My Haven PETER EGAN

The Downton Abbey actor, 72, in the living room of his home in Surrey

1 LUCKY US

I moved here with my wife Myra Frances three years ago. I met Myra in 1972 when we were both in TV drama The Organization. This photo was taken at our wedding reception in Surrey on

Friday 13 February 1976 – fortunately neither of us is superstitious. She was an actress for many years, doing the first lesbian kiss on British television in a drama called Girl with Alison Steadman, who I’ve recently appeared with in Hold The Sunset.

2 PRIDE

My father

Michael was a

Dubliner and would have been proud of this award I received from the city’s Irish Post for my contribution to theatre. My dad moved to England in the 30s and settled in what was called ‘County

Kilburn’ in north London – so I grew up in an all-Irish household with lots of family. My dad was fond of the amber nectar, but after a stroke was told to give up drinking. He sort of lost the will to live and died aged 72 in 1978.

3 FURRY FRIEND

I’m an ambassador for Animals Asia, a remarkable charity that works to rescue moon bears, now endangered, from farms in China and Vietnam. They extract their bile, a cruel and painful procedure, for use in Chinese medicine. I’ve always loved bears and adopted this bear in the photo, named Peter Bear in my honour. It now roams in safety at the charity’s 125-acre sanctuary in China. The sculpture on the table is by Suzie Marsh.

4 LIVING ‘UPSTAIRS’

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Lord ‘Shrimpie’ Flintshire, father of Lady Rose, in Downton Abbey. It was great to work with so many old friends – Penelope Wilton [Isobel Crawley] and I were both in the sitcom Ever

Decreasing Circles

30 years ago!

People think I’m a public schoolboy because I learnt to speak ‘proper’, so I’m always cast

‘upstairs’ in TV dramas, even though my family would have been

‘downstairs’. My late mum Doris was a charlady.

5 MY BIG BREAK

Being in Ever Decreasing Circles with

Richard Briers and Penelope

(pictured) in the late 1980s changed my life. It was the first time I really made any money in the business and it opened up the doors of commercial theatre. I’d appeared in a play with Richard in the

West End a few years earlier and his wife

Ann recommended me for the part of

Paul, the neighbour. The show ran for four seasons and after making it, Richard – now sadly departed – and I became great friends. I admired him enormously, he was such fun to be with and we’d regularly meet up for a curry.

6 GIVE A DOG A HOME

I’m a great dog lover and my ten-yearold black Labrador Cassie, sitting with me here, is one of our five rescue dogs. I also have a German shepherd cross, a Staffordshire bull terrier and two Staffie crosses, all of which were abandoned and would’ve been put down if we hadn’t given them a home. We moved here from London three years ago so we could walk the dogs in the country. If you want a dog, I recommend you visit your local rescue centre – there are so many abandoned dogs out there that need a loving home.