THE word voracious could have been invented for actor Brian Blessed.

A huge appetite for life means that the bear-like Blessed will attempt to squeeze an awesome performance as Captain Hook into Sunderland Empire Theatre's pantomime, Peter Pan, between climbing Antarctic's highest peak, Mount Vincent, filming Star Wars in Australia, and having his fourth crack at reaching the summit of Everest.

He counts the fact that he's nearly 65 as a bonus and greets comments about risking his life with "the greatest danger is not taking on the adventure".

Despite the weather being a red-hot day in May, Blessed appeared with Peter Pan co-star Kirsten O'Brien, the Middlesbrough-born Children's BBC presenter, to launch the Christmas panto at Sunderland's impressive Marina.

The actor, originally from the Goldthorpe coalfield area, near Doncaster, was desperate to rip off his wig of black ringlets and jump into the sea.

Not just because of the heat, but also in memory of his 12 years of family holidays at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland.

"The North-East is my second home. I first saw the sea there when I was six years old and went back every year until I was 18. The North-East is a magic place... and the people are the salt of the earth," he said.

This isn't mere hype, because Blessed went on to describe getting Newcastle goal ace Jackie Milburn's autograph, reeled off the names of the 1951-52 Newcastle side, and spoke in awe of Sunderland football legend Len Shackleton.

Now living in Surrey, he returns regularly to see his 95-year-old father, Yorkshire's oldest living miner.

Blessed splits his time between exploration and mountaineering - his goal is to climb the seven summits on seven continents - and acting.

Yet he has still managed to find himself the in-coming president of the National Parks and is determined to visit Northumberland's conservation areas during his stay in Sunderland.

Blessed wants every park to launch a butterfly farm because numbers have dropped by 30 per cent.

He will make his first ever visit to the Empire Theatre in the role of Hook, which co-star Kirsten O'Brien, 29, said he takes so seriously that "every night I really feel like I'm fighting for my life in our sword-fight scene".

Her villainous rival rates proper panto "as every bit as good as Shakespeare. I need the stamina of Lear".

Blessed then talked about the night he played Hook on stage for a few moments with a little girl who had just three days to live. He said: "Everyone was in tears and I had to get them back to the plot. So I said 'You're beginning to like me aren't you?' And they said 'Oh no we're not...' "

l Peter Pan opens on December 21, at the Sunderland Empire. Ring the box office on 0191-514 2517