Actor, Stephen Beckett, regularly pops up on our television screens. The handsome 41-year-old father of two is one of the most recognizable faces in television, and he grew up locally! When I caught up with Stephen last month, he was frank and honest about his first kiss in Croydon, playing the dirty rat, Dr. Matt Ramsden, in 'Coronation Street' and how he feels about his impending performance in front of friends and family at the Ashcroft Theatre. RADA-trained actor, Stephen, is in the throes of a UK tour with Ian Dicken's production of 'The Business of Murder'. Written by the highly acclaimed playwright, Richard Harris, this psychological thriller ran for nine years in the West End during the eighties and is full of twists and turns right up until the final climax. The clever murder mystery sees Dee, a talented TV writer, and her lover, Detective Inspector Hallet, lured to a flat owned by a character called Stone, under false pretences, where he reveals a sinister connection between the trio. Stephen tells me: "The play is going very well. It's a great play, a really heavy, intense, psychological thriller, effective even with only three characters." Stephen plays the complicated Hallet who is physically and psychologically violent. Stephen clearly loves the play and especially likes the unexpected reactions from the audience as he explains: "They start off laughing and light-hearted, thinking the play is going one way until the suspense sets in and it goes off in another.

It's all based on a murder that happens but I can't say too much as I would give the plot away" Knowing I am not going to get any more information from him about the play, Stephen tells me about his teenage years in Croydon. Educated at Wilson's Grammar School in Wallington, Stephen would catch a bus into Croydon every day. "I had a lot of 'firsts' here. After school we would always meander around Allders, I drank my first cappuccino here, went to the cinema for the first time and the first girl I ever kissed was in Croydon." He applauds the recent changes and development in the area. "It's a great place with fantastic transport links. I often pop into Croydon for lunch or shopping when we visit my dad who lives in Purley." Stephen's father and stepmother own South Croydon's Prep School, Cumnor House School. "Dad was the Deputy Head when I was at Wilson's. Luckily for me he was a popular teacher and so it wasn't too bad for me as a local pupil." Despite Wilson's highly acclaimed academic record, it was the fantastic sports facilities that Stephen loved, but even that couldn't keep him at school. "I left home and school at sixteen to become an actor. It's every parent's nightmare, but I was lucky my gamble paid off and since graduating from the RADA at age 23, I haven't been out of work." You may recognise Stephen having played PC Mike Jarvis in The Bill for five years before blasting onto Coronation Street in an explosive storyline between his character, Dr. Matt Ramsden, and Ashley Peacock's wife, Maxine. After a four-year gap, his character returned in 2006 to reveal that he was the real father of Maxine's baby. So will he return? "As long as Ashley is in Corrie there will always be the potential for me to come back to lay claims over my son". If he does, it could be another hard- hitting storyline for the cobbled streets of Manchester.

More recently, he has appeared in TV's 'Robin Hood', 'Casualty' and 'Doctors' before returning to the stage in 'The Ghost Train'. After meeting his wife, actress Anna Brecon, while starring in 'The Blue Room', the couple have gone on to have two children - Nancy, three and sixteen-month- old, Wilfred. "I love my children to bits. They are wonderful but we are definitely only having two. Anna is auditioning again after taking time out to raise the children and we are looking forward to getting our lives back. We have an understanding that whoever gets the best job goes out to work while the other looks after the children." It's hard for any parent to explain their job to their children, so I wondered if his children had ever seen him on television. "I let Nancy watch one episode of 'Robin Hood', but I had to turn the television off quickly when I realised my character got killed off in this particular episode. I quickly rushed her out of the room and handed her some chocolate as a distraction from seeing Daddy dying on the screen." His devotion to his family is paramount as is his passion for acting. And the future? "Well you never really know what's coming up, every television job I have got has been cast just two weeks before I start filming, but when this comes to an end (if it does) at the end of August I will book a holiday - it seems to be one of the best ways to get a job because I always come back to a new opportunity!" Let's hope Stephen returns to our screens soon.