Being a massive Tommy Cooper fan, Clive Mantle could not believe his luck when he landed the role of the iconic comedian in the national tour of Jus’ Like That.

Written by John Fisher, who worked for many years with Cooper, the play features all the best gags and magic tricks that made him one of our Britain's favourite comedians.

“It’s such a privilege playing Tommy – I genuinely love the man," says Mantle, best known for his role as Dr Mike Barratt in Casualty and Holby City.

"He is one of the funniest comedians this country has ever produced so this whole tour for me is just an immense thrill.

“We’re not trying to denigrate Tommy, we’re reminding people what an outstanding comedian he was and what made them sit glued to their TV watching him and roaring with laugher.

"He was a brilliant physical comedian and that was coupled with his brilliance as a stand-up - he knew that if something is funny, it’s funny.

"He had many set pieces that people loved, no matter how many times they’d seen it.

"He also had this other string to his bow, the magic.

"He cottoned on to the fact that if he did 75 per cent of his tricks wrong, people would roar with laughter, but to satisfy his own inner child, every so often he’d get one right.

"Audiences would revel in that – the buffoon who almost by accident gets it right.” Jus' Like That is not all about what made Cooper incredibly funny, though, it also looks at the darker side of his life as his drinking spiralled out of control.

"The only thing that could help him deal with the expectations of millions was alcohol," says Mantle.

"We all feel the need to satisfy the paying customers as they’ve been good enough to put their hands in their pockets and come out to see you and you have to try to give them a good night out – and then some!

“Once you’re on that hamster-wheel, it takes an awful lot to prise you off and he went into a hell-bent nose-dive.

"So many people tried to help him but they couldn’t and he could be terribly cruel to them if he thought he was being denied.

"I’ve known a lot of people with drink problems, but never witnessed anyone who went to the same depths as Tommy.”

Jus Like That, Fairfield Halls, April 3, 7.45pm, £17. Call 020 8688 9291 or visit fairfield.co.uk.