AUDIENCES beware! The shaven headed, opinionated Pub Landlord embarks tonight on a nationwide tour which will see him serving up pints of vitriol in both Blackburn and Burnley over the coming weeks.

Al Murray's award-winning comic creation will appear in a new live show -- Who Dares Wins? -- at King George's Hall, Blackburn, next Friday and then at Burnley Mechanics on Thursday, November 28.

For those who haven't seen Murray's alter-ego, imagine what Alf Garnett would have been like running his own pub.

The Pub Landlord first surfaced on comedian Harry Hill's show before Murray -- who out of character bears no relation to his rather monstrous creation -- developed a one-man show.

Frequently nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival -- he finally won it at the fourth attempt -- the Pub Landlord has been holding court in London's West End and also as part of the series Time Gentlemen Please on Sky One.

Now Murray is preparing to go on the road with a 54-date national tour for the first time.

"Last year I did a few dates just to keep my eye in," said Murray. "Really, for the last two years I've been in the West End and there is a danger of going mad if you stay there too long.

"I wanted to take the character out on the road with new material."

In the past some of the audiences have missed the point with the Pub Landlord, whose views on Europe, technology and men who don't drink pints are both vicious and hilarious.

Murray is very much a satirist and, although the audience comes in for much of the stick, it is the character of the Pub Landlord which is often the real target.

"Because the Pub Landlord isn't me, it is good," he says. "I'd never do me. I don't think there's anything about me that's funny."

"But I am not an actor. I am very much a product of the stand-up up circuit, a comedian with a big C."

With all new material, Murray isn't afraid to tinker with the show during its run.

"The show will mutate," he says. "The tour manager knows the show and if I improvise something that works well he'll make a note and we might keep it in."

The Pub Landlord is clearly a major part of Murray's life.

"I'll never get to the point where I just 'do' the character. I feel it's getting better all the time. If it ever got to the stage where it felt tired, then I might retire him for a couple of years but I'd never kill him off."

But with a national audience now getting the chance to experience the full force of the Pub Landlord and a possible return to the West End, once the current tour is over, the chances of time being called on the Pub Landlord, even for a brief period, appear very remote indeed.

Al Murray's Pub Landlord will be at King George's Hall, Blackburn next Friday and Burnley Mechanics on Thursday, November 28 with tickets priced £16.50. Details from the respective box offices on 01254 582582 and 01282 664400.