Nigel Havers and Haydn Gwynne

Nigel Havers joined us live in the studio

Nigel Havers' role as The Charmer has stuck with him throughout his career - and on Breakfast this morning, he proved he's just as charming in real life as he is on screen.

He came in to the Breakfast studio to talk about his first ever venture behind the camera, directing one of the BBC's One's series of afternoon plays.

In a packed morning, Breakfast also spoke to the actress Haydn Gwynne - better known as Superintendent Susan Blake from Merseybeat - about her work with the charity Sightsavers International.

click here to watch our interview in full with Haydn Gwynne

Nigel's Havers' hour long play, The Real Arnie Griffin is part of a series of five afternoon plays for BBC One.

It's about a store detective who's desperate to raise his game - and eventually tries to solve a murder.

The play marks Nigel's debut as a director - and now he's keen to do more.

"I was so relieved to be behind the camera - not having to go into makeup or learn my lines. I really did love it," Nigel told us.

"Director really means dictator: you have absolute authority - everyone asks you what you want.

"I definitely want to do it again, but I couldn't direct and act in the same thing.

" I don't know how people like Kenneth Branagh do it."

to watch Nigel Havers' interview in full, click here

Biography

Nigel Havers was born on 6th November 1949 in London, the son of the late Lord Michael Havers.

Fifty-something bad boy in Manchild

His television and film career began back in the 1970s when he appeared in the television series The Nearly Man in 1974 alongside Tony Britten and Michael Elphick.

His numerous television roles have included parts in Strangers and Brothers with Anthony Hopkins and Cherie Lunghi; The Death of a Heart with Robert Hardy and Jonathan Hyde (1985); Bon Voyage (1985) and A Little Princess with Maureen Lipman (1986).

His many film roles include Pope Joan in which he played a young monk in 1972 - he has also featured in Who is Killing the Great Chefs in Europe, was cast as George Martin in Birth of the Beatles (1979); and appeared in Chariots of Fire (1981); and A Passage to India in 1984.

During the spring and summer of 2000 Nigel appeared in Art in a regional tour of England, and is rumoured to be in talks with Barabara Broccoli to play a villain in the next Bond film.

Other forthcoming roles include him being cast as David Niven in a two-hour film about him; Nigel says Niven was his hero.

In March 2002 Nigel returned to British television in the new BBC2 series Manchild, a comedy in the style of Men Behaving Badly although this time all the bad boys are over 50.

The Real Arnie Griffin goes out this afternoon (Wednesday January 29) on BBC One at 2.30pm