The star of the prequel detective drama reveals five secrets from the set

1 The relationship between my character Fred Thursday and his fellow detective Endeavour Morse is strained this series, but my friendship with Shaun Evans, who plays Morse, has survived eight years of the show. Over those years, lots of fans have visited us filming in Oxford – and still do. One of them, who we call the Cake Lady, brings us cupcakes and brownies. At the end of the last series she made a cake with a sugar moustache on top, a tribute to the one Morse had.

2 Fred buys canaries this series as he wants something to care for now his kids have flown the nest. One escaped the cage on set but the wrangler found it, so there are no wild canaries on the loose!

3 I’ve been wearing Fred’s hat, which is slightly too small, since day one. I thought I’d have to get a new one after it was crushed while in storage, but the costume designer steamed it back to life – and because I enjoy getting lots of wear out of stuff, I was happy.

4 I channel my father a little when playing Fred. They both went through the Second World War. Remarkably, my dad’s brother was called Fred and he had a sister, Win, the same name as my character’s wife. The writer Russell Lewis didn’t know this before – they were just names from that generation.

5 Castle Gate police station is in an old school in Hertfordshire. It’s also the location for the mortuary and Fred’s house, which has furniture accumulated over decades. Like my parents, Fred and Win wouldn’t have had matching things from one era.

Tomorrow, 8pm, ITV Fred and Morse