Wendy Richard

Speaker 20:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive. For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

Speaker 20:08

The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen ninety five, and the presenter was Sue Lawley.

Presenter0:28

My Castaway this week is an actress. Her face must be one of the best known on British television. Ever since she appeared with the comedian Arthur Haynes in his popular show Back in the Sixties, she's been in a succession of well-known long-running series. The Newcomers, Are You Being Served, and its sequel Grace and Favour are just three of them. But it's a fourth which has brought her her greatest popularity. Ever since it first appeared on BBC One ten years ago, she's played the part of Pauline Fowler in EastEnders. She is Wendy Richard.

Presenter0:59

It must have been a big decision, though, Wendy, to take on that role,'cause it was completely different from anything you'd done before, wasn't it? From the vivacious Miss Brahms of grace and favour. Yes, that's true. But um I'd known Julia Smith since the sixties and Julia and Tony Holland were the ones that dreamed us up, although

Presenter1:16

Pauline and her family are real people. They actually exist. They're relations, I believe, of Tony Hollands.

Presenter1:22

And Julia invited me to play the part of Pauline, and it was outlined to me that storyline, having the late baby and other things that were going to happen. And I thought, yes, this sounds good. And uh why do you think it sounded good? I don't know. It's pretty depressing, I should think.

Wendy Richard1:38

I don't know.

Wendy Richard1:40

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Presenter1:41

I don't think it was depressing in the in the start East Enders. I just thought it was a good story and I was happy, you know, to try it out. But was it also partly that point in your career when you had to make the big decision to sort of stop being the the vivacious blonde, the curvacious browns? Obviously, you know you can't go on playing those sort of roles forever.

Wendy Richard1:57

Oh well, obviously.

Presenter2:02

I thought it would give me the opportunity to show that I could act and show emotions other than those from A to B. You know, I could go a bit further perhaps. And the biggest shock came to me was A to have my hair cut, which was very long then. I didn't mind the fact that it was grey, but it was quite an attractive grey, grey and black. I told you you had to have it cut off. I had to have my hair cut off. And also I wrote, I remember this well, writing a list of the makeup I use, which is.

Speaker 42:21

But they tell you.

Wendy Richard2:21

Yeah.

Presenter2:29

I try to use stuff that hasn't been tested on animals, right? So I wrote out this list for the makeup designer. And when I turned up for work, instead of all this list of different coloured eyeshadows and stuff I've been used to wearing, I had I think it was uh some mascara, a pot of base and some powder.

Presenter2:46

and a grey eyeliner, and that was it. And then you had to realize, you know, that the eyelashes and everything really had gone. And then the wardrobe mistress presented you with all those cardigans.

Presenter2:56

There is nothing wrong with Pauline's cardigans. I'm sorry. I won't have this. They come from Marks and Spencer's. There's nothing wrong with Marks and Spencer's cardigans. And apart from that. Apart from that, I have to have somewhere to put my cigarettes and lighter.

Wendy Richard3:04

And apart from that.

Presenter3:12

And if I'm not wearing a cardigan, they're tucked behind a picture on the sidebar. So even after ten years, you've got no desire to get rid of them.

Wendy Richard3:15

So easy.

Presenter3:19

Well, we're phasing them out a bit. I mean, Pauline has got three jackets. They get dusted off and brought out occasionally. But do you feel very possessive about her, about Pauline? Do you say to the scriptwriters she can't say that or she wouldn't do that? Yes, I do. And I'm very possessive about my house. And sometimes, I think I could be digging my own grave here, when we get new designers coming, they come in and fiddle in my house. I say, please don't do that, because that shouldn't be there.

Wendy Richard3:28

What do you say to the scriptwriter?

Wendy Richard3:31

Yes.

