Up Out O' The Sea: Springwatch.

24 shows down, 34 to go.

Life on the road is just like it is in the films; a dirty, party-filled, stinking rock ‘n' roll mess. I am contractually forbidden to divulge too much of what goes on in that infamous Eastern Angles van, but I can reveal that we get through a lot of Mint Imperials and our capacity for loud, word-based travel games knows no bounds.

While we speed along in the back of that van, ankle deep in raffle prizes, empty packets of Jaffa Cakes and half-finished crosswords, the countryside outside our windows is blossoming. Seeing the flora and fauna of East Anglia springing to life has been one of the unexpected pleasures of this job. Speaking as someone whose fill of nature over the past year has been the urban foxes of Hackney it has felt like quite the Suffolk safari these past few weeks!

Lisa Marie got particularly up close and personal with nature in the form of a fame hungry wasp trying to muscle in on the action during the show at Monks Eleigh. The wasp got trapped inside Lisa's costume and gave her two nasty stings moments before she went on stage. Naturally the show must go on so, amazingly, with an angry wasp still trapped in her clothing she went on, barely a moment late for her cue. I wonder if the audience noticed that her character Emily was somewhat jumpy that evening?

We spotted badgers at the roadside on our way home from Monks Eleigh and promptly stopped the van in the hope to see more. So while Saturday nightlife was in full swing back in Ipswich, we were in the silence of the Suffolk countryside enjoying an impromptu midnight picnic in the van, washing down homemade sandwiches with glasses of raffle-won wine.

The first smell of spring was really in the air the day we arrived at Sibton's beautiful medieval church. Daffodils were blossoming in the churchyard and the sunlight through the stained glass covered us in bright washes of colour as we assembled our set. Francis ushered us outside halfway through the afternoon and we downed tools for a minute to hear the drumming of a woodpecker in the trees.

It has to be said that there's not much stability in the life of an actor, no guaranteed career path and you probably won't earn millions but it is nights like that one at Sibton; running through daffodils under a full moon during the interval and eating homemade cheese drop scones in the vestry that makes me realise there is nothing else in the world I'd rather do.