MY SIX BEST BOOKS

jeffrey holland

JEFFREY HOLLAND, 70, is the comic actor who starred in Hi-de-Hi! He is appearing in Dog Ends at the Tabard Theatre, London, until April 15.

THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger

Vintage, £8.99 I’ve always been fascinated by the prospect of time travel so I look out for books with “time” in the title. It goes back to The Time Tunnel TV series. The idea of jumping back and forward in somebody’s life captivated me.

TIME-RIDERS by Alex Scarrow

Puffin, £6.99 Another on the theme of time travel. This is about three youngsters recruited into an agency to put things right in the past. There are nine in the series and I couldn’t resist buying each one.

NORTHERN LIGHTS by Philip Pullman

Scholastic, £7.99 I went for these books in a big way. They look at alternative dimensions and things I’d love to be able to do.

The idea of talking polar bears and marvellous people who move through portals gripped me. Sometimes fantasy is better than the real world.

SECRET SAMURAI TRILOGY by Jill Rutherford

Print on demand only Jill is a friend and this is about an Englishwoman in present-day Japan who finds herself shifting through time to meet samurai in feudal Japan. Mind-opening.

ENTER JEEVES by PG Wodehouse

Out of print A few years ago I played Jeeves in a musical but I hadn’t read the books until then. This collection of stories paints a picture of a gentleman and his valet in the 1920s. It’s very funny.

LAUREL AND HARDY: THE MAGIC BEHIND THE MOVIES by Randy Skretvedt

Out of print I’ve been a fan since the Saturday morning picture shows and I do a one-man show as Stan. They were warm, well-meaning idiots getting in trouble with authority and as a small boy, I identified with that.