Presenter3:44

It has been there for 10 years and it's staying there. It's like the bowl of fruit on the table. Sometimes a cameraman will want it moved. And so the floor manager will say, Should we take it away all together? I say, that has been a focal point of my table for 10 years and it's not moving. You know, you'll have to adjust it or take a few bananas out or something, but it's staying. So I think you've got to have a sense of continuity and viewers want that because they notice. Oh, they remember. They really do. I mean, do you remember the flying ducks that were on the wall? In Coronation Street. Well, I remember watching the episode one night, and Edgie Yates came in. As he shut the door, a duck fell off the wall. Well, I watched Bernard Ewin's face and full marks to him. It was just a slight quiver of the lip. If it had been me, I'd have been hysterical on the floor. They've had to go on again. Anyway, the next time I saw Coronation Street, the duck was back, but it had a plaster around its neck. I thought that was even wonderful.

Speaker 23:58

Yeah.

Wendy Richard4:11

Incorrigation.

Presenter4:37

Okay, let's ship you off to this desert island.

Wendy Richard4:39

Tell me.

Presenter4:41

Well, I really would like Land of Hope and Glory. You see, I'm tone deaf, I can't sing at all. So if I'm on this desert island no one can hear me. I can have a really good sing song, and you know you're not going to upset anyone with your singing or lack of singing ability.

Presenter5:52

Audience of The Last Night of the Prom singing Land of Hope and Glory with the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Groves. You're a pivotal figure in East Enders, Wendy Richard. You've been there from the beginning. There aren't many who have, are there? No, I think there's about five regulars left, and two of them unfortunately will be leaving for the end of the year.

Presenter6:12

Sue Talio plays my daughter Michelle. She'll be leaving later on this year. And then Bill Treacher plays my husband Arthur. He'll be going I think he's going in the New Year.

Wendy Richard6:22

Top.

Presenter6:24

Out of my family, yes, yes. But I still have my son Mark.

Wendy Richard6:25

Best

Presenter6:27

But uh he wasn't there from day one. But you you're a very sympathetic character. You're a mum whose teenage daughter gets pregnant. You're a wife whose husband's had an affair, and so on. Do you get many letters from viewers identifying with Pauline? Oh, yes, very much so. Also, when uh Michele told Pauline that she was expecting a baby,

Wendy Richard6:34

Life

Presenter6:46

I remember the scene well I was doing the ironing and I just sort of stopped ironing and just looked at the ironing board and until it sort of sunk in and sort of tried to

Presenter6:55

give the thing of total disbelief, you can't believe it.

Presenter6:58

And I had a letter from a young girl who said, Thank you for that scene because I'm at school and I'm pregnant and it gave me the courage to tell my mother and fortunately, like you and Arthur, my mum and dad are standing by me.

Presenter7:11

No. What about when Arthur had the affair?

Speaker 47:11

Yeah.

Presenter7:14

Yes, it's amazing because you suddenly find out it might actually be happening to you in real life. Do you know what I mean?

Presenter7:21

So it comes as a bit of a shock because you see it was like when Michele they were going to make Michele pregnant and I went to Julia, I said, Why is it my daughter? You know, um Sharon's far more flighty and they said, Ah, but it's the ones you least expect. Oh, you are possessive about it all then, aren't you?

Presenter7:39

Oh, I'm very proud of my family. I think my T V family are marvellous. Um you were saying earlier on that uh EastEnders wasn't depressing in the beginning, I think was the phrase you used to. I didn't think it was really. I mean it opened with an action-packed um episode. It was a good episode the first time. But the implication is that it's a bit depressing now. It I don't know whether depressing is the word, but certainly I think it prides itself on on its gritty realism, doesn't it? Oh yes, and when we do an important storyline, which like the HIV thing with Mark Fowler.

Wendy Richard7:48

I see you s

Wendy Richard7:54

So the MPK

Wendy Richard7:58

Pressing the web

Wendy Richard8:02

Oh

Presenter8:08

And what else did we do? We did adult education because Mary the punk couldn't read or write and kidney transplants and

Wendy Richard8:14

And you've done

Presenter8:18

abortion and adultery. Yes, things like that do happen and and you must tell the story. We we do have to every so often put across the public message and and that's what we do, and entertain at the same time. You do have to put across a public message.

Wendy Richard8:19

Yeah.

Presenter8:31

Yes, because when Mark Fowler told Pauline and Arthur he was HIV.

Presenter8:36

I have to admit, I wasn't too clear about the difference between HIV and having AIDS.

