SCRIBBLING and doodling has always been a way of life for children's TV presenter Mark Speight, who plays Buttons in Cinderella at The Watersmeet Theatre and now he's bringing his art off the screen and onto the stage in an interactive show.

Mark explains how it all came about. He says: "Last year in Broxbourne when I was playing Buttons, instead of having the usual song sheet, we got the kids to do a picture. We asked three kids to come up on stage and they all had to draw bits of a panto character. Each one was split up like a game of consequences. It went down so well we decided to repeat it."

So how did Mark begin his career in arts entertainment?

"I was a slow learner at school. I had a short attention span," admits Mark. "My teachers were almost like why do you want to be an artist?' but it's a good way of communicating.

"My mum was an art teacher and my grandad was a painter. I really wanted to be a cartoonist and just stumbled into TV. I was helping with a TV set and got wind of an audition for SMart."

He says he is very lucky to have broken into TV so easily, but as one of the BBC's top presenters and with SMart now in its 14th year, he has certainly put in the hard graft required to guarantee success.

So what does he feel makes good children's television?

"I'd like to see a history programme like the Horrible Histories books which would be factual and fun. Monty Python did a history show that was a bit clever because it helped children to learn without them actually realising it."

Despite his early difficulties at school, Mark has gone on to gain a degree in commercial and graphic art, which has developed his interest in architectural and interior design. He regularly tours around the country with his Speight of the Art children's workshops. He also hosted this year's The Müller Big Art Project in Trafalgar Square for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.

After 14 years of presenting SMart, Mark has created thousands of pictures, but I wonder who has done the most convincing portraits of him?

Mark says: "Rick Makin did one that was absolutely brilliant and Rolf Harris did some doodles in the lunch break while we were filming The Big Event. He did a caricature of me on a napkin that was great."

Mark has worked with Rolf on several projects and is looking forward to working with the pioneering Australian artist again next year. In 2005, Mark took an active part in Rolf On Art - The Big Events (BBC 1), a live event in Trafalgar Square where he helped create John Constable's famous painting, The Haywain, on a gigantic scale. He then presented a live follow-up programme where artists from all over the UK created their version of Holbein's Henry VIII.

Mark tells me that next year he will combine his love for the environment and art.

"I want to go out to Borneo in March and paint orangutans for a one-off documentary. I love monkeys but they've been trained to take part in these kick-boxing tournaments and our task is to re-educate them not to fight with others. I have to be quarantined for two weeks before I can meet them."

Meanwhile, Mark is filming a revamped version of his SMart show.

"We've made it more of an entertainment show. It's a bit more upbeat and I dress up and play a loud brashy northern woman, who's a bit like Les Dawson in drag. I'm thinking I might go for the dame next year. I'm very comfortable in that role."

Cinderells runs at The Watersmeet Theatre, High Street, Rickmansworth from Friday, December 7 to Monday, December 31.

Tickets: £8.50-£14.50. Box office: 01923 711063