EVER since we first watched The Singing Detective and tried in vain to work out what it was all about, Diary has been a big fan of the consummate actor that is Michael Gambon.

Whether it’s playing idiosyncratic French detective Maigret, menacing the callow drug dealer Daniel Craig – who bears a striking resemblance to The Press’ chief reporter Mike Laycock, according to The Press’ chief reporter Mike Laycock – in the movie Layer Cake, or doing the voiceovers for the Guinness ads with the penguins, he always comes up with the goods.

So we’re delighted to hear that he is rumoured to be taking on the role of one of York’s most famous sons, the poet W H Auden, in a new play scripted by renowned playwright Alan Bennett.

Reports in stage magazines claim the provisionally-titled The Habit Of Art will be based on an entirely fictional meeting between Auden and composer Benjamin Britten in 1960s Oxford, and will be premiered at the National Theatre in November.

For those seeking more Michael Gambon, try and get hold of a tape of his appearance on Top Gear when he inadvertently steered his car into the stratosphere.

The owners of the track where this happened have renamed that corner “Gambon”.

And when he was invited to race there again, he nearly repeated his previous heroics. We like him.