Presenter8:42

And their reaction was the same as most people who are unaware of the facts and what the difference between the two is. So we had to put that across. So if you're going to deal with an issue, you've got to do it properly. You have to do it properly. Because you're in great danger then of misleading the public. Because there are a lot of people that don't

Wendy Richard8:53

You'll have to do it properly.

Presenter9:00

read a lot, do they? And they probably don't read all pamphlets and what have you in doctors' waiting rooms. So they they don't understand. But they will sit and watch a television programme.

Presenter9:10

And how far does it mirror your life? Uh i your personal life? I mean, I mean, you you're you're a regular in your local, aren't you? And you enjoy a game of cribbage. That's right. I mean, so you feel at home in the Queen Vic. Is that all?

Wendy Richard9:18

That's right.

Presenter9:22

Is it is it part of a game of cra

Wendy Richard9:23

Yeah.

Presenter9:25

Well you think I'd be a lot happier when I had to sit there if I could play cards. Um but you see you get people write to you and say how different is or even journalists say how different is your life to Pauline's. Well I mean do us a favour. I'm a working actress. I live in the West End. Pauline's and I have no children. Pauline's the mother of three children and she lives in the East End and I mean you it's polls apart. You know, I think it's a silly question. Well except that you go down the pub and and sit there. Well I don't spend all my time there but I like to go and play how you're in the past. So I mean there's part of you that identifies with that kind of thing. Yeah also when my parents were alive I was brought up in the licensed trade so but you dress better than Pauline.

Wendy Richard9:47

You know, it are

Wendy Richard9:48

Yeah.

Wendy Richard9:51

Yeah.

Wendy Richard9:54

Choose a card with your friend.

Wendy Richard9:59

Yeah, we also

Speaker 410:02

Um

Presenter10:05

Thank you.

Presenter10:06

And your accent isn't as strong, is it?

Presenter10:09

No, no.

Presenter10:10

Let's have record number two.

Presenter10:13

Well, I've chosen Glenn Miller in the mood because I remember as a child watching the Glen Miller story. I mean, doesn't it sort of make you sob your heart out at the end when she's sitting there at Christmas and he's not coming back? You know, they've lost him. And I think it's a brilliant piece of music. And the only time I really go out is to various charity functions, you know, and they usually have a very good show band on and they nearly always play in the mood. And it's one that really makes you want to get up and dance.

Presenter11:21

Glenn Miller and In the Mood. So the accent is pretty much an affectation, but didn't you first make your name using a broad Cockney accent?

Presenter11:30

Oh, yes. Um I went to join this agency hoping to get work in commercials and what have you, not realizing that uh it was Robert Stigward who had pop stars on his books. And at the time he had this uh idea to do this record with Mike Sah

Presenter11:48

It was unknown as well.

Presenter11:50

And they obviously thought that the song would be better if they had these interjections, you know, this dizzy bird sort of saying, I think get lost and what for and things like that. It was come outside, wasn't it? He was a kind of cockney fellow trying to get this girl to go outside and have a kiss and a cuddle round the back. And I mean, I got paid very little, I think it was £15 and it sold over half a million copies. But I got a tremendous amount of publicity, which did me a lot of good. It was a big hit, wasn't it? It was, yes. It was number one for some time, I believe. And from that, I got my first T V series, which was Harper's West One. They were bringing in a new character, a blonde receptionist, Dizzy Blonde, they wanted. And so they chose me. What was Harper's West One? It was about a department store. It was about the staff in the store. It wasn't like.

Wendy Richard12:00

That was a kind of

Wendy Richard12:03

Yeah, go outside and have a kiss and a cuddle round.

Speaker 212:15

It isn't big.

Presenter12:38

Anything like Are You Being Served? because they were far more sensible. I mean, it was Jan Holes, who was terribly glamorous, which still is terribly glamorous. We had some good characters come in and out through the. So it was much more Harrods than Grace Brothers. It was more Harrods than Grace Brothers. Yes. And you'd but you'd had some experience in real life, hadn't you? Didn't you work in a store?

Wendy Richard12:48

So it was much more handy.

Wendy Richard12:50

It was more ha

Wendy Richard12:52

Yes.

