IT might well have never seen the light of day again if one of Britain's favourite actors had not found it.

Roger Milner's play, Beyond A Joke, lay in a drawer for five years before Anton Rodgers chanced upon it.

Originally destined to be a television play, this witty and moving piece about PG Wodehouse never reached our TV screens. Its original producer had died and the project was cancelled.

Anton had been approached to play PG "Plum" Wodehouse, a part he had warmed to instantly as a longtime fan of the prolific author.

When he rediscovered the script he approached Milner to suggest that he adapt it as a stage play.

Milner agreed and Anton was on the way to playing one of his most fascinating roles.

The result can be seen at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, from August 30 to Sesptember 9 prior to the West End.

The creator of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, lyricist, screenwriter and a well-loved literary figure, PG was, says Anton, "incredibly famous".

"He had written some 20 Broadway musicals and collaborated with composers such as Jerome Kern and Cole Porter.

"In 1933 he was earning some £180,000 to £200,000, a fantastic amount of money for those days.

"He was very privileged. And he had a wonderful marriage to Ethel, his only sadness being that they had no children. Ethel had been widowed and had a daughter Leonora on whom PG doted.

"Everyone loved him."

It came, therefore, as something of a shock in 1944 when he came under suspicion of being a Nazi collaborator.

"There wasn't a shred of evidence to support the accusation, says Anton.

The couple had become trapped in France as it fell to the Nazis. Ethel loved gambling and although PG had lived in the USA since 1909, they had a house in Le Touquet. It was while they were visiting it that they fell foul of the advancing Germans.

"They twice tried to escape by car but were turned back and interned. However, PG was released three months early from internment, the usual age being 60.

"Some say it was because he agreed to broadcast from France to the USA, but I don't believe for a minute that is true.

"PG was a disingenuous, simple man who wanted to convey messages to friends and family in America. He never realised that the Nazis would make propaganda out of it. There wasn't a trace of treachery in his whole being.

"Why would he throw away such a profitable career for one broadcast? There was talk of his receiving a large sum in German Marks but this had nothing to do with the broadcast, it was simply his royalties from other countries.

" The man was a millionaire and a few pounds for a broadcast was of no interest to him."

However, Anton says, rumour was rife. "It's a bit like reading the Bible. There is a certain ambiguity. How you read it depends on your attitude."

So keen is Anton on getting to grips with this huge role that he is rising at 5-30 am to study the script before rehearsals.

"I am a terrible study, it takes ages to learn anything but I really love early mornings, especially if I can fit in a bit of fly fishing too.

"With three large sons about the house it's the only time there's any peace."

Anton is married to actress Elizabeth Garvie and as well as sons Barnaby, Dominic and Luke, he has a son Adam and daughter Talia by a previous marriage.

"I have just seen one off to university today, so that's a relief. I've put all five through public school. I think it would have been cheaper to build my own!"

Although Anton has won awards for directing, he's happy to leave that role this time to Christopher Morahan for whom he has deep respect.

"He's wonderful. He pursues the truth. He won't have anything just for effect, it must be honest. Christopher's quite demanding and that is great with me."

For his co-star Angela Thorne, Anton has nothing but affection.

"We've worked together at the Arnaud in Ayckbourn's How The Other Half Lives and in the TV series Noah's Ark. It is lovely to be working with her again and to be touring. I really love England."

Anton has been getting to grips with his beloved rural England in his TV series Up Rising which he describes as "the Vicar of Dibley without the Vicar. He's hoping another series will follow.

This amiable man may not be as passionate about pigs as they were at PG's fictional Blandings, but sniffing out the truth about Wodehouse, and fitting in a few trips to the riverbank on his travels, is a perfect English way to conduct his life.

"And I'd like to ease off a bit. I no longer have the desire to work 52 weeks a year."

Jeeves would certainly have approved of this gentleman's style.

Sandy Baker