HAVING honed his tough as a truncheon and serious as a search warrant persona as Jim Carver on The Bill, Mark Wingett is the perfect choice for a panto baddie.

After spending more than 20 years on the soap, the actor - whose big break was in British cult classic Quadrophenia - is enjoying the sillier side of performing.

I went along to The Broadway Theatre, Catford, for a natter between matinees, to ask him about panto, soaps and his hobby, scuba diving.

Having just been booty shaking on stage -something he says his 15-year-old daughter will not be best pleased with - he's still in costume, sporting a painted on goatee, black nail varnish and is trying to squeeze some lunch in too. He's in great spirits, though.

Understandably, as Mark's in one, he has much respect for panto.

He said: "With people like Ian McKellen and a couple of other notable actors doing them, I think pantos have come to the public's attention to be appreciated as something uniquely British. Pieces of art in their own right, dare I say.

"It was quite extraordinary coming out of The Bill after 21 years, it was a bit like running away with the gypsies the first year.

"There was a fire-eater and an illusionist, singers and dancers and we didn't get much of that on The Bill. Not on a weekly basis anyway, so it was great fun.

"It's just an excuse to wear black nail varnish," he says before letting out the sort of hearty chortle Brian Blessed would respect.

It's no coincidence he's played Aladdin's nemesis Abanazer three years on the trot.

"They say Abanazer is the greatest panto villain. He's just nasty," Mark says while letting out another panto-perfect roar.

"The best bit is to get booed by the children and really upset them."

However, as anyone who's had the displeasure of travelling on the South Circular will understand, he's not enjoying the commute to the Catford theatre so much "Don't talk to me about the Gyratory system and the South Circular," he said.

"What is it? It's a car park isn't it really? It's ridiculous? If it's not working, ditch it."

In fact, the roads are pretty much all Mark's seen of the area, but that's down to a tight schedule. The team had just 10 days of preparation and three of those were spent rewriting the script, something everyone collaborated on.

He added: "On The Bill it's impossible, but not as bad as EastEnders. It's not unusual for actors to have 40 pages of dialogue to learn in a day. We had 17 to 20 pages a day on The Bill."

It doesn't get any easier he says, but Mark accepts it as part of the package, saying "there are no short days in showbusiness."

He's clearly glad to be working on new projects but I wondered what his reasons for leaving The Bill were.

"After 21 years, what else was I going to do there? I've been an alcoholic, a victim of domestic violence, a gambler and an alcoholic again. I got married twice. I'd just about done everything that particular character could do."

Why did you stay so long?

"Money, ha ha ha. It was quite fun but enough's enough. I probably stayed five years too long."

Leaving the soap has opened up Mark's career to some great options including a stint on EastEnders where he even shared a scene with Quadrophenia co-star Phil Daniels.

"It was our first scene on screen together in 27 years which was great. He's great isn't he?"

He agrees Quadrophenia was a great break but says it was not a huge hit at the time.

Mark said: "It caught people's imaginations and it became popular. It's great to be in something like that. And it was a fantastic time. We weren't that bad but we did have a laugh."

He'll be returning to the big screen next year, alongside Art Malik and Ryan Phillippe in the "visually stunning" noir Franklyn.

At The Broadway, Catford to Jan 6. Call 020 8690 0002.