Julian Rhind-Tutt on his new detective drama role and Green Wing return

But, grudgingly, and with frequent stops for self-effacing asides ("I’m playing a detective whose name I’ve forgotten"), Rhind-Tutt concedes there were other attractions to starring in Death at La Fenice.

"It’s an adaptation of the first in a set of excellent novels and I’m playing this gentle, inquisitive commissario [Guido Brunetti], based in Venice, whose principal characteristic is that he doesn’t have any of the hang-ups that detectives tend to have, like marital issues or functional alcoholism. He’s just a rather nice man who’s curious and feels that the truth matters."

So is Rhind-Tutt bothered that he doesn’t get to punch any walls?

"It’s true that plumbing the darker depths of a character can be interesting, but it’s also been a wonderful challenge to mine what drives this intelligent man with his nice marriage. He’s self-educated and he gets his passion for truth and justice from his reading. He’s got this quiet, niggling persistence – it reminds me in a bonkers way of Columbo – and that’s the quality I find most attractive in him."

Perhaps another draw is the setting. The bestselling novels, by American-expat-in-Venice Donna Leon, all take place in her watery new home town (Death at La Fenice concerns a conductor found dead in his dressing room between acts at the eponymous opera house).

"That might be part of the appeal if we were making this thing for telly," sighs Rhind-Tutt, "but when you’re making radio, it doesn’t matter if the story’s set in Venice, you’re still in a studio in Acton. There were light-hearted comments along the lines of a team-building trip to Venice, but I think with the BBC budget I won’t be holding my breath."

Rhind-Tutt, meanwhile, could easily take his own research trip, as he splits his time between London and a house in Slovenia ("Two hours' drive from Venice on a good day"). His wife is Slovenian, she "likes the weather there, and – weirdly – doesn’t want to hang out in traffic jams in south London. People usually think I’ve got some catastrophic marriage or divorce [because he’s often in London] but we just flip-flop between the two countries."

That doesn’t stop him eyeing Venice up enviously, though: "I say to my wife, 'For God’s sake, if you had only been born 100 kilometres further west, I could be learning the most beautiful language in the world and eating pasta, instead of learning an impenetrable, mind-bending Slavic jigsaw I’ll never conquer and eating stuffed peppers.'"

Meanwhile, Death at La Fenice is not the only chance for listeners to hear Rhind-Tutt’s voice this year. 20 years after its original run on Channel 4, cult comedy Green Wing suddenly reappeared on Audible in April, complete with original cast members including Olivia Colman, Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig. "Apparently it wasn’t worthy of a proper TV series," he deadpans, "but we got back together and made a podcast continuing the story.

"I haven’t listened to it in its fullest yet, but when we were recording it I thought it was rather entertaining: well-written and funny. They had some of the original writers and they’ve done some really clever stuff, seeing where all the characters have ended up, 20 years on.

"My character, Mac, is working for a charity, while wotsisname, Steve Mangan’s character [Guy Secretan] has become a sort of greedy, money-grabbing celebrity TV doctor, which I thought was perfect.”

So can we expect them to continue with this rhythm, and deliver another update in 2044? "Ha, that would be brilliant. No one’s said anything about it, but I’ll be there. I’d be the first to sign up," he says, self-effacement bubbling up again, "I need all the work and money I can get."

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Death at La Fenice debuts on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 4th August.

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