Presenter12:56

Yes, when I first left boarding school I went to work at Fortnite Mason. I was the junior in the fashion department. And when you're that low in the pecking order, if one of the assistants had ever made a mistake, it was always you that got the flack, you know. So that stood me in good stead for being Miss Brams later on. How much did you earn, do you remember? Three pound eight and fourpence a week.

Presenter13:18

But so you did that. You'd also trained as a beautician at some point? Oh, no, later on when I was uh in between jobs uh early on in my career, I went and did a course with S. D. Lawder. And so I've worked in I've worked in Selfridge's, Dickinson Jones.

Presenter13:35

D. H. Evans.

Presenter13:38

And there was one other, I've forgotten where it was. All good research for a way being so. But you did and you also did some secretarial training, I think. Was this all because you didn't think you were going to make it as an actress? No, that had nothing to do with it at all. See, I was away at boarding school. I went to the Romasonic School in Rickmansworth, and they tried to equip you in the best possible way to earn a living when you left school if you weren't going on to university and everything.

Speaker 213:40

Really?

Wendy Richard13:40

Yeah.

Presenter13:57

They had what they called a commercial form, which is what I went into, and so I did shorthand and typing.

Presenter14:04

Record number three.

Presenter14:05

Number three, well, this was the hymn that we had at school, which I loved, and that's Jerusalem. I think this is marvellous. I get very emotional when I hear this.

Presenter14:53

Jerusalem, sung by the choir of Winchester Cathedral with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Hill. Going back to your beginnings, Wendy, you were apparently brought up in hotels, in quotes. What does that mean? Well,'cause my parents were in the license trade. That was the business they were in. So you you moved around a lot, did you, sir? Well, not a great deal, no, but I made

Wendy Richard15:05

Mm-hmm.

Presenter15:14

When I was born at at that time my father had um corporation hotel in Middlesbrough, so but my mother was from Newcastle, the haughty city as they say, but daddy hailed from St Albans originally.

Presenter15:25

But most of my

Presenter15:27

Younger life, when I was at primary school and everything, I was we were um living in Shepherd Market in Mayfair, and I went to school in Mount Street.

Presenter15:35

I remember when the time came when we had to leave there, my mother sort of had to break the news to me. She said, Well,

Presenter15:40

Where would you like to go and live if you didn't live here? And I said, Well, I'd really love to go and live in Anbridge with the archers. And my mother then had to explain to me that they weren't real people. And I think it caused me more trauma than finding out that Daddy was really Santa Claus. You know, I mean, that really did my head in. I thought it was hooked on Santa Claus. Absolutely. Absolutely, yes.

Wendy Richard15:57

Nah.

Wendy Richard15:58

So you were for me.

Wendy Richard16:00

So absolutely.

Presenter16:03

But then you had an awful shock, didn't you, when you were eleven, because your father took his own life, didn't he?

Presenter16:09

Yes, uh but that was his choice, so but it was you who found him, wasn't it?

Presenter16:14

Well, yes, so it he just looked as though he was asleep, which he was. What effect, though, did that have on your life? Do you remember it as being a great turning point? Well, it had the effect that um I think it affected my mother more. I mean I was went away, as I said, to the Masonic school. Um but then my mother, who was always worked very hard,

Presenter16:35

She couldn't continue the business on her own because at the time we had a public house with two bars and a restaurant and an off-licence, and it was too much for her. So she went off instead of being, as it were,

Presenter16:46

The governor's wife, if you want to use that expression, she went then to be a manageress for other people, which I think must have

Presenter16:53

Not being quite so nice for her when you're used to being in charge. And what about your relationship with her? What did it do? Oh, we were always very close.

Wendy Richard16:59

Oh, we were

Presenter17:01

And she she was always supportive. You wanted to be an actress and she was happy. Well, I think it was her more than I wanted she wa she wanted me to be an actress, I think.

Wendy Richard17:04

But I think we have to do it.

Presenter17:10

Did she? But she wasn't a stagey mum at all, not pushy, you know, like uh the one you you see in um Gypsy Rose. She wasn't like that at all. But she liked the idea. She was keen. She was she I think she quite liked the idea. Yeah, and and so did she bask in your reflected glory when you did make it?

