Robson took his wife Vanya and seven-year-old son Taylor with him to Texas. "Taylor is so into the bug life so he was in his element. He says he saw a bug the size of a rabbit! The bugs were everywhere but I was immersing myself in a spray called Bug Off which seemed to do the job.
Poor Sandra was very badly affected, though, because she got attacked by chiggers and her skin turned into a bubbling Martian landscape. What did I do to help her ? I took pictures !"
Since filming Prayer of the Bone, Robson has been to the other side of the world - Australia. "I went to Australia primarily to promote Wire in the Blood but I got involved in a Mike Bullen project while I was there. It was really weird because Sandra and I had been talking about the possibility of doing some Wire specials in Australia and getting a writer like Mike Bullen involved. Just a few hours later I was asked to do Mike's pilot in Australia!"
The comedy-drama, entitled Make or Break, stars Robson as a man who moves to Australia to make a new start with his wife after she's had an affair. "We know as human beings that you can't solve relationship problems by moving to another country, you just pack your emotional baggage with you. But my character tries to sort out his life there with complete comedic results. It's a lovely tale with some joyous one-liners."
Adds Robson: "I've been to Australia a lot and there's something wonderfully calming about it. Coming into Sydney harbour and seeing the vista of the bridge - it's great. I love working in Australia and many of my programmes are very popular there but it was hard to be away from the family for six weeks."
Robson is now busy on the sixth series of Wire in the Blood for ITV1, filmed in his home town of Newcastle and co-starring Simone Lahbib. "We film until March making eight one-hour episodes and the stories are very strong again. I'm so proud of Wire especially as it's sold to 30 countries. It's great when something you believe in is enjoyed by so many different people. Long may it continue."
After that, a new project for Coastal Productions will take Robson behind the camera. "We've just been commissioned by ITV to make an adaptation of Val McDermid's Place of Execution. It's a wonderful thriller set in the 1950s with some great twists and turns. I'll be working as an executive producer which is what I've been aiming towards. I know I've been in a lot of productions with Coastal but we are always pushing the envelope in terms of getting other stuff done and Place of Execution fits that remit."
Robson's many credits include City Lights, Soldier Soldier, Casualty, Unconditional Love, Trust, Touching Evil, Close and True, Reckless, Grafters and Rocket Man. He also recently recorded Michael Morpurgo's novel Private Peaceful for Radio 2.