The Mirror interview by Nathalie Graham February 2000

NAME: Joseph Millson, 25, is Dr Sam Morgan in ITV's Peak Practice.

STATUS: Married to actress Caroline Fitzgerald. LIVES: Flat in North London.

EARNS: "More than I ever dreamt of."

MONEY ATTITUDE: "Since my marriage eight months ago I am trying to save and be more sensible."

EXTRAVAGANCE: Paying pounds 500 for a gargoyle.

PEAK Practice gave Joseph Millson the chance to buy his own home at 24, instead of in his thirties.

He was used to earning subsistence theatre wages, and was resigned to renting a flat for years. But thanks to his TV breakthrough he bought a two-bedroom garden flat in Kentish Town last June for £ 135,000.

The couple pay around £ 550 a month for their £ 115,000 Open Plan Mortgage with the Woolwich.

If Joseph goes back into lower-paid theatre work, he can reduce the amount he pays, and if he ever has a cash lump sum he can clear some of the loan.

He recently bought a new MGF two-seater sports car for his wife's birthday. "I won't say what I paid," he says, "but it was more than the deposit on our flat."

He started looking ahead at a young age, taking out a pension plan with Lincoln Financial Group at just 23. "My generation is unlikely to see a state pension," he says.

At first he could afford only £ 35 a month, but has now boosted his contributions to £ 250 a month.