Wendy Richard17:19

But she liked the idea of speech.

Presenter17:27

No, not at all. I mean, she worked very hard to get the money to send me to drama school.

Presenter17:32

I was pleased that she saw.

Presenter17:34

Some of my success before I lost mummy in seventy two

Presenter17:38

And I had just done a cameo part in a film called Gumshoe with Albert Finney, and I got extremely good reviews for it. And I had the pleasure of taking my mother to Leicester Square and seeing a big colour picture of me outside the cinema, you know, all lit up and everything. And so I think she realized then she had a return for her investment.

Presenter17:59

What was your first big job then? I mean, we've talked about the the the record, the come outside, and we talked about Hopper's West One. But after that, what was what was the first b

Presenter18:07

Big one. Well, the first time I worked for David Croft would be early sixties and I did Hugh and I with for him. That was with Hugh Lloyd and Terry Scott.

Presenter18:17

And then I went off to do The Newcomers, which was an early soap that BBC did. What about the Arthur Haynes show? How did you get on to that? Well, I was when I was doing Harper's West One and I was at the A T V studios and I was sitting at a table in the canteen. These two gentlemen come and said, Well, maybe sit here and I said yes. And

Presenter18:35

Somebody said to me, I looked as though it would cost half a crown to speak to me in those days, I was very snooty. And so they were talking sort of in front of me as though I wasn't there, and and the the taller one, the two said, I think she'd be all right to play Arthur's daughter, don't you? and and the other one's going, Yes, yes, I think so.

Presenter18:52

So he said, what's your availability? So I said, we'll have to speak to my agent.

Presenter18:58

And anyway.

Presenter18:59

It transpired that one of the gentlemen was Johnny Spate, who wrote the Arthur Hayne show, and the other was Michael Kane, who that week was playing a burglar in the Arthur Hayne show. So they had this idea, Johnny had this idea for a sketch that Arthur has this attractive young daughter, and she comes home with this lord that she's picked up, and the lord was Nicholas Parsons. And Nicholas told me years later when I was doing Just a Minute that Johnny Spate had wanted Arthur to change the format and to go to doing a sitcom, and that was his idea for the sitcom for Arthur. And Arthur didn't want to change the format, he wanted to stay as he was doing sketches. So Johnny sort of shelved it, and of course, later on, it became Till Death is Do Part. With somebody else. With somebody else entirely different. And Eunice Stubbs, not you. Yes.

Wendy Richard19:45

It was somebody else

Wendy Richard19:47

Yeah.

Presenter19:49

Record number four.

Presenter19:51

Well, as I mentioned earlier on, David Croft, he's been a wonderful governor to me over the years, and I was fortunate enough to be in Dad's army several times. And so I've chosen

Presenter20:02

The theme music to that show because it brings back memories, and one memory sets off another. Because if you're in Dad's army,

Presenter20:09

It was

Presenter20:10

It was a privilege to work with such marvellous people. Unfortunately, I think there's only three of them left now, we've lost them all.

Wendy Richard20:17

Who do you think you're kidding, Mr. Hitler, if you think we're on the run?

Wendy Richard20:27

We are the boys who will stop your little game We are the boys who will make you thing again Cause who do you think you are kidding, Mr. Hitler, If you think old England's done?

Presenter20:46

Bart Flanagan singing Who Do You Think You're Kidding Mr Hitler, a theme tune from Dad's Army which was written by David Croft.

Presenter20:53

And Wendy Richard, my castaway, was in it. And you were also in on the buses, so many of them. They all had live audiences, didn't they? That's right, yes. I know in Are You Being Served, some of our laughs had to be edited out because they went on for too long. And you used to wear dress you, Miss Brahms, wore a dress that the Princess of Wales had worn the week before. Well, we had a wonderful costume designer called Roland Warne, who actually had been a dancer years ago, and we used to call him Roland Butter. Anyway, he was very in with what was the most popular thing or

Wendy Richard20:59

Pompey soup

Wendy Richard21:02

The next round?

Wendy Richard21:13

Ow.

