John Hopkins deals with the racist controversy that has engulfed TV’s Midsomer Murders as he discusses his role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Viv Hardwick.

I’M going to have to be very careful about what I say for all kinds of reasons,” says actor John Hopkins in answer to a question about the alleged racism in ITV1’s Midsomer Murders, in which he starred as Sergeant Dan Scott for 14 episodes.

“I read the newspaper articles and I think that the show represents so accurately the racial make-up of the majority of middle England villages. I stress the words ‘fairly accurately’ because not all villages are entirely white, but I don’t think the show would have been damaged inexorably by having non-white actors in it, which is what Mr (Brian) True-May (the show’s creator) seems to think. I disagree with him on that point.

“The casting isn’t as mixed on Midsomer, Rosemary and Thyme or Last of the Summer Wine as it would be on EastEnders, but I don’t think there should be a colour bar. I don’t think the audience would be shocked if there were black or Asian actors,” says Hopkins, who doesn’t recall any non-white actors in the audition room when he replaced Teessider Daniel Casey as DCI Barnaby’s assistant.

“I wasn’t aware there was a policy of a total colour bar and it didn’t seem shocking because the villages we filmed in fitted the make-up of the cast. I think the choice of words used here weren’t well-advised,” he adds.

Hopkins, who had forged a reputation as a classical actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company before joining ITV, doesn’t feel that the surprising revelations about Midsomer take the gloss off his acting achievements.

“No, it’s down to one man’s miss-spoken words and it doesn’t change the make-up or the memories of the show for me. I’m fairly certain I’ve done scenes in Midsomer with Chinese actors, so I don’t believe that Brian’s statements are, in fact, true. I think he might have been speaking out of turn on that as well,” Hopkins says.

The actor is about to return to Newcastle with Northern Stage’s biggest project of the season, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, directed by the venue’s artistic director Erica Whyman. Hopkins confirms that the recent death of Elizabeth Taylor, who starred in the film version with former husband Richard Burton, has helped to boost audience interest.

“Absolutely, it’s a terribly sad thing and I was looking at bits of the movie the other night, having avoided looking at the film when we were rehearsing. I didn’t want to be too adversely influenced and ape something I’d seen or end up consciously deciding to reject something just because I’d seen it in the film. Elizabeth Taylor was actually far too young and it was almost considered gimmick casting to have a real-life couple as the warring people on screen.

“I’ll say that our performances are a tribute to them and we said that the show, on the night after she died, was dedicated to her,” says Hopkins, who reminds me that the play written by Edward Albee is quite different to the movie.

The actor feels that the film lost a lot of the humour created by Albee.

“The play comes across as a brutal social comedy,” says Hopkins. His newly-wed character Nick, with wife Honey (Lorna Beckett) are taken all the way to adultery and back by the battling George and Martha (Jasper Britton and Sian Thomas).

“I think the younger couple represent a certain, slightly po-faced middle American hypocrisy at that time. With their wildness and drunkenness, George and Martha set about utterly destroying their own lives and they take off some of the layers of mendacity on Nick and Honey,” he explains.

“We come out of it slightly raw and shattered but, probably, a better couple at the end of it all, incredibly. I feel that Nick and Honey’s marriage does survive because I think there’s a positive spin to the end of the play. Otherwise it would a very dark evening indeed,” Hopkins adds with a laugh.

He has fond memories of Newcastle and the old Playhouse venue on the same site when he came with three seasons of the RSC Newcastle tours.

“I also came up to Newcastle for a couple of episodes of Wire In The Blood with Robson Green, so I really like the city. I especially love riding on the Metro because you have the seaside at the end of it. I’m a huge fan of that in spite of nearly drowning at Cullercoats the first time I went there about five years ago. I got caught by a big wave and couldn’t get back in at one point,” Hopkins says.

He’s particularly impressed with the newlook stage at Northern Stage and says he’s normally not too bad with such open spaces, but is finding it a challenge to act on the diaphragm and voice using a different accent.

“The American accent is much nearer the back of the throat, while having to push it out, so I’m finding that much more difficult,” says Hopkins with a wonderful Hugh Laurie-like version of TV favourite House.

“Now he (Laurie) is the benchmark in terms of earning power,” he responds, indicating that he may well be the next Brit seeking his fortune in Hollywood soon.

• Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? Runs from Tuesday until April 30. Tickets from £6. Box Office: 0191-230-5151