EXCLUSIVE interview By Hilary Porter

FANS of legendary comedian Ken Dodd- and no doubt most of Liverpool, were celebrating when he was finally awarded a knighthood in the Queen's New Year's Honour List.

After years of campaigning by fans, friends and fellow entertainers the 89-year -old comic recently received the honour - with a little help from a former PM.

Now Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd - or Doddy to you and I, has spoken to the Daily Echo about his wonderful day at the Palace as he looks forward to bringing his Happiness Show to Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre on Easter Saturday (April 15).

Doddy - who made his professional debut in 1954 - just one year after the Queen's coronation, was knighted by Prince William at Buckingham Palace for both his 63-year comedy career and charity work. Few people know that he has quietly supported more than 100 charities over the years.

And it came with the backing of more than 50 celebrities, including comic Norman Wisdom and actors Eric Sykes and Bill Owen.

More than 100 letters of support were sent in, including some from children he had met during his charity work.

Even Gordon Brown put in a word for Ken when he was in Number 10.

When I called Ken for a chat and to offer my heartfelt congratulations he was very humble and clearly very honoured by this recognition of his tireless work.

"It's been rather a hectic month!"he laughs.

"It's been rather surprising- and rather like opening up a new chapter of a book!"

How does it feel to be Sir Ken? I asked.

"Anne [Ken's partner] loves it and all the family are getting use to it. I'm very delighted - highly tickled!

"I found out just before Christmas through a letter in the post and I was sworn to secrecy!"

Ken, who was given an OBE in 1982, tells me that other letters then arrived from members of the Royal Family offering their congratulations but he wished to keep all the details private.

"Then it was down to the big house! William brought out the big sword and I wanted to say 'watch what you are doing with that...just remember to do a vertical stroke, not a horizontal'!...It was all very surprising and delightful."

So has Ken been celebrating since?

"No, since then I've been receiving other awards!I've been made Freeman of the City of London by the Lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House and it was thrilling in the extreme. We had a wonderful lunch and ceremony. And I just came back last night from being made President of the Max Wall Appreciation Society, so I went to London and met a lot of theatrical nobility. It hasn't stopped. I'm shattered!"

Being made a knight has boosted business much to Ken's delight!

"It's making a huge difference to touring - I'm selling out everywhere. I'm advancing in years and it's making it that much more energetic."

Ken may be famous for his long shows that can last up to five hours but is full of admiration for Prince William and his stamina, despite recent criticism of the royal in the press.

"It's amazing. He must have been there for over two hours giving out everything from OBE's to MBEs and two or three knighthoods but he found something to say to everybody. It must have been hard work. He asks how are you and wishes you well and congratulations. He asked how the theatre tour was going and how's your charitable work going. He was very kind and efficient, and very professional. He's certainly got the knack for it from his mother."

But Ken, who turns 90 in November, revealed he did worry about following the correct royal protocol - and that he might fall over!

"You have to keep hoping you're saying the right things but one of the hardest things is you have to walk backwards! You walk up and you have to put one knee on the investiture stool and he touches you with the sword. And then you stand up and have a conversation and then you have to do three steps backwards - and that's tricky at my age! I just thought to myself 'Please don't let me fall over! Please don't let me fall over!" I had this continuous prayer going on in my mind...please let me be ok!

"You think of all the things you would like to say and try to be dignified and patriotic. It was in the big throne room at the palace. He stands on a little stage and you approach it and do a lot of bowing."

Anne must have loved it, I say.

"She was like a dog with two bones! She found a dress on the internet and looked radiant. I had to wear full tails - there was a book of instructions telling you this."

How difficult was it to keep it a secret?

"I knew for well over a month before it was announced. People were often saying to me one of these days they should give you a title and they were still saying it and I'd be thinking I know that they have but I will just keep smiling and saying yes I hope so, that would be nice!

"It's all pageantry and history and you realise you are taking part in a traditional ceremony which is very nice."

There was a celebratory lunch afterwards at a hotel and Ken says he reminisced with comedian Roy Hudd about working together and how Ken had two seasons topping the bill at the London Palladium.

"The first was 1965 - my golden disc year ['Tears' topped the charts, sold over 1.5 million copies and was the 33rd best-selling single of all time in the UK], and then in 1967 I was there for 42 weeks, twice nightly and three times on Saturday- by Jove I remember it clearly! I've told jokes to Bob Hope and sung songs to Bing Crosby who were in the audience at the Palladium. I met theatre stars, gangsters and Prime Ministers there."

Looking back on it all a somewhat philosophical Ken adds:"You seem to be two people. You are the person sitting here talking to you and there's the other person, someone I refer to as 'he' on stage. It's a practical way of thinking and one doesn't get in the way of the other: you have a professional duty, and a personal life, and the two don't run together although sometimes they run parallel.

"This is me talking now and what you do on stage is an act and your performances evolve. ...as you go through life you become more of a philosopher and you think what are you doing and why are you doing it. It's amazing and you thank God for giving you ability and a long life . You enjoy meeting all the different people.I did a great deal of living whilst most people just wander through life."

With Ken feeling so reflective and philosophical I ask is it not time to write that autobiography?

"I'm not really ready yet! I think I will and I will start noting things. Being an entertainer it will have to be an entertaining book- not just name dropping. It will have to be amusing as humour has been an obsession , a love, one of the greatest hobbies of all.

"I come alive when I have an audience in front of me and you learn how to play an audience like you play an instrument. You use an audience in the same way. Experience teaches you to look for that 'hot spot'; where they are frigid and warm and you play the audience.With posh people it's called 'establishing a rapport'. I call it 'building a bridge' . When you hear the music at the start of the show you are full of joy and you have 30 seconds or just under a minute to reach the audience ; to get to know the audience, and that's when you do it. It's like meeting someone for the first time."

Does it really happen that quickly I ask?

"Yes, it's like falling in love with someone. It's like serving your apprenticeship anywhere there's an audience."

If he hadn't done this what else might he have been?

"I might have been a reporter! I had an interview on the Liverpool Express at the age of 15. I must have done ok because they enquired about my skills and said you must be able to make tea. Well I make the best tea in Knotty Ash and I thought very seriously when it came to talking about money. I wanted two or three pounds a week and they decided I was too expensive!"

When I mention that Ken will be 90 in November he quips:"In my body, but in my mind I'm 21 - same as you are! You wouldn't do your job if you didn't love it- it's not for financial reasons. "

Accolades don't come much higher than a knighthood but even now Sir Ken - who won the British Comedy Society’s first Living Legend award, still thinks very carefully about what he will do at Bournemouth Pavilion on Easter Saturday:

"I'm getting some new gags together and it's a difficult tight-rope act ( combining old and new material) . I still keep the note books (a "gigglemap" of what works and what doesn't in different towns) and I still talk to myself after the show. I tell myself what I did right and what I did wrong . Anyone can create an idea but polishing it is key...all the best pieces of comedy - even an article, a novel, film or television, are all the better for clever editing and polishing."

Finally Ken adds: "It's been a marvellous career so far. I've met wonderful people from all walks of life and I still hope there's more to come."

Will he ever retire?

"Never! There's no such word. A man retires when he stops doing what he doesn't want to do and starts doing what he wants to do. I'm doing what I want to do! "