Dad's Army

Jeff's West End debut came in 1975 when at the tender age of 29 he joined the ranks in the stage musical version of Dad's Army at the Shaftsbury Theatre, cast as a fireman in the chorus. In addition Jeff also covered the roles of Private's Pike and Walker for the six month run, returning to the show for the Christmas period before touring nationally for a further 6 months as Private Walker in his own right. It was to be one of the proudest and happiest times of Jeff's career whose  long lasting memory of the first night is the emotion he felt standing on stage with all but one of the original cast as the curtain rose. There is no doubt, this show paved the way for further Croft and Perry shows.

Hi de Hi

Jeff was to return to the London Stage in 1983 when he appeared as Spike Dixon in the musical version of Hi de Hi. Once again proving a huge success, the show enjoyed a lengthy extension to it's run from Christmas until May during which time Michael Knowles, formally of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, took over the role of Jeffrey Fairbrother.

Run For Your Wife

Jeff first appeared at the Criterion Theatre as John Smith in the Ray Cooney farce Run For Your Wife in 1985. It was a role and venue he was to return to on no less than 3 times followed by a further run in 1989 at the Whitehall Theatre. Among his fellow cast members were Linda Hayden, Geoffrey Hughes and the Carry On star Bernard Bresslaw. Even with such an esteemed line up, it wasn't all plain sailing. At one performance Jeff recalls a missed cue led to all the actors on stage frantically thinking up excuses to get off  and find out what had happened. At one point the stage was completely empty for 30 seconds (a lifetime in farce), and it took a good deal of ad libbing on the part of Jeff and his co stars, to get the audience back onside that night!