The comedian reveals five secrets from the set of his new crime-scene sitcom GREG DAVIES

THE CLEANER Friday, 9.30pm, BBC1

1

I play Wicky (pictured), whose job is to clear up crime scenes once the detectives have finished. The blood was fake and the body parts prosthetic but there was one occasion – the disposal of a severed finger in a bin – which made me feel squeamish and revealed how ill-suited I would be to the job in real life.

2 One episode was in the house of a man obsessed by the 1980s and this gave the props department the chance to fill a room with all things 80s. Or, to put it another way, fill a room with all the things that my parents failed to buy me, such as a Chopper bike and Rubik’s Cube! It was a joy. Having a Sinclair C5 – the electrically assisted pedal cycle invented by Sir Clive Sinclair – on set was a dream come true.

3

I hope the bloopers reel for this series is never made public as I am guilty of rank amateurism on a number of occasions, laughing when I shouldn’t have been and generally being unprofessional. It demonstrates how fortunate I am to have ever been employed in this business.

4

A big challenge of the series was wearing a white scene-of-crime suit for long periods. It’s not the most comfortable of costumes. If I ever meet a real crime-scene cleaner I’d ask them if we can get together and design one for a fat middleaged man working under hot studio lights – like me!

5

For one episode, I was filming in a park with Ruth Madeley when a woman walked up and said, ‘What are you shooting?’ and I replied. ‘A production for BBC1.’ She said, ‘Is there anybody famous in it?’ and I replied, ‘Nah.’