JUST how dense does James Lance like to play Bertie Wooster as PG Wodehouse’s ultimate idler digs another well-meaning hole to fall into? “I do thinK that he’s very straightforward. He’s very simple, and by that I mean he’s quite an innocent. There’s not a lot of sub-text particularly, and he’s like a child,” he says.

“You know the way that you wouldn’t tell a child off because they don’t know any better, then you’re the same way with Bertie. It’s interesting that I realised a fact about him early on which gave me a lot of empathy for him. He is an orphan and he’s been brought up in a system of all these aunts badgering him to be something that he’s not. Bertie didn’t grow up with what all of us ideally would have, the familial love or a mum and a dad. He was brought up through, yes, a privileged system, but also through one that lacked something every human being should have. It makes a big of sense of the way he is and why he is always latching onto that paternal relationship... the sort of thing he’s got going on with Jeeves,” Lance explains.

So, Jeeves as replacement dad? “Jeeves is replacement family full stop,” he agrees.

The actor is best-known to theatre audiences through appearances in TV’s Teachers, The Book Group, Smack The Pony and I’m Alan Partridge, but he’s also appeared in films like Marie Antoinette and Bel Ami.

Lance feels that it’s best to play Bertie as the same age as himself. “I think you do that because he is the eternal boy,” he says. I remark that most people are said to have a real age and a brain age (the age they see themselves as) and Lance adds: “Well, in that case he’s probably about five.”

To ensure that he got the right dress and manners for the incompetent aristocrat, the actor relied on the book Bright Young Things which is an exploration of the bon viveurs of that time – and a real eye-opener to the period between the two world wars.

“The youth of that time just seemed to embrace hedonism I guess and decided to have a really good time, and Bertie falls into that category,” he says.

How does he think that Bertie would have fared in today’s climate of celebrities and scandal coupled with the internet and disclosures of Youtube and Facebook etc?

“He wouldn't, I think Jeeves would have to do all that kind of thing for him,” Lance responds.

Asked about the relationship he’s struck up with John Gordon Sinclair as the two looked at the roles of master and servant, Lance felt that the stage partnership fell quite easily into place.

“John’s the nicest, nicest man you could possibly meet and to be working with him for six months is a real treat. He’s a very sweet man. I know that Bertie is supposed to try and assert his authority every now and them, but it’s a little like a three-year-old trying to tell his mum off. It doesn’t go deep for Jeeves. The only thing that cuts Jeeves to the quick is when Bertie insists on wearing a new cheque suit. Now, that really upsets him. He feels that if his master insists on dressing like a clown it doesn’t make Jeeves look good.

“One of my favourite lines in the play is when Bertie says, ‘There are moments Jeeves when one asks oneself, do trousers matter?’ and Jeeves’ response is so good, ‘The mood will pass’.”

Having co-writer Robert Goodale on stage playing many of the other characters, Lance doesn’t see this as additional pressure.

“Maybe it’s a bit dull to hear actors say how lovely other actors are, but I’ve got to say that these two are a couple of legends and Bobby is invincible and he’s got more energy than he should have. I don’t know how he does it. He’s running around on stage like billio. I think it’s very much in the tradition of farce and it is all meticulously worked out. It has to be,” says Lance, who is on his first theatre tour.

“I’ll be going to Gordie about how I’m going to cope with visiting Newcastle. He’s Glaswegian and if anyone will know about these things, he will. We’ve just had our press night in the West End, so my entire last two months have been about getting to that point and, now, I’m slightly out of the other side of that. We’ve got a bit more time in London and then we hit the road,” Lance says.

How do you follow Bertie?

“I might end up lying down on the floor in a bar somewhere. I’m looking forward to an evening where I can have a beer or two because that’s not really possible during this run. I am looking forward to having a break. To be honest, this is the role of a lifetime and I’m loving it and getting on stage is my playtime and touring this production for the first time is a treat.”