One of the UK’s best loved actors, Ricky Tomlinson, is coming to perform at Huddersfield.

The 78-year-old legend, who won plaudits for his deadpan portrayal of Jim Royle in the sitcom The Royle Family, and before that as Bobby Grant in the cutting edge soap opera Brookside in the 1980s, is performing at the Keys restaurant in the town centre.

Ricky told the Examiner: “The show will be called Name Drop and will be about all the famous people I have known over the years. There will be maybe five or minutes about my time in prison.”

Asked whether he would appreciate punters asking him to say his most famous line ‘my arse’ from The Royle Family, which he is still asked to do every time he walks down the street in Liverpool, he replied: “They can ask as many times as they like. I’m there to please.”

Ricky Tomlinson as Jim Royle in The Royle Family Christmas Special 2012 (Barbara's Old Ring)

He said his fee for the show would be donated towards trying to raise £300,000 for a little girl from the Wirral to go to Mexico for life-saving treatment.

As well as a plethora of acting roles to his credit, Ricky, who has lived in Liverpool almost all his life, is a well-known political activist and campaigner.

The gig at The Keys restaurant underneath the Huddersfield Parish Church on Byram Street on Saturday, June 16, is a coup for general manager, Paul Wood, who said he felt “very honoured to have him at The Keys.

“Ricky is a comedy legend, big friend of local impresario and Keys booking agent, George Wilkinson of Kirkheaton. We have also had stars Kiki Dee, Frank Carson and Toyah Willcox.

George Wilkinson with his cruise ship medical bill
George Wilkinson.

“We are carrying on the tradition of places like Batley Variety Club, albeit on a smaller scale.”

Ricky has rarely been out of the headlines over the years and stunned the nation in March last year when he claimed there was a darker side to the jovial Countdown host Richard Whiteley who Ricky claimed was an MI5 spy who helped put him and other striking ­workers behind bars in the 1970s.

Also appearing alongside him on the night will be fellow Liverpudlian John Martin, who has spent years writing jokes for comedy stars including Ken Dodd, Jimmy Tarbuck and Bob Monkhouse.

It’s bound to be a rib-tickling evening given that he entered the Guinness Book of Records in the 1990s for continuously telling jokes for over 100 hours.

Mr Wood said: “Tickets are selling fast and cost £49.95 including a three course meal. Book by phone 01484 516677 or online: www.thekeyshuddersfield.uk