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Bruce Mackinnon started his professional life as one half of the double act Mat and Mackinnon, with Mathew Horne, who he met whilst studying drama at the University of Manchester.

Since then his credits have included The Office, The Catherine Tate Show, the Perfect Day trilogy and the comedy series Taking The Flak.

Bruce plays Boyco who is young, fit and dazzingly talented. He's also an alien abroad so is naive in the ways of the English world.

As a result, the whole troupe takes advantage of him as his boyish enthusiasm gets up the noses of the cynical and negative members of the ensemble (particularly Erasmus and Geoff). If only he had a decent agent and the appropriate immigration documents he could make a fortune.

The rest of the troupe are grudgingly aware that Boyco is the star of the show – without him Circus Maestro would go down the pan – and so they are all desperate to keep him at any cost. Ever the optimist, Boyco is the only member of the circus who really believes that they are all fantastic and highly skilled.

He is also in love with Lizzie and tries to protect her from the world, often not at the best moments. He has been studying English and is rather good at it now, commanding a large vocabulary – probably larger than any of the troupe. But he doesn't argue when they describe him as that Eastern European acrobat whose English isn't very good.

Boyco thinks Geoff is a genius and is the only one who laughs at his jokes.

Bruce says: "Boyco is the star of the show, a big draw, and everyone comes to see him. But he's painfully innocent and very upbeat and positive about the circus. He's madly in love with Lizzie and he'd do anything for her, but it's completely unrequited.

"The series is actually about what goes on behind the scenes, so there aren't many acrobats in the show. I personally can't do anything – I can't even bend down and touch my toes! I'm not supple at all. But I have a brilliant double called George who does all of these backflips and I just jump and look like I've just done it.

"I have an amazing Lycra suit – full length, very blue and somewhat unforgiving! I've never done a part like this before and I spent a lot of time in the gym."

Amanda Holden laughs: "Bruce came on set in his suit after all his working out and we were like 'Phwoar! Bruce!' and he looked great – but it was all padding, all fake. He looks a bit like Superman in his outfit!"

Bruce admits: "It's so depressing at the end of the day when you come to take the suit off and you just groan when you look at yourself! Acrobats are incredibly well toned and muscular. The suit is very tight, but this is a family show, so everything's well tucked away. Literally as soon as I put on my outfit and came out to see the rest of the cast, every single one of them looked straight at my crotch!

"It's hilarious when I had quick costume changes between scenes I had to pull my muscle suit on. I had to wear a dancer's belt, but there wasn't enough time for modesty. Poor Rebecca – one of the costume designers – has seen everything!"

He adds: "Apart from my all-in-one turquoise Lycra leotard, I get to wear a fantastic collection of naff Eastern European jumpers which have real Christmas patterns – reindeers and so on."

He continues: "In the name of research, my dad and I went to see the circus at Christmas and it was brilliant. The clowns had moved away from white faces and red noses. But there was almost no-one in the audience. It was Boxing Day at Zippo's Circus and there were only about five people watching. The circus is such a dying art and I really hope that this show resurrects things."

He feels that a circus setting is ripe for situation comedy: "The best sitcoms are when the subjects are effectively trapped and in a circus they are. How has no-one written a comedy about a circus before? A circus is a travelling village. You have the stereotypical characters, the enclosed space of the caravans. Danny the writer has nailed it brilliantly.

"For kids, visually, the Little Top is brilliant. And the kids in the audience really like my character as he is cartoony – tall and very muscular! Big Top is good family entertainment in the truest sense. It's fun and it's colourful and it's brilliantly written."

If Bruce were to perform in a circus, he would like to be a juggler: "I loved learning whilst I was on set. I got taught something new every week by the supporting artists who are also real-life circus performers and I can juggle three balls now! I guess that if everything goes t*** up I can always run off and join a circus!"