Presenter21:25

would be really topical to have that week because when the Queen did um Prince Charles investiture as um Prince of Wales and she wore this yellow outfit with those things on the back of the hat, remember? The plumes. Yes. Mrs Slocum had that following week.

Presenter21:42

Then uh the Princess of Wales was seen in the most beautiful black strapless gown.

Presenter21:48

I had that when we went to the opera. It was so nice. It's funny because going back to Pauline, I don't mind dressing as Pauline does. That doesn't bother me. But when we did Are You Being Served, you knew you were going to dress up in something either fantastic or quite ridiculous at least once a week. But it was good fun. It was good fun. It's playing in the States at the moment, isn't it? Yes, I was in New York in March of 94 and.

Presenter22:15

was amazed to find out I was on television three times three nights a week. Do you think all of that comedy that you've done through your career and all the titles we've mentioned, how do you think it compares with television comedy today?

Presenter22:29

Well, I always thought the B B C made the best comedy in the world, but I'm afraid it's not the case any more. It's it's you see, if you put on Dad's Army or you put on Step Toe and Son, Faulty Towers straight up in the ratings.

Wendy Richard22:40

Yeah.

Presenter22:43

But I'm afraid some of these young so-called stand-up comics, they can't hold a candle to.

Presenter22:49

Well, we'll never see the like of Fraggie Han, Tommy Cooper, Morecambe and Wise again. That's obvious. Do you think you're bound to say that because that was your era, as it were? No, but it's true. If you chat to people

Wendy Richard22:54

Yeah.

Wendy Richard22:57

No, but it's true

Presenter23:01

Those are the sort of shows that they like. I remember the two Rollies used to have wonderful dancing and good music and costumes, and there was never anything offensive in those shows at all. Same as Are You Being Served. It was all self cleaning jokes.

Presenter23:15

Record number five.

Presenter23:16

Number five, I love this piece of music. It's the flower duet from Lacme. I think it's lovely.

Speaker 423:58

Who is it?

Presenter24:14

Joan Sutherland and Jane Berbier singing the flower duet from Lacme by Delib with the National Orchestra of Monte Carlo conducted by Richard Bonning.

Presenter24:23

How are you going to cope on your desert island, Wendy?

Presenter24:26

Well

Presenter24:28

If I can't take my dog, Shirley Brahms II, I'm not playing at all. You let Princess Michael take her cats, I'm taking my dogs. I didn't let Princess Michael take her cats. Well, somebody did. I I gather there's been some prior negotiation about this, but you can't take alive anything other than yourself. Well you should tell me that's at the beginning, you see. And you wouldn't have come. I wouldn't have come, no. But why is the dog such a life and death business? Well, because.

Speaker 424:37

Yeah.

Speaker 424:38

Yeah.

Speaker 424:47

And you got Instagram.

Wendy Richard24:47

Come, I'm gonna come. No.

Presenter24:53

She's my best friend. Oh, she's a lovely little cairn terrier, and I got her when we were doing.

Wendy Richard24:53

She's my bad

Presenter24:58

Grace and Favour up in Gloucestershire.

Presenter25:01

And that's why she's Shirley Brown's second. She actually has appeared on television. She was in Grace and Favour. She played a guard dog for a farm. And she had this scene with John Emmanuel. Of course, she knows John. So as soon as he appeared, she rolled flat on her back for him to tickle her tummy. But anyway, it was quite good. And she gets fan mail, which I have to answer. And she's your best friend. She's my best friend. What do you mean by that? Well, because she's always with me and she does funny things, so she keeps me amused. So you'd be lonely without her. Oh, I would desperately.

Wendy Richard25:22

She's my best friend.

Presenter25:32

Otherwise is life on your own manageable.

Presenter25:35

Oh, yes, yes. I m might have a bit of trouble if I've got some heavy garden rubbish to carry out, but I can always find someone to do that for me. You've been married three times and um

Speaker 425:44

Uh

Presenter25:46

You haven't found happiness. I mean, does do you find that depressing? Or are you? No, I've in fact at the moment I'm a lot happier than I've ever been. I've and everybody tells me how well I look. I've got no stress anymore.

