Ricky Tomlinson excited to return to Northern Ireland for “up close and personal” show

An Evening with Ricky Tomlinson is coming to the MAC next month

TV legend Ricky Tomlinson has said he is “excited” to share the lesser-known parts of his story with his fans in Northern Ireland.

The 86-year-old star, known for roles such as Bobby Grant and Jim Royle, is coming to the MAC next month for ‘An Evening with Ricky Tomlinson’ – an interview-based show where local fans can ask him more about his fascinating career and life.

A description of the show, hosted by Asa Murphy, reads: “In an up close and personal interview, Ricky takes you on his life’s journey from his very humble upbringing, events in his early life, and his controversial political career.

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“Ricky also regales you with insights and background stories into his showbiz life including the hit TV soap Brookside, the iconic ground breaking comedy TV series The Royle Family, and not forgetting one of the best ever football movies Mike Bassett England Manager.”

Belfast Live spoke to Ricky and Asa ahead of the show, chatting about what audiences can expect, his recent Brookside return and the possibility of a bango session in Belfast.

Asa said: “Rick and I are really excited to meet everyone.

“The show is really telling the audience all about Ricky’s interesting life – last week, Ricky turned 86, so you can imagine he’s has a very interesting and busy life.

“We felt it would be nice to go on the road and let people know a little bit about the aspects of Ricky’s life that they don’t know.”

Away from his iconic on-screen characters, the audience on November 5 will be able to learn more about Ricky’s early history – from his time in prison to his upbringing and music career.

Ricky said: “The beauty for me is that the audience gets like half the show to ask their questions – not just prepared questions that Asa and I have, but what they want to know.

“People do get a shock when they find out that our trial was motivated by the Conservative government of the day, and although we went into jail and served our time, I served two years and my mate served three years… they pardoned us after 47 years.”

Apart from his acting chops, Ricky is a keen musician and a top banjo player. When asked will he try to get a session in with Belfast’s buzzing live musicians, he said he is keen to “sample some of the local live music” when he visits.

He added: “We did last time we went over and it was great.

“It was like New Year’s Eve, it was great. People were dancing and singing and it was wonderful.”

Asa continued: “We are particularly looking forward to coming to Belfast because we know the audiences there are very keen to meet Ricky.”

Ricky returned to Brookside Close and stepped into the world of Bobby Grant once again for a Hollyoaks anniversary crossover episode, which aired earlier this week.

Fans were able to see him reunite his Sue Johnston who played his former on-screen wife Shelia in the popular soap.

“It was nice filming that and meeting some of the people that we haven’t seen for years,” he explained.

“People loved them shows and it’s amazing that even now, people still call me Bobby Grant – it’s absolutely amazing.”

Fans attending in Belfast will be able to hear a lot more about his return to Brookside and the crossover episode next month, which Asa describes as the “beauty” of the show – allowing current topics and fan questions to shape the evening too.

Ricky visited Northern Ireland earlier this year for Comic Con, an experience he “absolutely loved” and while he has only visited Belfast twice before, he said he has had great experiences here so far.

“I just enjoy meeting the people and having a laugh and people are the same everywhere – if you treat people with respect, they treat you with respect,” he added.

For more information and tickets, see here

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