We at RadioTimes.com can promise there are some incredible performances from the celebrities taking part in ITV's latest All Star Musicals, airing on Boxing Day, but we simply can't prepare you enough for Ben Miller's performance. It's certainly not what you'd expect from the established actor.

Advertisement

In the special, a whole host of famous faces including Fern Britton, Gyles Brandreth and Catherine Tyldesley will take to the floor with an ensemble cast to perform a rendition of a popular song from a well-known musical.

Miller will perform a number from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (you read that right), and as you eagerly await that, we found out he's extremely excited about it.

"I was really, really delighted to be asked - and terrified," Miller explains over Zoom. "I've just loved the whole experience. What really attracted me to doing it as a show was the fact we would get training. Quite serious vocal and dancing training.

"I got to fulfil a wish... I just love that musical. It was one of the first I ever saw and I just remember being so mesmerised by it. Goodness me, I absolutely loved it, but obviously it's not for the faint-hearted." And really you'll just have to wait to see what the fuss is about.

More like this

As for taking part in the show itself, Miller was keen to have a bit more fun after the past 18 months we've all had. "After lockdown, I thought I've not really done many things like this in my career. I've mainly stuck to acting," the 55-year-old explained. "When you're in lockdown you think, 'Why don't I just have a bit more fun?' I really do need to get out of my comfort zone. That was my lockdown resolution."

Stepping outside of his comfort zone is exactly what Miller did, to great success. While he revealed he wanted to do his performance again the second after he'd finished, it's safe to say that's maybe as far out as he's willing to come just now.

Before we can even finish our question about whether we could expect Miller on Strictly Come Dancing 2022, it's a resounding "no".

Loved this Big RT Interview? Read these:

  • Jessica Plummer on The Girl Before: 'I joked when I left EastEnders I wanted to do something light-hearted'
  • Freya Allan talks The Witcher: 'I got very harsh on myself for season one'

Miller laughed: "I will never do anything like this ever again! But it's nice to have experienced this version of it – it was the gentlest version of the talent show spectrum. Everyone wanted you to do well and the professionals on the show were incredibly supportive. Everyone was supportive throughout the whole thing, and even then I found it quite brutal!"

Miller's making a bit of a habit of starring in a popular show over Christmas. The world was captured by Bridgerton fever last year, when the Netflix blockbuster launched on Christmas Day, with a starring role for Lord Featherington.

While (*spoiler alert*) the Lord is unlikely to return given he's dead, that hasn't stopped Miller from making surprise appearances on his former shows before, despite his characters biting the dust. In February, he reprised his famous role in Death in Paradise as DI Richard Poole, to give some posthumous advice to former colleague DS Camille Bordey.

But can he get back to Bridgerton? "It's possible," Miller admitted. That's the thing, coming back to Death in Paradise, it's an even keel. I remember I said to the producer, 'I'm pretty sure I had an ice pick stuck in my chest...' He said, 'Don't you worry, we've got our way around it.' And yeah, sure enough, I managed to get back. I loved the episode of Death in Paradise. I went back to that to mark the 10th series. That was really lovely.

"So yeah, everything's possible... I hope they don't wait for 10 series of Bridgerton to get this!"

Ben Miller plays Lord Featherington in Bridgerton
Ben Miller playing Lord Featherington in Bridgerton (Netflix)

The racy Netflix period drama had been watched by over 82 million accounts and was thought to have amassed over 625 million hours of viewing in figures released by the streaming giant in September 2021. The scale of the drama when filming, was thankfully just as big as its post-release stats.

"It was the most enormous TV show," Miller recalls. "I mean the most enormous production I've ever seen or been involved in, it was like shooting three big feature films at the same time. It was extraordinary, because I was number 96 on the cast list! There were 300 supporting artists that had about five outfits each bespoke made for them. I've never seen anything like this warehouse. It was an aircraft hangar full of costumes."

Bridgerton was filmed largely over Summer 2019, pre-pandemic, but Miller explained how the (vast) cast weren't actually sure when it was coming out. "I thought it was such a bold move, but also really perfect. It was at a time when we were all so desperate for a bit of escapism - it had been a long, hard slog up to that point and I think it was the perfect show for these times," Miller said of finding out it was airing on Christmas Day 2020.

"It's very bold in its creativity as well," he adds. "A lot of it is actually more authentic than most period costumes you'd see in terms of the diversity and the characters. I was researching and I went to the National Portrait Gallery and I dug out all the portraits I could find from 1813... London was a very diverse society in 1813 - it's not like you usually see in Jane Austen. I loved that side of it. It just felt very liberating and I think people love that about it as it's a breath of fresh air."

While we wait to find out if Miller will actually be in Bridgerton season two, we have All Star Musicals to look forward to. And trust us, you don't want to miss it.

Visit our Big RT Interview hub for more conversations with the biggest stars in TV and film, or find something to watch with our TV Guide.

Advertisement

This year’s Radio Times Christmas double issue is on sale now, featuring two weeks of TV, film and radio listings, reviews, features and interviews with the stars.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement