If you're a soap fan of a certain generation Mark Little might still be Joe Mangel in your eyes.

The actor played the Neighbours character for three-and-a-half years until 1991 - and is not allowed to escape him.

"I was asked to do this job - I had always said no," he says of the Neighbours role. "There was no work around so I said yes ok - nice little show, not many people are watching, do a couple of years and earn a couple of quid and get out.

"It didn't work that way - you Brits got right on to it and it went mental.

"I created Joe Mangel and he has not left me."

The Australian actor, who now lives in Hove, East Sussex, having moved to the UK in 1992, continues: "He will never leave me - I can't get away from it.

"I have a whole new fan base of 20-something kids who were five and six. I am getting a whole new audience coming up.

"I get a lot of love," says Mark. "I'm lucky - I'm glad I didn't play a baddie - I wouldn't have been able to live here.

"Thank God for Joe Mangel - I can live here and feel pretty safe."

Little briefly reprised the role in 2005 as Neighbours marked its 21st anniversary. So will Joe return again to Ramsay Street?

"I doubt it," says Little. "I really doubt it. I tried before and it's time to move on. I would rather do what I am doing now."

And right now Little is touring with one man play, Defending the Caveman, which comes to Epsom Playhouse this week.

Created and performed by Rob Becker in San Francisco in 1991, the comedy show with its observations about men and women became the longest running solo play in Broadway history.

The production won an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment in 2000 when Little took on the role at the West End's Apollo and its London run in Leicester Square this year was extended for six weeks.

Defending the Caveman takes a look at the common themes in relationships and touches on subjects ranging from contemporary feminism to masculine sensitivity to the erogenous zones.

Little explains: "The opening line is, 'All men are a***holes'. None of the men boo because they sit around saying, 'I know, I know.'

"It's a really good play for men and women to see together and take a look at the differences between them.

"Everyone laughs like a drain."

And while Little stars in it, his wife Cathy Farr directs.

"She's had to live with a bloke for a long time and I have had to put up with living with a feminist for a long time," he says.

There is even more to Mark Little's career. On stage, he portrayed Leigh Bowery in Taboo in Leicester Square and on tour, was in the UK tour of Tim Firth's Safari Party, played Costard in Love's Labours Lost and Crispin in A Chorus of Disapproval.

Film role credits include Blackball directed by Mel Smith and Evil Angels with Meryl Streep.

He has even played Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and of course, will still be remembered for presenting the Channel 4 programme, The Big Breakfast.

So what next?

"I've always wanted to make a film but have never really got around to that.

"I think in my old age I will come back and work on some film ideas - at least work on some good scripts so someone can do them.

"I think there's a real gap in the market for a Big Breakfast/Tiswas show. I want to be part of any revival of Tiswas.

"I have got a couple of ideas for TV people I will be putting to them in the summer."

Meanwhile, Little will continue with his current show.

"People enjoy it," he says. "I will stick with Caveman for a couple of years."

Deborah Morris

●See Mark Little in Defending the Caveman at Epsom Playhouse on Monday, June 22 and Tuesday, June 23, at 8pm. For tickets, priced £23.50 (£20.50), call 01372 742555/742227 or log on to www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk.