My Saturday Nigel Havers

The actor, 69, on switching off the TV, long walks with his poodle and giving up betting on the horses

8.30am We live in the middle of nowhere in Wiltshire and take our dog Charlie for a six-mile walk first thing. She’s a black poodle and full of energy. My wife Georgiana and I are not breakfast people – sometimes I’ll have fruit but usually it’s just black decaf coffee. 11am We live close to Marlborough, one of the prettiest towns in England, which has lovely little food shops. I also have a place in South Kensington; I couldn’t do without London because I was born and raised there. 12.30pm Brunch is often a boiled egg with toast. At this time of year our day is built around the racing on ITV4. We’re both mad keen on it and used to put bets on but not any more – it’s far too dangerous. 4.30pm We take Charlie out for a second walk, then light the fire and read the papers. Smooth Radio and Radio 4 are on pretty much the whole time – I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue is the funniest thing ever. I’ll ring my 91-year-old mum, who lives 40 minutes away, and my daughter, Kate, who’s two miles away. My grandchildren are four and six and I adore seeing them, but we’ve been really careful. The pandemic is a good lesson in taking every day as it comes. Iwasin Pantoland at the Palladium but it closed early [due to Covid restrictions], and I was halfway through filming [ITV drama] Finding Alice when we were locked down in March. We finished filming in September – it was complicated but we proved you can film safely. I play Keeley Hawes’s father and Joanna Lumley plays my wife – I’ve known Jo all my life, so it wasajoytodo. 6.30pm My wife and I often cook together; she’s a brilliant cook and I’m the sous-chef. Over the years I’ve built up a good cellar, so I’ll choose a lovely bottle of wine to have with dinner. 8.30pm I’ve watched less television during lockdown and read instead. I have two books on the go: H E Bates’s The Darling Buds of May, which makes me cry with laughter, and Trio by William Boyd, about the film business. 10.30pm My bedside table has a pile of books on it because sometimes I’ll go and lie down in the afternoon and read. I’m asleep by half past 10.

Finding Alice begins on ITV tomorrow at 9pm