MARKING the 100th anniversary of the First World War, Birdsong is the hit, critically acclaimed stage show based on Sebastian Faulks' best-selling novel, and it will run at The Courtyard from Monday, June 8 to Saturday, June 13.

In pre-war France, a young Englishman Stephen Wraysford embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their world upside down.

As the war breaks out shattering the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground.

Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle as his world explodes around him.

Now in its third touring season, Peter Duncan returns to play Jack Firebrace for a second time.

"It's almost like a permanent job," says Peter, who was last seen on TV screens in the BBC's gymnastics reality show, Tumble, last year, which, he says, was fantastically exciting - "There was very little not to like about it - it was very theatrical and I'd always done circusy stuff, like Barnum", but he is of course well-known to at least one generation as a Blue Peter presenter.

"When you've been around a long time you're familiar to lots of people. It doesn't bother me if that's what people know me for because I remember it with great affection."

Pre BP though, Peter had spent the 1970s working exclusively as an actor, a member of Olivier's National Theatre, appearing on stage as Billy Liar and Alan Strang in Equus ... as well as being killed by a tree monster in the movie Flash Gordon.

He's also appeared in many iconic musical theatre roles such as Barnum, Bill Snibson in Me and my Girl and as Charlie Chaplin in The Little Tramp and later this year will take to the stage in Hairspray as Wilbur Turnblad.

In the same way that every theatre Peter has visited around the UK is different, he's also found that audiences are never the same - "The more sophisticated audiences might be more critical and the further north you go, the more open audiences are."

He's noticed, too, that the first people at any venue are so impressed by the play that they spread the word and by the end of the run, audiences invariably grow.

Known for his daring exploits and his involvement in other reality shows like Total Wipeout and The Games, his current role sees him much less active than usual.

"There's not a huge amount of action," he concedes, "and I do get a sore hip from crawling along in the mine. But it's rather a relief not to be hanging upside down on something."

"I'd read the book in the 90s and knew it very well." He had also been among the first to head to the West End when Birdsong was adapted for the stage, and is enjoying playing Firebrace.

The character of Jack is the most clearly drawn and his character is allowed to develop." Stephen meets Jack in the trenches where Jack, a former London Underground worker, is a 'sewer rat', whose task is to listen for the enemy and plant bombs under the German trenches. Trapped together underground, the two men find they have more in common than not ...

"Peter Duncan gives a fine, muted but powerful and affecting performance as former London Underground worker Jack Firebrace, a paternal figure whose tragedy is quietly borne, declared the Liverpool Echo.

Touring, admits Peter, presents challenges in taking cast members away from home, but "We've got a lovely ensemble cast, and you tend to get to to know each other quite well - because the play is a tragedy and quite intense, you need to be able to have a laugh together for a bit of light relief."

Birdsong is at The Courtyard from Monday, June 8 to Saturday, June 13. To book, call the box office on 01432 340555 or visit courtyard.org.uk