The voice that answers the phone is almost instantly recognisable.

David McAlister’s silky smooth tones resonate from radio and TV commercials, have appeared on film and dramas like The Archers.

On the day we speak he is in Derby, on tour with the musical Annie, and has spent the morning in the studio recording a Gandalf-style voiceover for a video game.

But he is looking forward to bringing the show to Croydon, where he has fond memories of performing at the Ashcroft Theatre with his co-star Su Pollard.

“I know Su very well. I worked with her at the Ashcroft long before Hi-De-Hi in the 80s, so I’ve known her forever,” he says with a laugh. “We like working together, we have good fun. We are sort of looked upon as the grandparents of the company.”

The pair are reunited on stage in their roles as Daddy Warbucks and Pollard as the ginsoaked orphanage manager Miss Hanningan.

It’s McAlister’s fifth tour of Annie and he is no doubt why he is drawn back to it.

“It is just such a wonderful feelgood show. For an actor, especially, to do a role that starts off as this miserable, money-fixated businessman and ends up all-singing, all-dancing and having fun, it’s a nice trajectory.

“I have a song that was written for Warbucks a couple of years ago which basically asks the question why get involved with this orphan, why adopt her?

“The point is that element of his life is totally missing. That’s the whole point of the story, that Annie humanises him. That’s why I come back to it again and again, it’s a very seductive show to do.

“This is the longest tour we have ever done,” he adds. “We finish this Christmas when Su Pollard and I will be hanging up our shirts as Hannigan and Warbucks.

“The interesting thing is they are writing a new version which will be on Broadway next year.

“It’s one of those shows which works as it is. Yes, it’s old-fashioned and yes, it concerns American politics, which sometimes goes over the heads of the children in England and some of the adults.

“Regardless it works really, really well and the audiences love it. I don’t know why people want to tinker with things that go so well.”

The musical is a far cry from his TV roles, most famously as villain Dennis Richardson in the soap Hollyoaks.

“I think I’ve done every soap in England, apart from Coronation Street, often more than once. I have always loved the variety of work that I do.”

That includes theatre, although in Annie he says the real stars of the show are the young actresses, aged nine and 12, who play the lead role.

“I often joke to Su that we could nip off to the pub and no one would notice that we were gone.”

Annie, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, April 19-23, 7.30pm, 2.30pm matinee on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, £10.50-£26.50. Call 020 8688 9291, visit fairfield.co.uk