Sitting in his dressing room chair before the curtain call, Shane Richie is getting a glimpse of what the future holds as he plays a man old enough to be his father in the role of Scrooge this Christmas.

"IT scares me looking in the mirror after makeup," says Shane, who is currently adding 30 years to his face each night before he steps on stage.

"I think, 'oh God this is what I will look back at me from the mirror in years to come' and I don't like what I see.

"And I'll tell you what - it doesn't even take long in makeup.

"I'm in and out in a matter of minutes, which is even more worrying."

Shane has taken to the stage with a festive tour of Scrooge for the second time since he played the part in 2005 and he is loving the role once more.

He says: "I really enjoy being Scrooge. It's a part that incorporates all I like doing in the business - acting, comedy and singing.

"Acting is where my real roots are but I like to think of myself as an all-round entertainer and in this show I get the chance to do it all."

It is hard to imagine that back in the early '80s Shane Richie was a teenage holiday camp entertainer on the Isle of Wight.

Non-EastEnders fans, who know nothing about Alfie Moon, must be impressed by the remarkable strides this former stand-up comedian has made in recent years.

The cheeky chappy, who has charmed the nation over the last 20 years, was even working his magic as a teenager.

Shane said: "I was 17 you had to be 18 to be a Bluecoat, so I lied.

"I really wanted to do it so I just added a year.

"They never knew. They didn't even find out when I left.

"I knew from being a small child I wanted to be an entertainer so I didn't mind fibbing. It was needs must."

He has since furthered his studies in Los Angeles with the Maurice Kosloff School of Method Acting and studying comedy in film with MK Lewis.

From 1993 to 1997 Shane starred in both London and Manchester in a production of Grease which broke box office records.

He went on to co-write, co-produce and star in Boogie Nights, a semi-biographical musical about teenage angst in the '70s.

His other theatre credits include Masquerade and The Trials of King Arthur, Stand Up and Be Counted, Class Enemy and Who Killed Captain Scarlett?

But he became a real household favourite when he moved into The Queen Vic, in Albert Square, and he admitted he would love to return one day.

"Of vourse I would love to go back," revealed Shane.

"I had two amazing years and I would never say no.

"I am far too busy at the moment to be able to hold down the regular filming it would entail.

"A soap tends to take over your diary altogether so now I could not entertain the idea but maybe in the future it might happen.

"But they'd have to ask me first, of course."

2003 was a major turning point for Shane when the role of loveable rogue Alfie Moon was created especially for him.

During his time on the Square he received great acclaim and many awards, including Best Actor and Most Popular Male and Best Newcomer.

The backwash has landed him more high-profile jobs, including being the voice of Sid the Rat in the DreamWorks animation film Flushed Away.

And he recently returned from Morocco where he filmed Prisoners of the Sun with John Rhys Davis and Joss Ackland.

Shane said: "What I like most about these days is I have stopped chasing work.

"I am getting too old to try to get myself every possible job there is.

"I want to be happy and do just enough to keep me that way.

"If I don't fancy something now I won't do it. I have learned to say no.

"But, saying that, there is a very interesting project in LA coming up next year - I might just have to check it out."

  • Scrooge The Musical is at The Palace Theatre, Manchester until January 12. For tickets contact the box office on 0844 847 2277.