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I’M helping John Thomson weigh up his pet options. His daughters are pleading for a dog, but he’s worried the cat won’t be keen.
I ask if he has suggested a stick insect.
“Not yet,” he admits. “But hey, how about a pet rock? Remember those? They were those stones with googly eyes on them.”
Hmm, that could work, I tell him. “It could, couldn’t it? I’d have a few of them.”
Now, in case you think we’ve completely lost the plot here, let me put this conversation into context. Cold Feet’s John is one of the hosts tonight of a Channel 5 telethon, Celebrity Help The Animals At Christmas, raising funds for five major charities, and so the responsibility of pet ownership is actually something he’s keen to highlight right now.
“A pet is a big commitment,” he points out, “but people don’t always look at the big picture.
“A lot of pets rescued by charities haven’t necessarily been mistreated. It’s just their owners can’t cope.”
Tonight’s show (other hosts include Anton du Beke, Susan Calman, Gethin Jones, Michael Underwood and Gaby Roslin) is the last major job for
John in what’s been another bonkers-busy year, much of it devoted to the filming of Cold Feet series eight.
Coming to ITV next month, it’s the third helping of the Manchester-based drama since its resurrection in 2016. “Series six was fantastic,” he says, with evident pride. “Seven was a bit like ‘that difficult second album’, a bit of a slowburn. But this one is fantastic, very strong. I can’t say much, but two really major things happen.”
John’s character Pete Gifford, whose depression storyline in series seven won both critical praise and awards (“That was very kind. I didn’t anticipate any of that. I just wanted to do a decent job as an actor…”) is arguably the most likeable of the five old pals around which the show revolves.
“I think that’s because he’s kind of hapless and fallible,” John suggests. “People identify with fallibility.”
Not that the actor and his character have much in common. For starters, John has been off the booze for years. “I look after myself now. I don’t drink any more, I don’t smoke any more, I’ve got a personal trainer. “I look all right, considering what I’ve given up, if you know what I mean. “And it’s paid dividends. I’m 50 next year, but in my head I’m 25. Whereas I look at some people my age who I’ve known for a while and think: