The Crown and Magpie Murders star whose first job was a Glasgow panto

“I was the back end of a pantomime cow in Dick Whittingon, Alex Norton was the very fine dame, and Ciaran Hinds was the Moroccan chief of police,” says Michael Maloney, with a snort of laughter.

“How great is that? I remember the tickets were only 50p. I had a lot of fun in Glasgow.”

The cast of Murder on the Orient Express (Image: ATG)

Now one of the most recognisable actors on British stage and screen – he played Prime Minister Edward Heath in The Crown, has appeared in successful TV dramas and films like Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, Magpie Murders and Iron Lady, and is a Royal Shakespeare Company leading light – Michael is returning to the city to play one of the world’s most famous detectives.

Michael is starring as Hercule Poirot in the first UK stage version of Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie’s nail-biting thriller about a killer at large on a snowbound train, and he cuts a dashing figure in the publicity photos.

The cast of Murder on the Orient Express (Image: ATG)

“Ah, it’s my own moustache, that’s the secret,” he says, wisely. “I tried sticking one on, but it just kept flopping off.

“So many great actors have played Poirot – Kenneth Branagh was fantastic, David Suchet, Peter Ustinov…. I’m the right age for Albert Finney, so he has stuck in my mind too. They are all incredible.

“I won't be completely different, but in a theatre show, you have to raise your voice a lot more. I’m a bit more of an expressive Poirot.”

Michael as Hercule Poirot (Image: ATG)

Michael adds: “He’s still calm and collected, but you can’t rely on the TV close-ups, so you have to show your emotions a lot more.”

Lucy Bailey’s new production of Ken Ludwig’s adaptation also stars Bob Barrett as Monsieur Bouc and Rebecca Charles as Greta Ohlson.

“This is the first stage production of Murder on the Orient Express, can you believe it?” says Michael. “It feels so theatre-y, you wonder why it's never been done before. It’s a really good show, I think, and people will love it. There are plenty of surprises, even if you know the ending.

“I’m so thrilled to be part of it.”

Michael is loving the experience of touring around the UK, he says – Glasgow is one of the earlier stops, then there is a break for Christmas, then a further run through to May 2025.

“I love touring - I have acted on the stage all my life but there was a period of about 17 years when I was a carer for my parents, and a single parent for my daughter, so I had to stay at home,” he says.

“It was okay to get away for a day or so to do some TV work, but I couldn’t tour round the country. So theatre had to take a bit of a back seat.”

He adds: “I learned a lot about life during that time. I learned what was important."

Michael grew up in Suffolk in the late 1950s and early 1960s, where he discovered a talent for acting at school.

“I was in a school play, did quite well, and thought, excellent, this is my ticket out of here,” he says, with a laugh.

“I was just delighted I had done something right at school. I became a stage hand at 16 – actually, I came to the King’s in Edinburgh when I was 18 to work at the Festival – then went to drama school.”

Michael’s daughter Martha has just graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. (She is currently working on a short film with, funnily enough, former Poirot actor David Suchet, who made the famous role his own on TV for almost 20 years.)

It is an exciting time for Martha, and for her dad, says Michael, but the industry, from a young person’s point of view, has changed almost beyond recognition.

“There used to be a system,” he says, a little sadly.

“There were about 50 companies doing repertory theatre, and that’s where you went. We have lost that, and it’s much more of a free-for-all.

"It’s a different game now.”

Murder on the Orient Express is at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow from October 8 to 12.