Just seconds into the new series of Grafters, and there's Robson Green doing what he does best - getting the girl - and how - thanks to a sizzling shower scene with actress Lesley Vickerage.
" It really wasn't my idea. " laughs Robson.
" The shower scene was added to the script quite late in the day. After much deliberation, we decided we'd just cut to the chase of this couple's relationship, rather than go for the old clich of seeing them meetup and have the audience wait for the clinch. "
It also helped that Robson had worked with Lesley before on Soldier, Soldier.
" It's been great to work with her again, and the shower scene wasn't at all embarrassing. People in love get their kit off and do these things, so it's real life. "
The first series of Grafters, teaming Robson with Stephen Tompkinson as Geordie brother- builders Joe and Trevor Purvis, proved to be ITV's most successful new drama series of 1998.
The second series sees them relocated to Brighton, where the brothers have a schoolhouse conversion on their books.
" Theirs is the kind of relationship you could put anywhere," says Tyneside- born Robson. " Building is just the backdrop; they could be in the army. The important thing is that they are brothers, and the problems that working with family brings. "
Robson, 36, is clearly proud of Grafters and he has reason to be; it's the first big drama from his own company, Coastal, which co-produces the series with Granada.
Last year Coastal followed it up with Rhinoceros (in which he played the father of a boy with learning difficulties), of which he is even prouder.
Major acting successes in crowd-pleasers like Reckless, a wish-fulfilment romancer with Francesca Annis, and the dark- toned crime thriller series Touching Evil, have helped give Robson the financial clout to test the waters with new ideas.
And he's learned a lot about what his audience wants; he knows his fans will never want to see him play the bad guy or the loser.
" Sure, I'm not that interested in playing the serial killer or the bad guy, " says Robson. " So how would I describe Joe Purvis? Complex, windswept and interesting. With a hint of cheeky chappie, Jack the Lad, of course ! "
That's a very personal dig at one of his pet hates - the kind of `easy' labels which have followed him around after playing certain types of characters.
" I've been hounded by the tag-line `cheeky-chappie' for years, and now people call characters like Joe Purvis a Jack the Lad," he says with a grimace. "
" To be honest, I don't know what those labels mean. They're glib and lazy. "
Robson's success has led to Hollywood offers, but he is keener to carry on working on this side of the pond, seeking out quality scripts as either actor or producer. Sometimes the British press gets up his nose, as was the case earlier this year when a couple of tabloids ran some muck- raking stories about his private life.
" People were hurt by that stuff, " he says; that's all he'll say about the matter. Neither will he confirm if he's still living with wife Alison.
" I'm here to talk about Grafters " he smiles through gritted teeth.
The work, meanwhile, goes on for Robson. He is filming The Last Musketeer for STV, in which he stars as an Olympic fencer.
" It's about a guy with a criminal past who can't make the Olympic team, so he has to teach a team of girls from a Glasgow public school to appear in the European Championships. It's very much a class- war story, which I love. "
He has been having fencing lessons for the part. "I've come along in leaps and bounds. The first day's practice, I couldn't even see through the mask!"
In February, Robson will start work on a film in Australia, Blind Ambition, written by his actor friend Eric Deacon. "It's about an athlete who partially loses his sight in a car accident, and enters the Paralympics," says Robson.
" It's a triumph over adversity tale, and also a love triangle between him, his wife and his coach. I know it will be an acting challenge. Good scripts, you see; that's what it's all about ..."