Actress Shannen Doherty, star of the popular series Charmed - who will be hosting Shannen Doherty's Weird Weekend on June 23 and 24 on cable, satellite and digital channel Living - must suffer from a four year acting itch.

The 30 year old American actress, who will present a weekend full of documentaries, stage shows and mysterious dramas, all based on a theme of things that go 'bump' in the night, has just announced she plans to leave Charmed, now entering its fourth successful series. It was also after four years that Shannen left the hit American teen soap Beverly Hills 90210.

Besides launching her into stardom, Beverly Hills 90210 also gained her a reputation for being talented but volatile.

Her character Brenda invoked a 'I Hate Brenda' fan club in America, and in real life, stories of Shannen's bust-ups with boyfriends, legal wranglings, high-profile court-cases and over-zealous drinking sessions, filled thousands of column inches in the American and British press.

I got bored playing the part and didn't have the ability to keep on challenging myself artistically in the way I would do now, said Shannen. And crucially I saw a distinction between actor and character, when it came to being a role model. I thought that the character should be a role model but not the actress playing her.

Now I realise that actors have to set an example - that there are millions of children looking up to you when you play a part on TV.

Shannen's acting career started young at the age of ten when she was in Little House On The Prairie and she was eighteen when she got the part in 90210.

I wasn't ready for the attention. I didn't expect everyone in the world - and it really did seem like that on occasions - to recognise me and know me. I just wasn't ready for that kind of pressure at eighteen.

Despite her 'difficult' image, since leaving 90210 she has hardly stopped working and besides Charmed, has recently been shooting the Francis Ford Coppola movie Another Day in Canada.

I've always accepted that there are better, sexier actresses than me but I also believe that I have a gift for acting and that is why I've worked as much as I have done. But I'm lucky, maybe, to have been given the gift in the first place.

The longest I've ever been out of work was for six months when I was eighteen just before 90210 started, said the actress, who is unmarried, has pots of money in the bank, nine horses, an apartment in Los Angeles and a 25-acre ranch in rural California.

She continued:
I guess that people know I can act well and know as a workaholic that I will always work hard on the show they are doing.

And I've always put my hands up to mistakes. I guess there's something honourable about that and I am proud to have done so, and others in the business have admired me for doing that.

If you make a mistake, then stand up and be honest about it. Don't carry on denying it until you get busted.

The star says good luck also has played a part in her personal life and career. This includes even the horse-riding helmet she claims is jinxed, because she had two bad falls while wearing it, but it did save her from far more serious injury although she will now have to wear a backbrace for the rest of her life.

With luck and charm on her side, her future TV and film career away from Charmed should present her with more successful feisty characters to play.

I have certainly enjoyed my time with Charmed. I had the opportunity to create a character, learn and perform my own stunt work and direct three episodes of the show. At this time I feel I have accomplished everything I set out to do when I returned to series television. I now have the chance to move on and pursue other endeavours, she said of her decision to leave the show.

This August Shannen will appear in the movie Silent Bob Strikes Back. She is currently starring in and co-producing Another Day, alongside Charmed co-star, Julian McMahon , which will be released later in the year.

Shannen Doherty's Weird Weekend, which can be seen on Saturday 23 June from 1.20pm until midnight and Sunday 24 June from 4.10pm until midnight, features the best episodes of Charmed, spooky drama series, Mysterious Ways, Beyond Belief, Crossing Over, Mystic Challenge, as well as a host of scary movies, bizarre talk-shows and weird stage-shows.

Series three of Charmed can be seen exclusively on Living, every Monday at 8pm. The final episode of this series and the last ever episode with Shannen Doherty, will air on Living on Monday 2 July at 8pm.