HOLBY City star Hugh Quarshie has the force with him on Tuesday when he punches a colleague. But the actor, who plays consultant Ric Griffin, reveals that he actually turned down a role in the new Star Wars film Attack Of The Clones.
Hugh's CV includes a long line of top roles, including suave widower Richard, the archeologist who almost won Fay Ripley's heart in I Saw You.
Yet to Star Wars fans, he'll always be Captain Panaka in The Phantom Menace. Head of Queen Amidala's security forces, he was delightfully described as "the quickest eyes on Naboo".
While filming in Italy, he sometimes drew more autograph hunters than co-star Liam Neeson. He's even been immortalised in a plastic doll of Panaka. So why doesn't he return in the follow-up?
"I regret that I wasn't in Attack Of The Clones, not because they didn't ask me to be in it - they did," he says. "I just regret that they didn't put a higher value on my contribution.
"They were asking me to do it blind, without seeing a script. I think if you're going to ask an actor to do that, you should make it worth his while, and they weren't prepared to do that.
"It wouldn't have taken very much to persuade me. A call from a producer would have been sufficient. But one realises that you're as important in the great scheme of things to them as, I imagine, a grape picker is to a vineyard owner."
It's the day of the abortion for Jess in tonight's episode, with her father Ric still in the dark. He's busy organising his birthday drinks for that evening. Later, when Jess collapses, Ric finally discovers what's been going on and attacks the father - registrar Alex Adams, played by Jeremy Sheffield (BBC1, 8pm).
"I'm told the punch looks very realistic," laughs Hugh. "They're very safety conscious at the BBC, so as much as I wanted to `clock' Jeremy, he was never in any real danger!"
Born in Ghana and raised in north London, Hugh had a "real life" before becoming an actor. That included four days selling fire extinguishers door-to-door. He studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford and worked as a journalist at West Africa magazine.
"I don't think you can be a good actor if all you do is act. I think you've got to get out a little bit and have a life, another career even, and then come into acting."
He joined Holby City last year, just as it was expanded to run all year round. "I'm happy to play Ric for another couple of years, easily. It's a huge endeavour to produce 52 episodes in 60 weeks. It's hard work, especially for the crew. The actors, of course, when we work, we do work hard. But it's not like mining a mile underground. It's what we want to do, so I'm not going to complain too loudly."
