TV star Stephen Tompkinson talks about his 'greatest role' as he helps stars of the future

Actor Stephen Tompkinson has every reason to blow his own trumpet, as Brassed Off celebrates its 30th birthday with a tribute concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The TV star, who played Phil Ormondroyd, the troubled trombone player and son of the band leader, who attempts to take his life, says it remains his proudest role. He tells the Mirror : “On October 2, they are holding a concert at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Brassed Off. That is a very rare thing indeed. "It was a great film and it just shows its popularity when it sells out after all these years. It is probably the film that I am most proud of and I felt that at the time.” The soundtrack for the film, based on Grimethorpe's struggles against pit closures, was provided by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Stephen continues: "It was an amazing script and Pete Postlethwaite was an actor who had this way of making the most of what was written for him. "It was up for a load of awards, including a Peter Sellars award for comedy, an Evening Standard award, the Film César in France, and it was recognised in Spain, and Germany."

This year means a double whammy of anniversaries for the actor, as the popular series Ballykissangel also turned 30 in February.

Stephen, 60, played Father Peter Clifford, a young English priest who transferred to a rural parish in Ireland. Pub landlady Assumpta Fitzgerald, played by Dervla Kirwan, was the first person he met in the village and they had a chemistry that reflected their romance off screen. Stephen, who is just back from working in Ireland again, continues: "I have just finished The Heights for Channel 5 with Anna Friel, which was set in Dublin. “I got to go back to Avoca in County Wicklow, where we filmed Ballykissangel, for the first time in 30 years, which was wonderful. "It has had a lick of paint and the church looked fabulous. The locals would come up to me and say ‘hello’ and ‘ah, it's yourself,’ like I had never been away. "I loved it. After that first series, it just really took off and we would get bus loads of tourists coming to see us film. "There would be 1,500 people there and we had to turn the cameras around to exclude them from the shot. It reminded me so much of John Wayne and The Quiet Man, which was filmed in Ireland and is one of my all-time favourite films.

"It had an element of that, a sort of grandeur. But the tourism boost was just extraordinary. "We had to film there less and less, because so many people came to see it. The setting was so beautiful. It aired early in the year and it was filmed in the summer when the countryside really did look at its best. "I think viewers just wanted to see it for themselves. It was sunshine and picture postcard scenery.