Al Murray The Pub Landlord tells Jon Perks how he’s planning to repair ‘Broken Britain’.

Move over, Robert Peston; Alastair Darling, Mervyn King... you’re time is up – The Pub Landlord is here to save Britain from recession.

With eight pubs closing every week, his very own livelihood may be under threat, but Al Murray’s nationalist, xenophobic ale-loving character is currently delighting audiences around the country with his unique take on how to fix ‘Broken Britain’.

“It’s a great time to be a comedian at the moment because you don’t have to just waffle on about yourself or breaking up with your girlfriend,” says Al, who first appeared on TV as Harry Hill’s ‘big brother Alan’ (“that wasn’t a character so much as a wig and a tank top”).

“There’s some big serious things that people need to talk about and they’re quite angry about, so it’s an interesting time in stand-up,” he adds. “You can talk about the credit crunch and it’s a meaningful thing in people’s lives – as opposed to what you had for breakfast this morning and who remembers Rola Cola...

“Sometimes he says things that look quite sensible but in further analysis is mad, and other things are just plain mad and others are sensible.

“I quite like the fact that it’s like a fruitcake – there are lots of different bits of fruit in the cake and you can pick the bit you like, whether you like the crunchy bit on the top or the raisins...”

Murray’s best known character, The Pub Landlord and his OTT patriotism and sometimes outdated and misguided views have been delighting audiences for 14 years.

The host of several TV shows including Al Murray’s Happy Hour and quiz show Fact Hunt, he now turns his attention to solving the economic crisis as he visits some of the country’s biggest indoor arenas.

“He’s been going technically forever – I never gave up [on him],” says Al.

“I’ve always had people saying ‘when are you going to think of something else?’ and I say ‘I’ll think of something else when I’m done with this’ and each time I come to write a new stage show a new show appears out of thin air, so I’m not worried about the issue of what happens next or how I am going to keep it going, ’cos it just keeps itself going.”

Al continues: “He thinks bankers need stringing up basically.

“There’s an explanation of how the credit crunch works and what’s happened and who’s responsible; there’s stuff on how to unlock the country’s full potential; I prove the existence of God three times over in the show – and also offer golden rules for living in modern Broken Britain; it’s packed with essential moral guidance for the young.”

While he’s been entertaining the nation for a decade and a half, this is the first time Al’s larger than life landlord has played ‘enormodomes’ such as the NIA – but the 40-year-old stand-up says fans should only expect the odd minor difference from his previous tours:

“We’ve had a bazooka made that fires crisps,” he announces.

“We’ve done a bit of grand gesture stuff, but otherwise it’s the same if you’ve come to see me before – it’s not a show you’ll have seen before, it’s completely brand new, I really emphasise that, it’s not one of the ones I’ve done on DVD or you’ll have seen before live but it’s The Pub Landlord.

“I think the purer you are to what you’re doing the more readily it will communicate across any distance,” he adds.

“Problems arise when you dilute it or change something; if you stick to what you know and is the purest expression of what you’re doing then at the back of the arena they’ll realise that, they’ll get that – that’s what bands do.”

* Al Murray – The Pub Landlord’s Beautiful British Tour comes to Birmingham NIA on April 14 and 15. For tickets call 0844 338 8000.