CHRIS Hollis can count everything from Shakespearean plays to roles in Eastenders and The Bill among his acting credits but his leading role in Mamma Mia the Musical is proving the best fun ever.

In fact he loved playing the role of Bill in the West End show so much he has joined the cast of the first ever Mamma Mia! UK Tour which visits Mayflower Theatre, from Tuesday September 13 to Saturday October 8.

But Chris, who lives at Meon Valley, admits the memory tends to block out any recollection of the down side of being in such a high energy show- such as injury or ill health.

He told me: "The tour is half way through, we are in sunny Birmingham and it's lovely. Prior to this I spent two years in it in the West End followed by a gap. I got a few years off for good behaviour! I know it's nothing like child birth but you do forget the painful bits!"

But compared with his West End stint the touring show is proving much more enjoyable.

"It's very different. In many ways it's more fun, the energy and buzz of being on the road - but don't tell my wife! Because we are all away from home people say it has a buzz but it has also been polished and what happens on tour is people go off due to injuries and there's this complicated under study system so that adds to the excitement.

"I've just had niggles like sore throats. The physicality of eights shows a week means you have to be fit and however well trained you are you do need a couple of days off.

"You can't use the show to get fit. I did a lot of training in the gym before I joined it and a lot of the cast regularly go to the gym. I cycle and walk a lot to keep on top of it."

He is keen to be on top form for Southampton!

"I'm touching a lot of wood as I'm one of the few who has stayed well. I've got a lot of mates coming to see me in it in Southampton so I need to keep fit for that!

"We have visited some fantastic cities and in Southampton I will make a point of getting to know the area better and go on bike rides round the New Forest. It's a fantastic opportunity to explore.

"I was brought up in West Sussex and have gradually moved further West. I was in Midhurst and then London. We brought the kids up in London and then moved to the country. I didn't know Hampshire at all but I absolutely love it. It's all do-able here: I can get to the coast and to London . Me and my wife [ Lucy Stewart-Roberts] cut our teeth at Chichester Festival Theatre. We had three solid years there when it was a proper repertory theatre, in the Minerva Theatre and the main theatre. It was a Baptism of Fire but I loved it and made lots of friends. And then I went on tour in lots of plays .

I did a lot of Shakespeare which was a bit 'Marmitey' ! Some people might hate that but I loved it. It's a challenge and I loved the emotional roller-coaster.

"Me and my wife run the Petersfield Shakespeare Festival. She's a stage manager turned producer. She's freelance and has worked for all kinds of companies all over the West End and with Grange Park Opera. We've had to juggle the children who are now 23, 21 and 19 . They have seen the show hundreds of times. As you see it you get different stuff out of it. A 12-year-old will get something different out of it to a 17-year-old.

"The show always surprises me as a bloke . I was dragged along to it the first time and when I saw it I thought wow! I'd quite like to be in that!

It’s not just a glitzy musical . It’s about normal people and speaks to you. My wife can’t watch it without crying - especially when it gets to 'Slipping Through My Fingers'. It’s so poignant with one of our daughters living in Australia at the moment and one in France and our son is applying to drama schools at the moment. “

So why is Mamma Mia so hugely popular?

“Anyone from grannies to kids will get something out of it – and it has Abba’s music. As soon as the overture starts it lifts you. It's very well crafted with catchy tunes which have been woven into a good story. It has likeable characters and the songs have not been shoe-horned into it.

It's been going for 15/16 years so it's a formulae people have been working on. All the creative team are people who had been working in this business for some years.

Funnily enough, my first job out of drama school was 'What the Butler Saw' with Phyllida Lloyd [who has directed this]. She's very clever - and it's a really talented team."

"My character Bill Austin is a 'commitment-phobe' and uses his travelling and writing to get his best out of life. He's had a couple of big hits and now he's struggling and lack-lustre and travelling the world and his past catches up with him. He goes out to a Greek Island on a whim to write this memoire and he walks into this ticking time-bomb with Rose who is also a commitment-phobe and sparks fly over 'Take a Chance with Me' which is a joy and the audience know what's coming.

It's a lovely part to play. I love it otherwise I wouldn't do it. The guy in the film gets a lovely boat. I just get a fishing rod - that's as nautical as it gets!

It's a joy and people know the film and the songs. People come to it at different starting points in their lives."

I point out the statistics that 10 per cent of the UK population have seen the London show. And, it has been seen by more than 60 million people in 49 productions in 16 different languages!

"Wow! God bless 'em - one and all!The film is good but you don't have to use your imagination - there's something magical about seeing it on stage. You and the audience are all there together making the magic happen. It's a joy when you spin that web together."