Brandon meditates to 'makepeace'

Michael Brandon exudes an unlikely air of calm for someone so closely associated with the TV image of macho detective. It's his throaty American accent that does it. He may be best known for playing the role of volatile cop James Dempsey in the Eighties series Dempsey and Makepeace, but his fast-paced life has led him to become one of the capital's leading exponents of meditation.

He speaks with passion about it and how it changed his frenetic, excessive movie-star life into something calm and focused. So, little wonder that he is in demand to teach the art of meditation at The Priory in Roehampton and Holloway Prison in north London. "I have always been a bit of a hippy," he admits, "and so always looked for an inner meaning in my life."

Jokes about Dempsey using meditation to "makepeace" apart, 57-year-old Brandon, who built his career on violent crime roles, is now a devotee of it and uses it daily to prepare to go on set and cope with city life. " Meditation has a lot of power. It helps ease your stress levels, and stress is a modern-life killer. It gives you energy. If you are short of sleep, then 15 minutes' meditation is like four hours' sleep. "

And Michael, who is still married to his former co-star Glynis Barber - his first wife was Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner - admits to having had some bad habits while working as an actor in Hollywood in the Seventies. "Let's face it, I did it all," he says. "The stress of that lifestyle is incredible and people escape through different means. But in the end all roads lead back to yourself."

The turning point for Michael, who combines his career as a therapist with acting, came relatively early. "I remember being very determined to succeed and setting myself strict deadlines. I left drama college and gave myself two years to make my first movie. The opening night I remember looking up at the marquee and seeing my name in lights and thinking, 'This is what I have focused on all my life, what I have worked so hard for', and it didn't resound inside. I never really felt an inner wow. That's when I started to think about looking for more in life."

Today, as well as using meditation himself, Michael volunteers to work for charity at The Priory and in Holloway prison. "I sit in front of a group of people - and they could be addicts or criminals or murderers - and ask them to meditate," he says, smiling. "Of course, they are often dismissive, but when I explain that it takes real courage to do it, they listen."

But isn't it hard to meditate for the first time? "Yes - your mind chatters constantly and you'll think about your shopping list, paying your bills, a meeting at work, an argument. But try to forget them just for a few minutes. Switch off your mind and try to go to the deeper level where true inner peace exists," he advises. "People find great relief from meditation and sometimes it comes in the first session, sometimes it takes time. But it always happens."

Michael Brandon does not teach private clients, but from 10 September he will be taking classes at The Priory in which anyone can participate. For more information, telephone Galsworthy Lodge, 020 8392 4218.