Actor, comedian and broadcaster Tony Robinson is a British institution. The self-confessed history nut speaks to Jolene Hill about his 40-year career and new one-man show.

When I spoke to Tony Robinson at 10 in the morning his day wasn't going very well. His mobile was on the blink and his car had a puncture, which was problematic as he was in Wales and needed to reach London by 2pm.

Still, in-between all the commotion, he managed to chat about his new show, Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out, an autobiographical tale spanning Robinson's eclectic 40-year career.

Comedian Eddie Izzard was quoted as saying: "Robinson is a god of history and sex, watch him and shag him" and this is an indication of what to expect from the one-man show.

It promises to make you laugh, cry, sing along and retch, with a bit of swearing thrown in for good measure.

Cunning Night Out takes its name from Robinson's stint as Baldrick in Blackadder, when he was renowned for uttering, "I have a cunning plan".

"It's going to be a very physical show," says Robinson. "I conduct the entire battle of Agincourt at one point. I don't like going to the theatre and watching a performance which would be just the same on television," he explains.

"I want my show to bounce off the audience."

And there are many ways in which he intends to do this. One of his most recent exploits was Channel 4 show, The Worst Jobs in History and he'll be using his knowledge on the night to engage the audience.

"I'll ask members of the audience to give their surnames and then tell them what jobs their ancestors did," he explains.

The more obvious examples are the Butchers and the Bakers although he says anyone with the surname Walker would have had a grim task in mediaeval times.

A Walker spent his days up to his knees in vats of urine, treading on wool to close the fibres and make the cloth soft.

Robinson's career started when he was just 13 when he made his West End debut as the Artful Dodger in Oliver.

As well as playing the turnip-loving simpleton Baldrick his career includes work on Channel Four's Time Team, BBC kid's comedy Maid Marian and Her Merry Men and a performance in the John Wayne film, Brannigan. He has also written books for children and adults.

Despite his latest show's autobiographical content, Robinson says he can't pick out the highlight of his career.

"People really like the variety of my work but winning a BAFTA, RTS award and Prix Jeunesse for writing Maid Marian and Her Merry Men was really special."

He has just signed a contract with Channel 4 to present cult series Time Team for another three years.

The show gives the gang of archaeologists just three days to excavate historical sites. If the dig is not completed within the given time, it's tough luck.

"There is no come-back," says Robinson. "We just have to record what we find and cover it all back up."

It must be quite stressful? "Yes," he says. "But people love that. It doesn't matter if we end up feeling frustrated, because that's life.

"People like seeing us tired, wet and pissed off. In the early programmes, we used to hide the upset, now I'm disappointed if it's not there.

Despite his background being in acting, not history, Robinson is clearly drawn to the past.

"We all have a history background," he says, explaining his fascination with the migration over the last century, something which created present-day London and affected Robinson's own family.

"There has been an extraordinary movement in the population in the last 100 years, with immigrant Jews, Irish and West Indians all coming in.

"My own great grandparents came from Wiltshire to work in posh people's houses."

So what's been his favourite find?

"Anything good will have the mark of a real person, such as stone work with the mason's mark on it," he says.

Robinson has a fascination for anything which affects real people and this has influenced his work.

When undertaking his Worst Jobs in History tour, he claimed to be, "Sick of telly programmes which show the virgin Queen Elizabeth single-handedly transforming England in between snogging sessions with her latest court toy-boy."

"Most of our history is a million miles from that," he says. "It's the story of ordinary people doing crappy jobs."

His own favourite worst job is that of the leather tanner. "You soak the hide of a cow in chicken shit until it's stinking and fetid and then you scrape the hide off." Yuck, I say. He laughs, "Well, you did ask."

-Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, February 5, 7.45pm, £15, 020 8688 9291.