91Èȱ¬

A big man with the pig-like features of a Grobble, Loquasto insists on calling Krod "Master" and is ever faithful. Krod's father won Loquasto casting lots in a frontier brothel and gave him to his son on his 13th birthday, when Krod also freed him – and has done so many times since.

Steve Speirs laughs: "Loquasto's not adept at anything really. Because he's half man, half pig he's not really the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I know that pigs are really intelligent creatures so I think that the not-so-bright side of him comes from the human side!"

He continues: "He does have really lovely qualities too – he's very endearing and loyal, and although he's supposed to be the muscle of the piece he becomes the heart of the piece too – he's a big softy really."

The Grobble has a long-standing and close bond with Krod, as Steve explains: "Loquasto brings companionship and life-long loyalty to the table with Krod. He also has a special relationship with Zezelryck, which I think of as Cagney And Lacey meets La Boheme."

He adds: "If I had to describe the show itself, I'd say that it is a cross between Murder She Wrote and Mother Courage (Brecht's Original)."

Being a Grobble, Steve had to spend hours in make-up every morning: "I was in the make-up trailer long before everybody else sitting next to a bucket full of hairy prosthetic ears and snouts. At the end of each day, it also took about 45 minutes to take the make-up off again!"

But Steve soon got used to it, and chuckles: "We were filming just outside Budapest and on our way from one location to another near the end of a long day. My make-up had been on for so long – maybe 8 or 9 hours – that I had forgotten I was wearing it. It's a weird experience as you can't smell anything and you can't hear a lot so it's a bit like being underwater all day. Anyway, there I was sitting in the front of the mini-bus and we stopped at a bus stop to ask for directions. There was a guy looking at me a bit slack-jawed and it was only then that I realised that I was perched on the front seat dressed up as a pig!"

If Loquasto were to be transported into the 21st century, Steve thinks that he would be a politician, "because he's got a big heart but not a lot of sense."

Steve concludes: "Krod Mandoon And The Flaming Sword Of Fire is about a fantasy world that's rooted in reality. It is really like walking around in someone's imagination and hopefully a world that we can all enter in to: there are heroes that want to have a go and there are cowards that would rather not have a go, so it reflects all of humanity."