Timothy Dalton made his film debut in The Lion In Winter in 1968, and in that same year, turned down the role of James Bond for On Her Majesty's Secret Service because he felt he was too young. He Worked predominantly in the theatre until 1978, when a role in Sextette, alongside Mae West, Tony Curtis and Dom Deluise, sent his star across the Atlantic. An extensive stint of TV work kept him busy between Flash Gordon, and his inuguration as Bond in The Living Daylights, but his second outing as Bond in Licence To Kill was his last. He has kept up appearances admirably on screens big and small ever since, including American Outlaws and er, Looney Tunes: Back In Action. In Hot Fuzz, Dalton plays a sinister shop owner in a Somerset village beset by a spate of grisly murders.

Was it strange to go from filming an Agatha Christie show to a direct subversion of that genre?

No. Well, it's very different. But as an actor you're doing something different all the time.

Was it goodwill that got this cast on board, or is everyone a secret fan of zombie comedy?

I think it would have been very hard for someone else to get such a tremendous cast together for this, so goodwill is exactly the word I would use. But also it stems from a widespread recognition of two guys, Simon Pegg and [director] Edgar Wright, who love cinema, and who are very talented.

Were Simon and Nick [Frost] well-behaved on set, or did they muck about a lot?

No. It's very tempting to think that because people are funny and good friends, that everything is just a big laugh, and often it can be, but work is work, and you don't get second chances. So the work was approached seriously, but with great humour.

Given that you share a running scene with Simon - who underwent rigorous training for the role - were you compelled to break out the dumbells?

[Laughs] He ran very fast. I wish he'd slowed down a little. We had to time that scene from the moment I joined him. He had to train hard for the role, he's the hot shot super cop. He has to do all the physical stuff. I on the other hand, only had to scamper down the road with him, so I was lucky.

You've been in some of Simon and Edgar's best-loved films, did you have to bat off a lot of reverence from them and the crew?

Well, I've never done a movie in my life with so many people that I'd known, so there was a lot of respect all round. No one is in awe of anybody though. Well, maybe secretly. You can't really work with someone if you're in awe of them though. Although, Edgar did tell me he loved Flash Gordan. And why not, it's a great film!

Are you a curtain twitcher at home?

That depends on what that means. I'm not a neighbourhood watch kind of guy. My character is perhaps a little bit conservative, but, well, as long as people are clean, don't smell and don't screw anybody else's life up then that's fine by me.

Hot Fuzz opens in UK cinemas on 14th February 2007.