Tristan Gemmill is loving his new role as London's Burning dark horse firefighter Frank Mooney for one particular reason. "I've got a stunt double!" he crows. "It's every schoolboy's dream.
"A guy called Ray does all my stunts. I can't because of the insurance. I get near the fires and explosions , but any more than that and Ray steps in."
Tristan, 34, who starred in Family Affairs as Tony Bocelli and The Bill as DS Peter Cork, was last seen on TV in the sitcom Sam's Game with Davina McCall. And he'd never seen London's Burning before he got his role.
"I spent 10 years in Australia and I've only been back here a few years," explains Tristan.
"My family emigrated when I was 15, so I missed much of London's Burning. They still live in Melbourne. I have the odd trace of an Aussie accent - some people on set say they can hear it - but I try to keep it back."
This week, as the station says farewell to Recall, Frank's shady private life is revealed: he's in deep with dodgy East End gangster Jimmy Watts (Ivan Kaye).
"Frank works for Jimmy, enforcing protection rackets," says Tristan. "And this week it all blows up in his face."
Frank also has an illicit dalliance with Shauna Callaghan (Liza Walker), who's the wife of station boss Mick (Anthony Green).
"Things are frosty between Frank and Mick from the start because they're basically very alike," says Tristan. "Mick uses his force for good and Frank uses his for evil. They're rivals. Hence Frank beds the boss's wife."
To research his role, Tristan went out with Euston fire station crew in London.
"It was interesting from a psychological point of view," says Tristan, "because there's hours of going at 70mph through the streets of London to a situation that's potentionally life - threatening.
"Some firemen do it for the buzz. I'm not being flippant when I say that - there's an element of attraction that accompanies the danger."
It's a far cry from the lightweight from that was Sam's Game, which was savaged by both viewers and critics when it was shown last year.
"It wasn't a world - challenging funny show, but it was messed around," the actor says. "The last episode was shown first, so the series made no sense to viewers. It won't be back, but it was fun while it lasted."
Tristan lives in London's trendy Notting Hill with his wife, actresa Emily Hamilton, who can be currently seen in A&E as Saskia Walker.
"We'd only been married a few months when I got this job and she got hers up in Manchester," he says. "But we've both finished now, so we're just doing the domesticity thing... and loving it."
