Christopher Cazenove is the kind of actor who makes mums go weak at the knees.

Dashingly handsome with a cut-glass accent and upper crust charm, he's been melting hearts for three decades playing everything from heroes to cads.

So he appears to be perfectly cast as Professor Henry Higgins, the prickly but charming linguistics specialist who transforms Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a lady ready for high society.

Christopher stars as Higgins in Cameron Mackintosh's Olivier awardwinning My Fair Lady, starting a month-long run at the Alhambra next week. Former Emmerdale actress Amy Nuttall is Eliza.

The Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical, adapted from Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, is brimming with songs like I Could Have Danced All Night, The Rain in Spain and I'm Getting Married in the Morning.

"It's a wonderful role, " says Christopher, 61. "There are very few parts I've lusted after but this was one of them. For a chap of my age there's no better part on the stage, I was thrilled when it came my way.

"Higgins is a cantankerous old bugger and a misogynist but he's funny and he softens towards the end. Even though there's no romantic conclusion, regarding he and Eliza, it's emotional. He's become "accustomed to her face, " as he sings. People tend to forget that he changes too, it's not just Eliza who goes through a journey - although with Higgins you get the impression he'd probably go back to his old ways again!"

The role will be forever overshadowed by Rex Harrison's classic performance of Professor Higgins on the stage and in the classic 1965 film with Audrey Hepburn. But Christopher remains unfazed.

"The memory of Rex will always be terribly strong, you can't get away from that, " he says. "Higgins was written as a speak-singing role; the way the songs come out of the dialogue suited him perfectly and that's the way to play it."

Christopher worked with Rex Harrison as a young actor making his London debut in The Lionel Touch. "He was a real so-and-so but was so charming he got away with it, " he recalls. "The girl playing his daughter used to turn up at the theatre in long flowing kaftans with her hair tied back, and one day her agent asked her to wear a mini skirt, at Rex's request. She refused so Rex sacked her! He made sure she was replaced by an actress who wore mini skirts" Christopher describes My Fair Lady as "a play with music" and says it remains a powerful show.

"It's that basic Cinderella story, plucking a girl from nowhere and transforming her into something special. It raises all kinds of issues about class and power, " he says. "And of course there are those great songs that we've grown up with. This is a wonderful production, it retains the traditional elements of the show but has some fabulous new routines. Matthew Bourne has created a terrific dance sequence using dustbin lids, it looks like something out of Stomp."

Christopher was last at the Alhambra in 2003, starring in Art with John Duttine and Les Dennis. "It was just over an hour long so we were in the pub by 9.30pm!" he laughs. "It's a bit different this time. It's hard work, of course, doing the same thing night after night but it's such a wonderful show and we're a great team, I'm thoroughly enjoying it."

A star of stage and screen - his films include Zulu Dawn, Heat and Dust and A Knight's Tale and he plays Aristotle in soon-to-be-released movie Young Alexander from Macedonia - Christopher shot to fame as Richard Gaunt in TV series The Regiment. More recently he's appeared in Judge John Deed and Dalziel and Pascoe, but one of his memorable TV roles was dashing Charles Haselmere in The Duchess of Duke Street 30 years ago. "That was a golden age of British TV drama, " he says. "The wave of reality TV that has saturated schedules hasn't done actors and writers any favours but it looks as though there could be a swing back to quality drama, with new one-off plays being commissioned. Hopefully trends are changing."

Fans of Dynasty will remember him as dastardly Ben Carrington. Will he be taking part in this year's much-hyped 20th anniversary cast reunion of the US show? "A reunion? Er, I doubt it. It was good fun but a product of its time. Let's leave it in the Eighties!" he laughs. "I love all aspects of the business and have always tried different things, but it's nice to return to the stage. The stage is fantastic when it works but horrendous when it doesn't. Thankfully, My Fair Lady is working beautifully!"

My Fair Lady runs at the Alhambra from April 4-29. Ring (01274) 432000.