Spooks star Peter Firth has said he is not sure how he feels about being compared to other older action stars like Liam Neeson and Sylvester Stallone.

The 61-year-old actor reprises his role as Sir Harry Pearce, head of counter terrorism at MI5, in new Spooks movie The Greater Good. Peter played the role for 10 years in the hit BBC drama, and was excited about bringing the show to the big screen.

Sylvester Stallone
Peter Firth doesn’t think he has much in common with Sylvester Stallone (Richard Shotwell/Invision)

Asked how he felt about joining the league of actors of a certain age, flexing their muscles in big screen stunts, he said: “Well I saw Sylvester Stallone in an ad last night for Warburtons bread – a fairly terrifying experience, I have to say. So I don’t really like being put in the same… I haven’t had quite as much work as he has, perhaps I should – I don’t know!”

But Peter added: “Hey we’re all living longer. There’s no age limit on being fabulous!”

The show came to an end in 2011, but Peter insisted playing Harry again was literally like putting on an old pair of shows.

He said: “I wore the same shoes for 15 years – I bought them in Jermyn Street, a good pair of brogues, and as soon as I got them on for the film after the three-year gap from the TV series, there it was – job done, back in the groove.”

Spooks: The Greater Good opens in cinemas on Friday May 8.