Wendy Richard25:50

Oh yeah.

Presenter25:57

So you're happy to go on on your own? Yes. You're not looking for number four? No, no.

Wendy Richard25:58

You're not looking

Wendy Richard26:00

Yeah.

Presenter26:01

Shirley will do. Yep. Except that she's not coming to this desert island.

Wendy Richard26:04

Oh, well it not

Presenter26:07

Tell me if you're not going to be able to do it.

Presenter26:10

Well, I remember seeing an old black and white movie many years ago, and it was called Bolero, and it was George Raft. I remember thinking, oh, he's one of the most handsome men I'd ever seen. I think I was about 12 at the time. I thought, gosh, he's so handsome. I didn't realise what a fantastic dance. I mean, apart from playing villains and everything, he was a fantastic dancer. And this is a beautiful piece of music. And again, you see, you can sit and listen to this and you can imagine all sorts of wonderful pictures. Just let your mind travel on.

Presenter27:26

Part of Ravel's Bolero, played by the London Philharmonic, conducted by Andrew Lytton. How much of your life, Wendy, is taken up by EastEnders now?

Presenter27:35

Well, quite a lot. I've got a stack of books by the side of my bed which I haven't got round to reading yet because next to it are a stack of scripts. And because we've now changed our format of working, we do rehearse, record, so you really have got to be on the ball and make sure you know your lines. So you're out at Elstree, how many days a week?

Presenter27:54

Five at the moment, but longer hours. But sometimes, if someone's off sick or something, then you have to go in, so you have to do a a Saturday. And you've got your own fridge and your own kettle. Oh, in my little dressing room, yes. I've got a fridge and a kettle and a radio, because I do make a blinding cup of tea. And you've got your salads in the fridge. I mean, look after yourself. Shirley by your side.

Wendy Richard28:05

Toy money.

Wendy Richard28:06

Yeah.

Wendy Richard28:14

And you look after yourself.

Presenter28:17

Does life go on and on like that? Is it fulfilling, or do you see yourself jumping off the bandwagon at some point? I don't see myself.

Presenter28:25

Leaving EastEnders just yet. I'm under contract for another twelve months.

Presenter28:32

Is that what you get, a twelve month contract at a time? Yes. And you say it's very much a team. Is it more than a team? Is it is it a family? Are you self supporting? Yes, it is. And we all care about each other. I I haven't got any brothers or sisters.

Wendy Richard28:33

Yeah.

Wendy Richard28:38

Well, yes, it is.

Presenter28:45

But I would imagine if you have well, I know from my friends who have brothers and sisters, every so often they might fall out, but they're back together again because you're united, aren't you? And you've also got the the pressure that you all suffer, which presumably unites you, which is that the press always want to know. I mean, because you have mass audience appeal.

Wendy Richard28:52

Coaches.

Presenter29:01

The press always want to know what's going on and they always want the inside stories on you all. I know, I'm not the biggest fan of the press, I'm afraid. How intrusive does it get? It can get very intrusive because, I mean, if you've ever been doorstepped by the press, I tell you it is most unpleasant. And I was trying to walk my dog once, and there's about four reporters and three photographers, and of course, she wouldn't spend a penny with this great audience. And I said, Well, just at least let me walk the dog. You know, I've nothing to say to you, really wasting your time.

Wendy Richard29:05

I don't know.

Wendy Richard29:09

Right.

Presenter29:31

Record number seven.

Presenter29:33

Well, as I said earlier on

Presenter29:35

The archers. I mean, I was brought up with them and I s that is my one hour on a Sunday morning that is mine and I might be baking something in the kitchen or I might sit down and do my tapestry and that one hour is mine and that's I don't even pick my lines up for that hour'cause you have to learn your lines on a Sunday.

Presenter29:55

And I think they're all absolutely marvellous. I'm a member I'm a life member of the Fan Club. When you hear this music, it reminds you of Sunday lunch when you were little, you know, Sunday mornings, because at Sunday lunchtime we then had Life with the Lions and Ted Ray and all that, but in the morning was The Archers. And so it brings back memories of all that. But I will have to arrange for someone to send me a tape every week in a bottle of the omnibus edition of The Archers.

