"I can sympathise with Frank entirely. It must be awful to live through regret," he says.

"The second half is set five years later where the characters have had to re-prioritise their dreams. They’re trying to find happiness on a smaller scale.

"So there’s a lot of optimism in the play and it’s about finding happiness."

Areas of his private life have been attentively followed by the public, including his much publicised love affair with Ballykissangel co-star Dervla Kirwan. But, professionally at least, Tompkinson has few regrets.

He became a household name as Damien Day, the unethical hack from satirical comedy Drop the Dead Donkey, and a housewives’ favourite as Father Peter in the gentle Irish drama.

But his first job after drama school and, as he puts it, his "first love", was radio – recording 54 plays in just seven months for the Television Radio Company.

"It’s a very special medium," says Tompkinson, who has a seven-year- old daughter with his now ex-wife Nicci Taylor.

"You’re more dependant on the author than ever before because you’ve just got their words and your voice.

"The audience has to do a lot of work imagining what the characters are like and where the piece is set, and of course no two people are going to share the same vision so you’re really performing for an audience of one, which is fantastic."

Another passion is wildlife, thanks to the ITV series Wild at Heart, in which he plays a vet who has relocated to South Africa with his family.

He will start filming the fifth series in July and is enthusiastic about returning.

"It heightens my love for the country and you learn more and more about these incredible animals the more time you spend with them," he says.

"Plus they get a little more tolerant of you so they’re more at ease and you learn more about each other. It’s fascinating."

While experiences such as this, and the financial security they bring, makes television work attractive, Tompkinson says there are times when acting on stage is more fulfilling.

"It can be frustrating to work on TV in that it’s always very stop- start, whereas in a play there’s always an immediate reaction from the audience and you get to tell the story from beginning to end without interruption.

"But of course if you mess up you don’t get to stop and go again," he muses.

There are moments when even a seasoned actor doesn’t get the reaction he expects from a theatre audience, he adds.

"It’s always the case with comedy, especially on tour. It’s very different from town to town – areas do share different senses of humour," he says.

"As soon as you were hoping for a laugh and you didn’t get it, that moment’s already gone.

"You can often lose a laugh and you never work out why. You think the timing’s exactly the same – it’s always slightly mysterious.

"But it’s good, it keeps you working hard and you can never take anything for granted."

Sign of the Times is at the Liverpool Playhouse, from April 6- 11.