proved wrong and I'm sure that even today as he approaches 60, people in the street shout "You stupid boy" at him, echoing the words of Captain Mainwaring to gormless Pike.

Now Lavender is joining the ever-growing band of celebrities on the theatrical one-night talk show circuit when he launches An Evening With Ian Lavender at Durham's Gala Theatre this month.

He's nervous about being left to his own devices in front of an audience. Give an actor a script and a costume and he's game for anything. Take away his props and make-up and nerves started to take over. "The thought of getting up by myself and having no-one to help is very terrifying," he admits.

His agent and promoters have been asking him to do such a show for some time, but he's always found some excuse not to until now. "They ganged up on me, saying, 'give it a go and you'll enjoy it', but they don't have to do it," he says.

"You can do as many after-dinner speeches as you want but it's not quite the same because those people were going to that dinner anyway. They may not like you or the food. I have to assume that people are in the theatre to see me because they want to be there."

Those on the circuit include the likes of Melvyn Bragg, John Mortimer and David Frost. Lavender says these are the sort of people who like talking about themselves "and I don't mean that in any nasty way because it's something totally different to what they do normally".

In the first half of the evening, he'll talk to the audience about his life and career. After the interval, they'll have the opportunity to ask him questions.

To prepare, he got out his scrapbooks and boxes of memorabilia kept by his parents. He also went to see his old best schoolmate in Paris for a nostalgic chat about old times. "I took some old school photos and we both knew the names 40 years later, which prefect we hated and which we liked. It was amazing how much we remembered after all this time," he says.

More recently, he found fresh fame as a regular in EastEnders, until his character was axed by producers who felt they'd gone as far as they could with Derek. The lovely thing about going into the soap, he says, was that the oldies in the cast were old mates anyway.

"I wasn't really sorry to leave, although it was a wrench. The two-and-a-half years I was there were lovely and fun. You have to go on to new things," he says.

Those include An Evening With Ian Lavender. He's doing a few dates to see "whether I like it and whether the audience like it, to see whether we both fit".

He's pleased to be kicking off in Durham as he's a massive fan of the cathedral in the city. "Durham's absolutely the most amazing place in the world," he says.

l An Audience With Ian Lavender is at Durham's Gala Theatre on September 16. Tickets 0191-332 4041.