Jim Davidson's back in Telford, but is he welcome?

Back in the day, you'd have expected Jim Davidson to sell out local venues in the blink of an eye.

After all, Jim was The Daddy. He was a national treasure, a man who'd stepped into the shoes of Bruce Forsyth on Saturday night TV, who became a household name long before he starred on TV's Big Break.

Jim was, in fact, too big for pokey old towns like Telford. We know that because he told us. Back in 2006, he fell so out of love with the town that he vowed never to return.

And Telford said this: "Good riddance."

Soon after, Jim spoke of his love for 'proper' venues, like Wolverhampton's Civic Hall and said the next time he played the region he'd hire a fleet of coaches and ferry fans from Telford to the Black Country.

In a well-publicised spat, Jim ranted about his hatred for Telford. He shocked fans when he took to the stage of Oakengates Theatre @ The Place in 2006, which had recently undergone a £2 million revamp. He described his experience as being a 'nightmare' and compared his hotel accommodation to a place which was 'condemned but had stayed open'.

There were furious words for The Place and invective for Telford's shopping centre. His bile extended to town centre car parks, where he briefly lost his car, and he judged the town's one-way system must have been designed by a blind person.

Telford's Golf and Country Club bar-worker Laura Davies claimed Jim refused to allow her to serve him because she was Welsh. She said he walked away muttering "I'm not being served by the bloody Welsh". He was subsequently banned.

Jim hit back and said: "It wasn't because she was Welsh, it was because I thought she was stupid."

But now Jim's love affair is back on.

The five-times married comic is returning to Telford tomorrow to star in his spring tour You Must Be Joking. No doubt a few of the workers at Telford's Golf and Country Club are thinking precisely that.

Except the love affair isn't really back on. Jim's gig at Oakengates Theatre hasn't exactly bombed, but he's hardly Mr Popular. While once he'd have sold all 600 tickets, this time he's sold around 200 or so.

His recent arrest by police investigating the Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal can't have helped. Jim was detained at Heathrow Airport earlier this year after landing to take part in Celebrity Big Brother, which he says left him 'completely gobsmacked'.

The comic hit back, 'vigorously denying' the allegations, which date back around 25 years and insisting: "I've never forced myself on a woman in my life."

Speaking about a 'really beautiful dancer' who drank too much after a panto performance he said: 'She was very, very drunk and I didn't want her to go home in a cab on her own late at night in that state.' The comic said he put her in his hotel bed and he slept on the floor.

Jim did speak about his 'horror' at the hands of Telford in 2007. I interviewed him then and he was unequivocal in his distaste. "I'll never come back," he said.

"That whole thing really annoyed me. They really got up my nose. I said what I said because it was the truth.

"But they decided to ban me. Can you believe it? They actually said they were banning me. For what? For saying I didn't like a hotel, that somebody was not doing their job. It's typical of what's wrong in this country.

"It's political correctness gone mad. I use all of this now in my new routine. Everybody in the country knows about Telford now. Instead of addressing the problem, they attacked me."

Mr Davidson said he was unrepentant and vowed never to return. Except he is.

In truth, his love-hate relationship isn't too much of a surprise.

Jim's career has been a series of highs and lows, of ups and downs, of decisions made and unmade.

He's been dogged by controversy and accused of racism, sexism, homophobia and worse.

His Wikipedia page, which ought to be a celebration of his career, is noticeable because of the sheer volume of negative content.

While he's done staunch work for our Forces, he's been dogged by divorce, tax problems, bankruptcy, run-ins with hotel staff – the Telford hotel isn't the only one to ban him. In a Channel 4 poll of Britain's worst people, Davidson came in at 20.

Jim has been given plenty of opportunities to talk about his renewed love of Telford. The Star has made three separate requests to interview him. The first approach, when the date was announced, was knocked back on the basis that it was too soon and the gig was months away.

The second was turned down because it followed his arrest and Jim wasn't in the mood for talking.

The third, last week, made at a time when the venue needed to sell more tickets, was also rebuffed. Jim's much-beloved Oakengates theatre contacted 'Jim's guys', but they said they weren't keen, in light of recent media coverage. "It's a definite no, sorry."

Jim will be returning to Wolverhampton, to play to 'proper' fans as part of his current tour.

He's no longer big enough to play the Civic; these days, he plays The Grand, instead, on April 6. He's also at The Regal in Tenbury Wells this Friday.

Jim's back in love with Telford. But, if ticket sales are anything to go by, the audience isn't in love with him.

Jim Davidson is playing Telford tomorrow, Tenbury Wells on March 22, and Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on April 6. For more details, see www.jimdavidson.org.uk