He’s good and Roy Walker certainly IS right as he comes to Kent as compere to a new variety show. Chris Price caught up with “The Legend”.

Even for someone who describes himself as “the man, the legend”, it is difficult not to warm to the Irish charm of Roy Walker.

A man from the golden age of showbusiness, Roy has seen it all and became a household name as the host of Catchphrase from 1986 to 1999. Before Catchphrase, Roy served his time in the country’s working men’s clubs before getting himself known on ITV’s talent show New Faces and then as a regular on stand-up programme The Comedians in the 1970s.

Then when his moment in the spotlight finally came, he was summoned to Kent to begin the job that would define his career.

“Kent is where I got my big break,” said Roy, who filmed Catchphrase at the Maidstone Studios in Vinters Park for seven years, when it was TVS Television Centre.

“I have got very happy memories of driving down to that place. I stayed in the Posthouse at Wrotham. The first time I stayed down there for a month.”

Filming eventually moved to Nottingham when Carlton took over in the 1990s. Roy returns to Kent this weekend to compere variety show Vintage Nights and wishes he had got to know the county more during his time here – but Catchphrase’s tight scheduling put paid to any hopes of that.

“It was such hard work I never got out of the place. I was there from 10 in the morning until 10 at night. I haven’t been back for a long time but I’ll make sure I drive past the Maidstone Studios for a trip down memory lane.”

Replaced after nearly 15 years, it was not long before Roy was back in Catchprase mode. He got a call from Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles in 2003 asking him to help him with a new feature. After trying Carpark Catchphrase out for a couple of weeks, Roy has now been on the breakfast show for eight years, and there’s talk of a comedy CD involving Roy, Chris and his sidekick Comedy Dave.

“Chris is fab,” said Roy. “He was a fan of Catchphrase and said 'would you like to try it for a couple of weeks?’ Here we are eight years later and it is more popular than ever.”

Roy is tight-lipped about the amount of work he has to do for Chris’s show. “I can’t tell you that. There are still people who think it’s live,” he said before breaking into wheezing laughter.

“I don’t want to give the game away. Lots of people still think I’m there. Modern technology, aye?”

These days, Roy has become something of a parody of himself since he took up his post on Chris Moyles’s Carpark Catchphrase. Yet he has kept his popularity, with a winning appearance on Come Dine With Me in 2009, appearing on the Churchill insurance adverts and having a successful run with a new stand-up show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he got four-star reviews. He went back to do five shows this year.

“I thought I was going to win best newcomer,” he laughed. “I’m amazed my career is still going on. I have done more than 100 universities in the last three years thanks to Carpark Catchphrase, which has brought me to a whole new audience.”

His revival continues as he returns to Kent at Chatham’s Dickens World for the Vintage Nights show, which includes music from a 1960s and 1970s band as well as his stand-up routine.

“This is the first one I’ve done. They are taking a look at me and I’m taking a look at them,” he said before erupting into another fit of laughter.

“It could be the start of the next chapter. You never know. Everything is only a phone call away in showbusiness.”

Q&A with Roy Walker

Are you happy with what you’ve achieved in life?

“I’m quite content with what I’ve done. I have loved it all. I have got a nice family and we are all still speaking. I must have done something all right.”

What things do you still want to achieve?

“I don’t think I’ll get up Everest but there are still four hills in the Lake District I want to go up. I have done a couple this year. They are quite scary.”

What was the secret to Catchphrase’s success?

“All the other gameshows are radio programmes, where you don’t need to watch the TV. You had to watch with Catchphrase.”

What will the Vintage Nights show be like?

“We have a live band which is something you don’t often see nowadays. Soon it will be that no one can play any instruments any more. You’ll just play with your finger on a record.”

Are you looking forward to heading to Chatham’s Dickens World?

“It is a very famous place. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

Roy Walker will star in Vintage Nights at the Britannia Theatre in Chatham’s Dickens World on Saturday, November 26. Doors 7.30pm, starts 8pm. Tickets £14.75. Box office 01233 733993.