THE familiar, dramatic theme music bursts into life and the family stare at the screen.

The coloured balls roll out one by one: 9, 22, 18, 2, 13, 29. . . £8m and it’s all theirs.

Well, it’s Nana’s actually as she owns the winning ticket, and unless her family sort out their lives she’ll be giving it all to the donkey sanctuary.

Michael Starke plays Ronnie, the useless dad of the family whose beer gut is far more impressive than his CV.

“He’s an everyday kind of guy who’s let things slip,” explains the former Brookside and The Royal actor.

“He’s not kept an eye on his marriage. He’s just sat there and become a bit of a slob and he’s not working properly.

“We don’t know whether she’s playing tricks on them or whether it’s because she has dementia. She goes to great lengths to hide the ticket from the family and she wants them to buck their ideas up.”

Starke was drawn to the show, which has just opened at the Royal Court, because “I thought I’m going to enjoy this”.

“There’s all the chaos surrounding trying to find the ticket,” he continues.

“It’s great fun and it’s a bit farcical but I think it goes a bit deeper than that.”

He’s refering to the fact that Nana, played by Shelia Reid (Madge from ITV series Benidorm), has dementia.

It’s a difficult subject that has to be tackled carefully.

“Shelia Reid is just an amazing actress and in her hands it’s done properly,” says Starke.