Mark Jenkins first rose to fame in the Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall docu-series The Hotel in 2011 as the eccentric owner of The Grosvenor hotel in Torquay - before being forced to sell it and becoming an entertainment manager at rival hotel The Cavendish two years later.

 

The hapless hotelier and self-styled showman has a penchant for the kind of old-fashioned, charmingly tacky entertainment that had its heyday on British seaside holiday camps during the 1970s.

 

During the hit series, Mark's madcap ideas to attract guests involved inflatable dolphin pool races, baking a record-breaking giant scone and hiring an alpaca for the family fun day - which he famously struggled to fit in the lift.

 

His antics have earned him comparisons to the gormless Karl Pilkington, the self-important, try-hard boss David Brent from The Office and - not unexpectedly - hotel manager Basil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers.

 

Though there are striking similarities between the two, not least because they both work in Torquay, Mark says there is one major difference between himself and Basil.

 

"What made Basil funny was that he didn't really like the guests. He thought they were a complete nuisance - but it's the staff I don't like," he said, adding firmly: "I've said it before and I'll say it again; If I could clone myself multiple times and get things done the way I wanted it, I would."

 

Having only been as far north as Newcastle before, Mark is excited to don a kilt and try his hand at bagpipes when debuting his show to the Glasgow crowd at the Marriot Hotel in May.

 

He's sure that he can win over the Scots crowd - after all, his Scottish themed night went down a storm at The Cavendish in the fourth installment of the show.

 

"It will be like a giant wedding - except without gifts and families fighting, and hopefully no divorces either.

 

"People come away at the end of the night having made new friends at these shows... Unlike going to a theatre, staring straight ahead and hoping you don't touch the knee of the person next to you.

 

"We want to recreate a holiday style party; Party games, dancing, inflatable palm trees and seagulls - basically, bringing Torquay to Glasgow."

 

He added: "Unfortunately we were told that Marriott isn't alpaca friendly, so I won't be bringing one this time."

 

Mark says there are plenty of surprises under wraps for guests on his 18 date UK tour ("You wouldn't give the show script to a theatre-goer, would you?" he quipped) that will get the whole crowd involved.

 

Not one to be overly fussed by political correctness, Mark has also divided the tickets for the event into three tiers on his website: 'VIP', 'normal people' and 'poor people' - insisting that people who have watched the show will 'get' that sense of humour.

 

"I've sold a surprising amount of VIP tickets for this date. I never knew you had so many rich people in Glasgow! The 'poor' crowd are seated at the back, so at least they get to be near the bar," he said laughing.

 

Brimming with enthusiasm and cheesy one-liners, Mark's quirky character is built upon his deep roots in entertainment and years of experience as a salesman.

 

His father was a great showman who shared the stage with Morecambe and Wise in the 1940s and 1950s - and taught Mark to sing and dance at the tender age of four before sending him out to busk on the streets.

 

Spending summers on the stage at his dad's hotels as a teenager singing and performing comedy routines, Mark turned to business to make enough money to buy a Bentley and one day achieve his dreams of being in showbiz.

 

After various ventures - which included selling Betamax video recorders and guttering door-to-door - he earned enough money to buy three hotels in Torquay.

 

Though his strident perfectionism and passion for 'thinking outside the box' got him into a few amusingly tight spots on the show over the past few years, Mark won the hearts of viewers across the country - and 38 years later, he's taking his act to the stage again.

 

So will there be anything else in the future for Mark Jenkins?

 

"I've got a book coming out - not an autobiography, but just my take on life.

 

"I'm going to be on another TV show as well, but I'm not allowed to talk about it."

 

He added, laughing: "I don't understand why TV bosses want it all to be a big secret. It's not like anyone could really copy me!"

 

Love him or loathe him, Mark's unbridled love of a good crowd really is a tough act to follow.

 

The Party Nights Live Tour comes to Glasgow Marriot Hotel on Friday May 1.

 

Tickets can be bought online at www.partynighttickets.com