GEOFFREY Hughes is the Frank of the title in Tim Firth’s Absolutely Frank: a play that will bring him to Harrogate Theatre on Thursday for the first time since playing a young British soldier in The Hasty Heart 30 years ago.

Familiar from his television roles as Onslow in Keeping Up Appearances, Vernon Scripps in Heartbeat and Twiggy in The Royle Family, he is now playing a 30-year veteran of industrial signage in Harrogate Theatre and Oldham Coliseum’s co-production of Firth’s high comedy.

Frank dreams of seeing his own name in letters, on the cover of spy novels, and as he starts showing new apprentice Alan (Des O’Malley) the ropes, stories of espionage and treachery fill his imagination and suddenly become real.

“I think it’s a great play about life,” says Geoffrey.

“The first half is extremely strong, from when the play was a one-hander for the lunchtime slot at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, and Tim has now added a second half that’s a mirror image, except it’s not as long and not as strong, but it’s still a cracking piece to do.”

The Wallasey-born veteran actor was sent Firth’s play by director Noreen Kershaw –the first actress to play Shirley Valentine, incidentally – who knew Geoffrey well from directing him in Heartbeat.

“I read the script and I loved it. I didn’t know the play but it had great heart and great honesty,” he recalls.

“I don’t know if you’d call it a comedy, but there are moments of comedy and real pathos and that really attracted me to it.

“Tim has that ability to make people laugh and then make them cry, suddenly hitting them with tragedy. Getting that balance right is difficult and he gets it right.”

Geoffrey still had a decision to make, as his commitments as an eco-warrior on the Isle of Wight make demands of his time.

“I’d moved there when I thought, ‘I’ll do a little less’ and bought a bit of woodland. We now have a conservation forester who works with us, so there’s that thing where it seems a good idea to do a play months before you do it, and then there are times when you think there’s no way I can get back to the island. But the play is such a joy and we’re only doing Oldham, Harrogate and Basingstoke, finishing on March 28.”

Geoffrey will then return to his conservation work.

“I started by regenerating the woodland, taking out conifers and replacing them with sweet chestnut, oak, ash and hazel under-storey. I’ve been a lover of trees and of natural history for a long time, as has my wife,” he says.

They now own 33 acres.

“We were originally looking for a bungalow and three acres, so it’s a labour of love” says Geoffrey. “We’re now getting involved in the biomass industry, and we’ve just moved into a big eco-house two weeks before the tour started.

“It took a year to build. It’s all geo-thermally heated, the water is re-cycled and we have photovoltaic cells, so when the sun shines it makes electricity.”

Is this the house of the future?

“It’s the house of our future,” says 65-year-old Geoffrey. “It’s very well insulated with recycled newspapers and wool from Herdwick sheep from the Lake District. It’s going to be very, very economical to run, because we don’t have oil, we don’t have gas, we have wood burners, and the only cost in electricity is to run a pump.

“We use what electricity we make, and any extra we’re not using we put in the grid and the electricity company pays us.”

Life is sweet on the Isle Of Wight for Geoffrey, so sweet that Derek Heathcote, who runs Isle of Wight Lavender next door, is going to name a sweetpea after him.

“I think Derek is the only sweetpea grower at the Chelsea Flower Show this year, and I’ll be going down to help him promote it, and maybe the Harrogate Flower Show too,” he says.

Absolutely Frank, Harrogate Theatre, February 26 to March 14. Box office: 01423 502116.