MAX Bygraves wishes to make an announcement. The ten dates to mark his 81st birthday and 60th year in entertainment will form his last British tour.

York will have its moment in this piece of showbusiness history: the tour opens tonight at the Grand Opera House, York, where Max will be joined by the Beverley Sisters, just as he was at The Queen's first Royal Command Performance in 1952.

Anniversaries are coming thick and fast for the veteran storyteller and singer. There was the 50th anniversary of that Royal show last year, which prompted this year's tour. Now comes his diamond jubilee in showbiz, with his 81st birthday to follow on October 16, and on the day of this interview, September 12, he had another occasion to toast.

"It's my wedding anniversary today... and I forgot," he says, from his Bournemouth home, newly returned to Britain from ten months in Australia. "I only remembered the anniversary when I got out of bed and I had to slip out to the florist."

He and Blossom have been married for 61 years and these days they spend time aplenty in the warmth of Oz. Looking to the future, they have just sold their 84-acre property in New South Wales and acquired rented accommodation while their new apartment on the Gold Coast is built. Meanwhile their Bournemouth home is being put on the market too, although the Bygraves intend to buy another property there.

Despite all this domestic activity, do not form the impression that the Max Bygraves story is entering its closing chapter. Tour over, he will return Down Under to perform in New Zealand casinos; he is always in demand for Australian shows; and he is in discussion with producer Ernest Maxin about a television series for Max to talk about the old days.

The tour show will be rooted in the old days too.

"People are just ready for it. It's tired television these days, and people aren't getting things how they remember them. They don't want crooners and rock'n'rollers and amplified sound; they want a show with the old songs in the variety style," says Max. "Everyone is rushing things now, like on the radio, where they're always in a hurry for the next thing."

Max prefers to take a more leisurely stroll through his 75 minutes of stories, humorous observations, comic impressions and songs. "But there's no wastage in my shows; that's why I'm still so popular," he says.

He still enjoys writing new routines - his latest was inspired by gathering up all his hats for the house move in Bournemouth - and he is busy writing a book too. "I had this idea for a day-by-day account of the life of the octogenarian. I started it on October 16 last year, I'll finish it on October 16 this year, and it's called Around The World In 80 Years."

Another day, another gag, another story.

The Max Bygraves Birthday Show with the Beverley Sisters and special guests, Grand Opera House, York, September 19, at 7.30pm. Tickets: £10 to £15 on 0870 606 3595.

Updated: 09:07 Friday, September 19, 2003