WHEN his old accomplice Nigel Havers suggested reprising their roles as Wilde’s dashing young fops Algernon Moncrieff and Jack Worthing 30 years on, Martin Jarvis put his foot down.

Sprightly as they may be for their age, no-one in their right mind would confuse them for dandies in their prime.

But Havers made a compelling case and he was eventually swayed.

Regurgitating Wilde’s witticisms in another dime a dozen revival would simply not do, so together the pair hatched a plan.

“We had so much fun when we did the play 32 years ago, but we were too old for those parts,” booms the 74-year-old. “So we hammered out a way we could do it. We presented it as dedicated amateurs who are getting to be too old for the parts but still do the play every four of five years because they love it.”

Writer Simon Brett was enlisted to hash out the specifics and The Importance of Being Earnest as dreamt up by Havers and Jarvis was born. Each night, audiences are now immersed in Wilde’s satire by way of The Bunbury Company of Players’ spectacularly fraught dress rehearsal.

Although an undeniable departure from the original, which sees Moncrieff and Worthing lead double lives to court the attentions of the fickle Gwendolyn Fairfax and Cecily Cardew, the integrity of Wilde’s lampoon remains intact, Jarvis insists.

“We were careful to do the play proper,” adds Jarvis who juggles the roles of Worthing and the Bunbury Players’ despotic director. “Once we start Wilde’s play we leave the Bunbury Players behind and ages are irrelevant as the play moves on. It all falls into place very quickly.”

Wisdom gained from decades in the industry has gone a long way to enrich his performance and infuse the role with a sensitivity and insight he was incapable of 30 years ago.

“We are older and have sat at the feet of masters, so we are able to bring our experience of acting and relationships to the play. We wanted to be sure we didn’t skim the surface of the work which perhaps we did 32 years ago. We investigated the true emotion beneath, the DNA of what we believe Wilde wanted.

“We approached the play afresh as if it was a play by a new writer. It’s a very unique but truthful way of doing the play.”

An insatiable entertainer the Titanic actor has built an eclectic CV running the gamut of television, film and voice acting with successful forays into directing at home and Stateside.

He also enjoys a flourishing career lending his voice to literary classics on audiobooks.

His commanding RADA-inflected tones earned him his greatest (and most bizarre) role to date – God himself – in a 76-hour reading of the Old Testament alongside Jon Voight.

“What a wonderful thing to do,” he adds wistfully. “Of course in the Old Testament he is a very cross God so I spend a lot of time being very angry. I had done the New Testament two years before in England. It’s such an interesting story, almost like sci-fi at times in its strangeness. It becomes so riveting to do. Again it’s about approaching it fresh as if it had never been told before. You can’t give a monotonous churchified reading.”

As if his repertoire weren’t diverse enough, he recently performed a cameo in Seth McFarlane’s American Dad.

To his astonishment, his flawless RP was deemed “not British enough” and he had to ramp up the silk-stocking drawl.

“I learnt I could be even a touch more PG Woodhouse,” he chuckles. “Their satire about British characters there is a little bit sharper.”

The bulk of his resume may rival the Thesaurus’s but He insists he is very selective when choosing a project. “There has to be something fascinating about the role. It’s something one feels one could learn from.

“I learn every night from the audience doing The Importance of Being Earnest. The audience is like this great big whale in the sea and you think, ‘How can I draw it in?’ Acting is a learning curve. You never sit back and think ‘Oh this is easy’. You are constantly learning and learning. You want to entertain in the best way possible.”

The Importance of Being Earnest runs at the Wyvern Theatre from October 27 to 31. To book call 01793 524 481 or visit swindontheatres.co.uk.