MICHAEL Higgs needed nothing but relaxation after he finished filming his last scenes for The Bill. Playing PC Santini - who exits at the end of a four-part special starting this Tuesday - was exhausting, as his character turned even more manic than he had ever been.

Thirty-two-year-old Michael has starred in The Bill for 16 months as the crazily- ambitious and rotten to the core Santini, but has had no problems with playing a baddie. In fact he's had the time of his life, and admits his first big role in TV was a real learning experience - especially these four episodes.

Making these shows was great, it was a really good storyline to get into, but it was also very, very tiring," he explains. "Santini really stretches himself in these episodes, going out on a limb to get what he wants and it was quite hard to do, getting to the level he was at. We were filming around 10 to 12 hours a day and it was more exhausting than the normal storylines, because of the intensity of it. I never had a problem playing a bad cop though, I actually thought it was good fun and used constant energy to play someone who was lying and pushing people around all the time. We actually filmed the first one of this four-parter last and that was good, because it is calmer than the rest, which are pretty manic. Men like Santini really use people for their own ends, but despite this he still seems to attract the girls with PC Hagen (Samantha Robson) first in the queue. He's so desperate to get ahead it brings out a much darker side to his character, which was challenging to play.

Ambition takes hold of Santini, as he tries to find a way out of Sun Hill and up to the drug squad, however when he sets up his own clandestine operation it leads him into a criminal underworld from which there is no escape. The four-parter also sees the return of Caroline Catz as Rosie Fox, Santini's old adversary. For Michael, the exit from Sun Hill led to Prague where he has recently been filming a movie set in 19th century Russia, called All Forgotten. He took some great memories of his time on The Bill with him. "I had a great time there," he says. "I had done mainly theatre beforehand and when you get a job there everyone starts together, there's no new boys as such.

"Then in The Bill, I came along and it's like a train that's going and you have to jump on it. "It takes a few months to settle in when it's like that, but I think I did and everyone in the cast and crew was great to work with. The atmosphere at The Bill is a good one and I think that was helped by the change from the half- hour episode slot to the hourly one. "I started when it was 30 minutes, and I think the new way is a lot better. "Since finishing filming in April, I have been in Prague making a film called All Forgotten set in Russia in the 1800s. "I thought I would want to go back into theatre when I left the Bill, but I don't think I do at the moment. What I want is more camera work. I have a real hunger for that at the moment, and doing this film was great. "I also enjoyed spending time with my mates, simply because I have had more spare time recently."

Michael started acting 10 years ago, but it was never really a planned career. "I worked in a recording studio and I wanted to be in a band," he recalls. "I play the guitar and that's what I wanted to do. "Acting just sort of came up on me. I resisted for a while, because of the band thing, but then friends told me I should go for it, so I did. I went to drama school and now I really love it." Should the Birmingham born star ever fall on hard times, however, he may have another career up his sleeve - as a yoga instructor. "I do like yoga," he laughs, "I've done it for about six years now and it's all about finding a good class. Maybe I could teach as a sideline, but then I don't know. I want to put all my energies into acting at the moment."