Frank Kelly (Dermot Macey, 'Emmerdale')

Former Father Ted star Frank Kelly makes his debut in Emmerdale next week, taking on the role of Declan Macey's mischievous father Dermot. When Dermot arrives at Home Farm to spend Christmas with Declan and his family, the village businessman is far from pleased over the situation and tensions run high as Dermot makes himself at home for the holidays. Can father and son put their differences aside in the season of goodwill, or is this a reunion that's doomed to fail? Frank recently chatted to DS about his new soap part.

Please note that this interview took place before the death of Emmerdale's producer Gavin Blyth.

How did the role in Emmerdale come about?
"I was presenting an award at a ceremony in Dublin and the Emmerdale bunch were all over for it. I was sitting there quite bewildered and tired after the evening, when the producer of Emmerdale came over and introduced himself. He said that he had to have me on the show and that he'd always wanted to have me on Emmerdale. So he asked me to come along and, in the moment, I said that I'd love to. I actually didn't know whether anything would come of it, as it was a very fleeting encounter. But they followed it up and were very keen and insistent that I should join the show! Of course, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth - if you're a freelance actor and people want you to act and pay you for it, you do it! It was far enough ahead for me to be able to plan for it, and here I am!"

Had you watched Emmerdale much before you joined the show?
"I'd watched it with a very careless eye! But when I thought that I might be on it, I began to watch it much more closely to get an idea of the feel of it. It can be quite difficult to pick up on it, though - you'd want to be watching it for quite a long time, because the stories are quite spread out and things develop gradually and comfortably, as they would in village life. But I was able to get a feel for the ambiance of it and some of the characters."

How would you describe the character of Dermot?
"He's quite a devil-may-care rogue. While Declan is very businesslike, down-to-earth and very much in control of things, Dermot is very different. He's been living on a houseboat which has now sunk, so he has nowhere to live! But Declan's not quite ready to accept him into his household - he's quite ambivalent about it. He wants Dermot to move on and get out of the place, but Dermot is trying to live off his son. He even orders a whole round of drinks in The Woolpack and charges them up to Declan! But he does that as a bit of a leg-pull - a bit of a joke. He always has a twinkle in his eye and is always taking the Michael out of Declan!"

It seems as if there's some bad feeling between Dermot and Declan - what else can you tell us about their relationship?
"Basically, they're not too fond of each other - and we don't know the reason for that or the background behind it just yet. We don't know what kind of relationship they had when Declan was growing up, and it actually seems like they didn't have much of one."

What does Dermot think about Declan's success as a businessman?
"He ridicules him a lot. At one stage he says, 'My God! I didn't think you'd need a secretary for this kind of thing!' He just won't take his son seriously, and yet he keeps ripping him off for loads of money. So where all this will end, we don't know. We don't know what kind of explosion could occur, but Dermot has a lot of potential for many different stories. He can move in many different directions. The problem about coming into Emmerdale is that you don't always know much about yourself or the background of your character, so you just have to build it and grow with it, and I think the writers often respond to what you do as well - I think it's an interaction in that sense."

Will Dermot be a comedic character in the village?
"Well, I'll tell you what he is - he's a hell of a flirt! He fancies all the women, and he's getting information on one lady in particular. So I don't know where that might go, but he definitely has a twinkle in his eye and he's watching the ladies all the time!"

Does Dermot enjoy life at Home Farm as he settles in?
"Oh yes, definitely. I'd be inclined to camp there if I was him! It's very comfortable and very nice. I don't want to reveal too much, but he takes great liberties with the house and garden and interferes with it a lot. I wouldn't like someone doing that in my house! But he seems to be doing it partly to take the Michael out of his son - he's always laughing at Declan."

And does he get on well with Ella and Mia?
"He does. Ella is a little bit cooler - she watches out for things and she's a lot more adult. But Mia adores him - she calls him Pops the whole time. They're both trying to keep the Christmas spirit when the acrimony happens between father and son - they want to have a festive party in the house and all that sort of thing."

What is Jason Merrells, who plays Declan, like to work with?
"I like him very much - we're already mates! We've just been on the same wavelength from day one, which is great. And Corrinne Wicks is a lovely girl, really lovely company and very charming. She looks so cool, calm and collected - but she's got a great sense of humour! She always laughs very heartily indeed!"

We've heard that you have quite a passion for the countryside - does that make Emmerdale a particularly nice place for you to work?
"Oh, absolutely - one of my main hobbies is hill-walking, so it suits me perfectly!"

Your family are back home in Ireland - is it hard to be away from them when you're working on Emmerdale?
"Well, I don't like working away from home, but you have to. I'm used to it - I've previously toured Scotland with a theatre company, appearing in a play called My Old Man, written by Tom McGrath. I toured the Highlands and all over Scotland with that one - literally all over. I've done some other tours as well, so I have done quite a wide variety of work. I've had a fair bit of work in England, too."

Have you received a warm welcome from rest of the Emmerdale cast?
"Oh, it's one of the warmest families I've ever been in. It's amazing - I don't know what drug they're on, but it certainly works! (Laughs) Everybody - from the directors down - is very warm, welcoming, pleasant and supportive. I don't know how they achieve it, but they're really keen to keep it like that. And I think that comes through on the show. I mean, when we did Father Ted, it was a very happy show and it would only have been half as good had it not been a happy show. We all got on extremely well on Father Ted - every technician, every actor, the producer, the director, everybody. Even the accountant! It was great fun."

Is Father Ted something that you're proud you were a part of?
"Oh yes, I'm very proud of it. When I see it now - and it's 15 years since it was done - I realise how good the writing was. You can't have a good show without good writing - it's so important!"

Frank Kelly's first Emmerdale episode airs on Tuesday, December 21 at 7pm on ITV1.