Alan Davies has had a variety of TV roles in his career. His credits include The Brief. But he's adamant he needs to warm up. ''You have to do that, absolutely - I don't want to do a shit show at the Athenaeum. This is how you do stand-up: you prepare an act, you go and do gigs, then you get your act together and tour. You don't think, 'Right, I'll go and be funny on the 18th of November in Melbourne.' '' Davies seems to be one of the busiest men in Britain - when he's not on QI he's often working on television projects, most recently the reality program Show Me the Funny, a kind of The Apprentice for aspiring stand-up comedians on which he was a judge. The show failed to thrill critics but it did help spark something inside Davies. ''Watching these comedians work and being back in smoky rooms - well, not that they're smoky any more, that's how long it's been - but that kind of small comedy environment made me think, 'I used to love doing this,' and it was the little extra push to get me back to doing gigs.''

Davies with QI host Stephen Fry. Venues being smoke-free is not the only change. ''What's interesting about coming back to stand-up in my mid-40s is that I could never do a show like I did in my 20s,'' he says. ''You have a different perspective. I've got children and things have changed so much; when I last toured there was no such thing as Twitter or Facebook. People were barely texting - I don't think I started texting until I finished stand-up. The last time I toured was in 1999.'' Davies in comedy Whites. Given Davies's mock weary delivery, it's no surprise his new show is called Life Is Pain.

''It's not really the theme of the show … that was actually decided before I'd written the actual show,'' he says. ''It's an anecdote a friend of mine told me about overhearing a six-year-old child say to her own mother, 'Life is pain.' And that really made me laugh a lot, so when my producer said we should have a title, I said, 'I think I've got something.' But it will be more hilarious than it sounds.'' Davies began as a comic in 1988 and in 1991 he was named Time Out's best young comic and began touring the international circuit, winning the Edinburgh Festival critics award in 1994, before he moved into radio for a couple of years. Then he landed the lead role in the long-running series Jonathan Creek, the loveable magician's trick-deviser who solves crimes. The series ran from 1997 to 2004, plus a couple of Christmas specials. Since then he's had several acting roles, both comic and dramatic, playing everything from a barrister (The Brief), a gay man who falls for a woman (Bob & Rose) and even a dog in the radio sitcom About a Dog. Most recently, he starred in the sitcom Whites, which aired here on the ABC. Set in the kitchen of a posh country hotel, Whites was written by Peep Show actor Matt King, was based on his own experiences as a chef and starred Davies as a celebrity chef. The first series gained a big following but Davies says he was ''gutted'' when the BBC cancelled it earlier this year. ''I don't know why they canned it - it's honestly the biggest disappointment I've had in my career. I'm so upset and a bit angry about it,'' he says.

''I think it was a really, really good show; it's beautifully written and had a great ensemble cast, who were all really nice off camera as well. They commissioned the script for a second series and talked it up and blew a lot of smoke up our arses and then decided not to do it. And then they won't explain why. It did very, very well and critically it was well thought of … there's no rhyme or reason. It's a real kick in the teeth. The BBC are very, very difficult to deal with at the moment.'' Davies says the producers are hoping another channel picks up the series. ''We've even tried the ABC here to see if they would do a co-production,'' he says. You'll always be Jonathan Creek to my mum, I tell him. Will we see him again? ''Not at the moment. He hasn't been killed yet, he hasn't burnt to death in the windmill - but again, the BBC don't seem to want any more of that, either,'' Davies says.

''This is really why I'm doing stand-up again, you see, because nobody wants any of my shows … we're getting to the bottom of something here. At least I can work and say what I want and no one can can it!'' And with his secret gigs, he's had a chance to omit anything Aussie audiences won't understand. ''I'm pretty sure, judging by how QI went and my previous experience of doing gigs in Australia, unless you're making some obscure ref to something in the UK they have no chance of getting, we live kind of the same life,'' he says. ''If you do stuff about how things were different in the '80s and what it's like having kids, it translates anywhere.'' And his show will, he promises, be ''hilariously funny, obviously''.

''The show is poignant, moving, insightful, witty but above all, hilariously funny,'' he deadpans. ''All of these things are in the advert, with 'I hope' at the end.'' ■Alan Davies plays the Athenaeum on November 18, 19 and 20. ticketek.com.au