Tony Robinson could choose to describe himself as an actor, children's author, TV writer, presenter, or political campaigner, among several other job titles. But he doesn't see any need to define his role for the nation.

"I don't think of it in those terms," he says. "If I started thinking I'm an actor' or I'm a writer' somehow I would be compartmentalising myself in a way that I don't want to do. It's a very late 20th Century thing, to have one job title, and you get so boxed in. Maybe the reason I've been asked to do so many different documentaries is that I've got such a broad range of interests. I've always tried to avoid doing just one thing."

In that he has certainly succeeded. Since he first made his name as the dim-witted Baldrick in Blackadder, Robinson, now 60, has gone on to spread his net much wider than that comedy series. With 14 series' of his other well-known programme Time Team under his belt, he has established himself as something of an archeological authority. But his documentaries have also covered topics ranging from the Holy Grail myth in The Real Da Vinci Code, to the plight of today's elderly people in Me and My Mum.

As a writer of children's television programmes he has won two Royal Television Society awards, a BAFTA and the International Prix Jeunesse. This work has included a BBC series based on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey called Odysseus - the Greatest Hero of Them All, an Old Testament series Blood and Honey, and the well-loved Maid Marian and Her Merry Men for the BBC, in which he also played the Sheriff of Nottingham. His work for children also extends beyond TV to his 18 children's books.

On top of this he has also taken a leading role in politics as vice-president of Equity from 1996 to 2000, by sitting on the Labour National Executive Committee from 2000 to 2004, and has helped dole out money for the Arts Council's theatre committee.

Not to mention his having gained an insight into numerous other, somewhat less appealing jobs in his two series' of The Worst Jobs in History.

Indeed the list is so long that Robinson, who now lives in Maida Vale, admits he has stopped counting: "A few years ago I counted up and I know I've done well in excess of 2,000 TV programmes, but I've stopped keeping track of exactly how many."

His latest projects are a television series in the British Museum which he describes as a cross between The Crystal Maze and Time Team, and a four-part series on British law from the Romans to the present day.

This tireless activity, Robinson claims, stems from his fidgety character. He says: "It's the variety that I enjoy. I've got such a restless nature. As an actor the thing that was always hell for me was having to do eight episodes of the same thing. I was always getting into trouble with the other actors because I was always making stuff up. They saw it as pissing about. I saw it as profound creativity."

But how he has stopped himself being pigeonholed remains something of a mystery to Robinson. "I don't know how I've managed it. Essentially you can only do what you're offered. Over the past five or six years I've had an output deal with Channel Four where it guarantees me a certain number of hours of telly every year, so it's in its interests to keep me occupied, and when I take my ideas in, people will at least listen."

Originally from Hackney, after his A-Levels Robinson wanted to go to RADA, but was too young and instead enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama, aged 17 - "I was just a boy, all the others were grown ups." He spent several years in rep, worked for two years as a theatre director and then joined the Chichester Festival Theatre, before migrating to TV. Although his most enduring role for many will always be as Baldrick, he now gets stopped by people who know him only from later programmes. He says: "Nowadays I get as many people say Oh, you can dig my garden up' as saying I have a cunning plan'. Yes, I'll always be that bloke who was Baldrick, but at the same time it's lovely that people also want to talk about all the other things that I've done."

At the artsdepot on Thursday every aspect of Robinson's career will be up for discussion. He says of the show: "Although my entire background is theatre, nobody knows that. I wanted to get out on the road and show people what I can do. It's very fast, very funny, very physical. The first part is scripted and the second part is improvised, the audience can really direct me as to what they want me to talk about."

Yet however much he has done and however dedicated he is to his work, his achievements all take a backseat when set against other commitments: "Maid Marian I'm very proud of because it's the first thing I had total responsibility for - the actors, the writing, the music, and everything. It was tough but it seems to have worked. And is now available on DVD. But the thing I'm proudest of is bringing my kids up and the relationship I've got with them now as adults. The other stuff's work, you know?"

Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out! will be at the artsdepot, Tally Ho Corner, North Finchley, on Thursday next week, at 8pm. Tickets priced at £15 (£12.50 concessions) are available from the box office on 020 8369 5454. Suitable for ages 12-plus.

mcraig@london.newsquest.co.uk