IT’S third time lucky for Richard Ede as he returns to the tweed of namesake Richard Hannay and climbs The 39 Steps of comic adventure once more.

How does he feel about the adventurous hero of John Buchan’s famous novel being held up to ridicule? “When I was understudy I got to see the show every night and was able to prepare myself slowly and then went on for a good long run, which prepared me for the first tour. Now, they’ve dragged me back and put me in the tweed again. I apologise for leaping all over the reputation of some people’s boyhood hero, but last summer I worked with the actor Alistair Buchan, the grandson of John. So, I was working with a member of the original author’s family every night,” says Ede.

As the play heads to Newcastle Theatre Royal, the actor spoke warmly about a project which started life in North Yorkshire and was further developed at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.

“It’s been running for ten years now and it was lovely to go back to Leeds with it after a decade with many of the audience remembering the play from the first time round. They were very complimentary about our production, which was nice,” he says.

In this parody of spy-catching involving the British stiff upper lip wrapped around a sturdy pipe of tobacco, Ede jokes that he’s an asthmatic and wouldn’t dream of smoking. “Sorry to shatter the illusion. The story has got to be parodied because it’s a child of it’s time and our version is based more on the Alfred Hitchcock film (1935) rather than book. The film was made in the 1930s and it comes with the sexism and the world view that people had, which was incredible. So, you have to slightly parody it to make is appropriate for an audience in 2016. Equally, you’ve got to keep the truth of each of the characters and the truth of this adventure story that’s at the heart of this project. Otherwise, it’s a load of people mucking around and taking the mickey out of something that is quite an exciting piece,” he says.

Ede is aware that accusations were originally thrown at Patrick Barlow’s adaptation because it wasn’t really like the book or the film, but he feels it’s a good addition to the canon.

“It plays on all the things that the British do, and we know we do, causing us to have a wry smile and a laugh. Equally there’s the adventure and the romance story and, hopefully, a few laughs as well,” he says.

The actor has a been part of touring theatre for many years and has a reputation for knowing the best places to stay and eat throughout the country.

“Yes, I’m quite good at not leaving my toothbrush in Southampton when I’m heading to Sunderland. I have spent most of my adult live on tour, partly a depressing thing, but partly a wonderful thing because you get to see the world. I’veperformed in 30 countries and been around the UK countless times. So it’s a wonderful life, but sometimes it’s nice to see your own bed because home can be a distant memory.”

Heading for Tyneside, Ede confesses that he needs a cafe near to the Theatre Royal which ticks several boxes. “It’s got to be near to the venue, it’s got to be cheap and, equally, the kind of place that opens early and stay open late. You come out of a show sometimes and everyone is hungry, but during a matinee day you’re doing a warm-up at lunchtime and you don’t want to eat too soon before the show because you’ll feel sick while doing such a frenetic show. The 39 Steps requires long cafe opening hours and tea on tap,” he jokes.

Preparing to play Hannay, Ede watched the 1935 film and a lot of other Hitchcock work from the same period. “My leading lady Olivia Greene was also understudying the role of Pamela at the same time I was an understudy. Sp, we sat and watched the films obsessively to really get to know the period and it wasn’t until I’d played the role for a while that I got round to re-reading the book, which I’d read as a child. I had been more interested in getting the lines right and the physicality right than I was about the original story. Then I felt, ‘Oh yeah, it’s an amazing adventure and that’s why you want to retain that feel because it’s such fun and proto James Bond or Jason Bourne. I’ve never wanted to muddy that side of it too much. Last night, we had a bit of a disaster. There is a wardrobe on stage which nearly fell over and sent things clattering to the floor and we had to have a five-minute show stop. Four minutes of it were actually the four of us trying to improvise which only the audience will know was successful or not. They seemed to enjoy it, but audiences always do when things go wrong... and this did spectacularly. But you get this on live theatre, you don’t get it on EastEnders,” Ede says.

He confesses his biggest challenge is the three-piece suit which is proving quite a sweatsuit under the theatre lights during a six-month tour.

“It’s made of proper wool and not designed to keep me cool in any way. So I do sweat a lot and poor Olivia has to kiss me when I’m perspiring freely. I don’t envy her. The others, who do a lot of costume changes, accuse me of being lazy because I stop in the suit. At the end of the run, the crew and stage management are threatening to do a cod version and one will be donning a tweed suit for the day. I’m not sure if the suit will have to be put down after all this or allowed to escape,” says Ede.

After comedy steps he moves on to the Cary Grant role of Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace in Nottingham. “Let’s hope I’m stuck in a two-piece suit this time,” he laughs.

n The 39 Steps, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Monday, June 27 to Saturday, July 2. Box Office: 08448-112121 or theatreroyal.co.uk