But his memories of the sitcom have faded somewhat, after all it's been 35 years since the show first aired.

Back then he played dashing young student Philip Smith, drawing the affections of his neighbour, Miss Jones, played by Frances de la Tour, and the envy of his hapless landlord, Rigsby, played by the legendary Leonard Rossiter.

Warrington's character also marked something of a comedic watershed, the inversion of the old stereotype of a black, British immigrant which, up to that point, had crept insidiously into popular culture.

In contrast to Rigsby's prejudices (and the prejudices of many Britons at the time) Smith was well educated, sophisticated, and desperately charming. But the actor says he was always oblivious to the importance of Rising Damp.

"It wasn't that big. I wasn't aware of it anyway," says Warrington. "It was a job and it was a success but it didn't seem to me to be enormous. You can't wear it can you? It's not a coat you can wrap yourself in, it's not something I carry around with me.

"It was something I did which turned out to be good. That's fine. Lovely. I'm glad people liked it. But Rising Damp means something different to other people than it does to me because I was in it – it was a job."

Now 57, it seems like a lifetime ago but, despite his apparent dismissiveness, he doesn't mind talking about the years spent on a show which was once voted the best ITV sitcom of all time.

"Leonard Rossiter was never what you'd call 'jolly'," he recalls. "He was an intense figure who cared passionately about his work, even if that made him, at times, tricky. But I liked him.

"He got fantastic results and he was very nice to me. I was a very inexperienced actor and he was kind enough to help me. He taught me about comedy even if sometimes it was brutal. He'd say 'If you do it your way its not funny, do it my way and it is' And he was right!

"Richard Beckinsdale was delightful, a lovely, lovely man and very talented, much more than people knew. He took his character in Rising Damp, who was not well defined, and made him something very specific, which is the sign of real talent in my view.

"Do I lament about them not being here now? No. Not really. It's a shame on every level but it was just something that happened and I thought about it a lot at the time. Leonard and Richard were relatively young and they died and that's sad.

"I did see Frances not so long ago though, just before I came up here to Leeds actually, and it was lovely to see her. We had a kiss and a cuddle, which was great. We have those wonderful mutual memories."

But it's obvious from talking to Warrington that he doesn't want to cling too much to the memory of a bygone chapter of his career – he wants to live in the here and now.

This is clear as he talks openly about the need for actors to reinvent themselves and he's certainly nurtured a new TV profile by appearing in shows like Strictly Come Dancing and Doctor Who.

But he's now taken things a stage further by swapping acting for directing, taking the reins of West Yorkshire Playhouse's latest production, Rum and Coca Cola, which opens tomorrow.

This is the first time he's stepped off the stage as an actor and taken on such a role, but he was particularly endeared by this story about the relationship between a young and old man living in the calypso redoubt of Trinidad.

"It's unusual to have a play that's set somewhere that you have a blood understanding about," says Warrington. "I'm from Trinidad so I have an instinctual appreciation of certain references in the play. It's a part of me. It's in my DNA.

"But at the same time I think its got a broad appeal because it has all the classic elements. Rum and Coca Cola is generational, about one handing things onto one another and what that exchange costs.

"Its also very funny. I suppose you would call it bittersweet humour. It has comedy in the sense that it's a look at life, a comic look at life and its absurdities.

"The music is fundamental because calypso is a form of music that has evolved primarily in the West Indies. It came out of the history of slavery and developed in Trinidad because of its particular combination of influences from the English to the African to the French, Spanish and Portuguese.

"In this play the main character, the professor is tutoring the young guy, Slim, in calypso – what it means and how to do it, also where it stands in terms of their society."

Warrington says he's been harbouring secret desires to direct for about the last five years but has only now been given the opportunity to take control of a production. But he's not too sure whether he actually cuts the mustard or not.

"That's not for me to say," he insists. "All I can say is I don't feel uncomfortable – that's as far as it goes at the moment. I rarely say 'I love it', really. I wish I could more often.

"But it's my natural inclination to look at something and see the problems and ask whether I have some way of solving them. I think it's realistic. It's like a puzzle you have to take the piece and put it on stage. It has to become dynamic – so it's a problem in that sense, albeit an exciting one.

"Unfortunately enjoy is not a word I use a lot, I don't know why. I tend to enjoy things in retrospect, in the present I'm engaged with it and I like that. So if that is enjoyment then, yes, I'm enjoying it."

Tomorrow until Apr 3, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Quarry Hill, Leeds, 7.45pm, Sat mats 2.30pm, Thu mats 2pm, £12 to £18, Tel: 0113 2137700 or visit www.wyp.org.uk.