Presenter30:48

Barrick Greene, the theme tune of The Archers. So you listen to The Archers. You obviously watch Coronation Street, as well as knowing everything that's going on in East Centers. What about all the others? What about Brookside, for example? I used to watch Brookside. Um, I thought Sue Johnson is is a marvellous actress, and after she left, I didn't watch it anymore.

Presenter31:06

But ag again, l thinking about the archers, life is pretty mundane in Anbridge, unlike in Albert Square, as we were discussing. I tell you what, when um when she was in prison, Susan

Speaker 431:12

Oh, I don't know.

Presenter31:17

I said to one of the set designers at work, I said, can I have a bit of graffiti in the launderette? So he said, well, what do you want to write? I said, Free the Ambridge One. And he said, oh, Wendy, I'd love to. He said, but I couldn't. But I did want to write Free the Ambridge One. I just wanted to put my little protest in. But do you still look forward to the next script of EastEnders coming through the door? To find out what happens to you?

Wendy Richard31:32

Terra.

Wendy Richard31:41

Find out what

Presenter31:42

Yes, I always look forward to see if I've got sitting down scenes because I hate standing up for hours on end. And I I'm not a great fan of props. We had a lovely man come to directors, I think it was last year. He's back again now.

Wendy Richard31:46

Because I hate

Presenter31:55

'Cause I left a note on his desk because he turned up on the lot. It was his first day with me. And I was standing outside the laundrette and he put his broom in my hand and I looked at him.

Presenter32:05

So I said, What's this for? He said, Well

Presenter32:07

I thought I might have you sweeping the pavement, you know, instead of Arthur.

Presenter32:11

So I just looked at him and Brian, the prop spoke, took the broom and waited, I told you she wouldn't do it and he walked off with the broom and we were just left looking at each other, you know.

Presenter32:22

Well now on this island no one is going to be left in any doubt about what you're really like,'cause you're deeply patriotic, I can tell. You better tell us what the last record is.

Wendy Richard32:29

Yeah.

Presenter32:32

Well

Presenter32:33

This is another good sing song, and I thought I could knock a chair together for myself, and I would sit there on the beach looking out at the sea, and I'd have this blaring out, and that's Raw Britannia.

Speaker 432:45

Please take a block.

Speaker 432:48

Don't bless the tears the skies, Santa.

Presenter33:32

Rule Britannia, with Anne Collins and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Sir Charles Groves. If you could only take one of those eight records, Wendy, which one would it be?

Speaker 433:42

Hmm.

Presenter33:43

Land of Hope and Glory. I could then sit in my chair on the beach again and sing that.

Presenter33:48

They're all big belters, really, aren't they? Yes, yes. What about your book?

Speaker 433:51

Yeah.

Presenter33:53

Well

Presenter33:55

There's not many authors I've read more than once, but there's one and I laugh out loud every time I read his stuff, and that's Tom Sharp. So if I could have all his books in one big volume.

Speaker 434:06

Oh, that

Wendy Richard34:06

Just a bit.

Presenter34:10

They're not that big. You could get a Reader's Digest compendium of them, or whatever it's called. Name me your favorite one.

Wendy Richard34:10

It's not that

Presenter34:18

I think wilt, because God, you must have some sort of imagination to write a story like that.

Presenter34:23

Wilt, okay. Well, we'll we'll see if we can sneak the compendium in as well. But wilt it is. What about your luxury?

Presenter34:30

Well, here I have a bit of a problem now. Do I take a manicure set?

Presenter34:35

Um

Presenter34:37

I'm not bothered about not having a drink, but what about my cigarettes and my filters for my cigarette holder?

Presenter34:42

Or do I take all my unfinished tapestries from home?

Presenter34:47

Well, there's one thing for sure. You can only take one of those things.

Presenter34:51

Could I not roll a few packets of fags up in my damned streets and take them? Or the dog.

Wendy Richard34:53

Exactly my temperature.

Presenter34:57

I'll take the tapestries.

Presenter35:00

Wendy Richard, thank you very much indeed for letting us hear your desert island discs. Thank you very much.

Speaker 235:12

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Islandists archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.