ROBSON Green will shock his fans with a change of image when he plays a man who appears to be a wife-beater in a new TV drama.

éIéve just finished a show called Beaten, which is about a violent relationship as seen through the eyes of a boy,é he reveals.

But everything may not be as it seems in the BBC1 Daytime story, due be screened next month. éItés certainly the most controversial film I will have made.é

He plays Michael, an ex-boxer and Newcastle docker who seems to be using his battered wife as a punchball. éIt appears that Iém violent and sheés got a black and blue face é you think Iém hitting her.

éI think ités an important groundbreaking piece because it deals with things that are not spoken about. And ités written by a woman.é

Ités a rare BBC appearance for Robson, a man who likes to get things done. éItés a lot to do with the BBC, the way they work and the amount of stuff you have to go through. They take an eternity to decide what to do. I ainét got time. Letés get on with it é letés get going!

éThereés so many things in development hell at the BBC. You have to go through so many departments. So many people are obsessed with title, rather than writers. Ités just ridiculous.é

But first heés back on screen in a new series of award-winning Wire In The Blood (ITV1, tonight, 9pm), four new films based on characters created by Stockport author Val McDermid.

Robson returns as clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill, working alongside Det Chief Insp Carol Jordan (Hermione Norris), to solve some scary and disturbing crimes.

éI think Wire In The Blood does what it says on the tin,é he maintains. éThere is a dark side to human nature and we try and investigate that. This is not a sitcom. Ités shown in 28 countries now é weére even the top show in Australia, beating The Bill!é

Former Manchester journalist Val is still closely involved in the productions. Robsonés company Coastal Productions is also working on a two-hour TV adaptation of another of her books é Place Of Execution é as well as a fourth series of Wire In The Blood.

Robson, who turned 40 in December, is on a roll. His Manchester and Lancashire filmed ITV1 festive drama Christmas Lights é soon to be made into a series called Northern Lights é was watched by over 10 million viewers, and last monthés thriller Like Father Like Son gained an audience of eight million.

Although heés always re-invested his earnings in creating work and jobs for the Tyneside company he founded ten years ago with former bank manager Sandra Jobling, Robson still has money to burn. éFireworks have always been a hobby of mine. I find them very emotive.é

He holds a category 4 licence, which qualifies him to work with large professional display fireworks, and doesnét have to worry about the neighbours. éIéve not got many. Ités big, my house,é he laughs.

Wife Vanya dragged him along to the éwrapé party at the end of filming for this series of Wire In The Blood. éI donét like them,é he explains.

But all was revealed when Robson discovered it was a surprise 40th birthday celebration for him, complete with a fireworks display over St Jamesés Park, home of his beloved Newcastle United. éEverybody Iéd worked with over the last 20 years was there.é

His future plans include an ambition for Coastal to move into feature films. Two scripts are in development, telling the north east stories of Harry Hotspur, a Geordie hero killed in a rebellion against Henry IV, and Jenny Muckle, who fought for the freedom of eight imprisoned miners in 1926. éWeéve got the scripts but weéve got to gain the trust of people who are going to invest.é

And when not creating fireworks on and off screen, Robson retires to his garden to tend his melons. éIéve been trying to grow them for the last ten years and eventually, last year, I conquered it. My cantaloupe melons came up é tons of them!é

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