Ten Things You Never Knew About Philip Glenister

Philip Glenister took the nation by storm as booze-swilling, tough-talking DCI Gene Hunt in time-travel cop show Life On Mars. The 44-year-old has starred in the likes of Clocking Off and Cranford in his 16-year career, but ingrained himself on the national consciousness as the Cortina-driving '70s detective. Hunt is back up to his old tricks in spinoff Ashes To Ashes on Thursday, minus Sam Tyler but with a new female partner (and Nookie Bear!) to keep him in check. But what do we know about his real-life alter-ego? As we prepare to be transported back to the '80s, there's never been a better time to learn ten fascinating facts about the man behind the camel coat.

1. Philip was born in Harrow, North-West London, the son of TV director John Glenister (Rumpole of the Bailey, A Touch of Frost) and younger brother of Hustle star Robert.

2. Philip's childhood dream? He always wanted to be a milkman. Aww! We'll have a pint of skimmed, thanks, Phil.

3. Philip decided to head to drama school after a few years as a movie publicist. He recalls: “I was working on a film with Richard E Grant, and told him I wanted to go to drama school. ‘Go for it, you c***,’ he said, and I did. Thank goodness.”

4. Philip studied with Graham Norton and Rufus Sewell at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, before sharing a flat with Jamie Glover (Andrew Treneman in Waterloo Road).

5. Philip reckons Johnny Depp or Nick Nolte should play Gene Hunt in the US version of Life on Mars after he and John Simm turned down the roles. He explains: "I'd have ended up a nutter in the Priory [if I'd gone to Hollywood]. If I was ten years younger or didn't have children, I might like to go... but it's never been a burning desire, and I can't be a***d now to start at the bottom of the pile."

6. Philip is not a fan of soap operas. "They're a separate industry," he rants. "They're churned out on a treadmill with no time for any creative process, so nobody gives a s**t." He adds that he has a "soft spot" for Corrie but EastEnders is "up its own arse".

7. Philip has two daughters with actress Beth Goddard, whom he married in 2006 after nine years of dating. However, he insists that he would ban marriage for anyone until they’re 30, saying: "That’s what your twenties are for - to be as hedonistic and crazy as possible."

8. Philip says he would probably have been a failed writer in an alternate universe. "Once I wrote about eight pages and got writer's block," he remembers. "It was an adaptation of a short story by James Joyce which was a little bit ambitious as I was about 17 at the time."

9. He may have whizzed back to the '80s for to play Gene Hunt, but what was Philip up to at the time, we wonder? "I was just trying to get laid while listening to Human League, wanted to be Simon Le Bon and spent a lot of time squeezing my spots," he says. Mmm, sounds like as good a way to live as any.

10. Is Philip ambitious? "I've got two small children. I'm too knackered to be ambitious." That'll be a no, then.