Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Actress best known for playing the brassy but tender landlady of the Queen Vic in EastEnders.
On the island
Eight records
The Loco-MotionFavourite
the first record I was ever given. It came with my record player, which was bought by my parents
because they used to play it on School Journey. And I was madly in love with one of the boys then
because when I was young I remember going to the East Ham Granada and listening to the Beatles and screaming myself hoarse
they used to play it in the pub where I used to work in the East End
I had to do something from Phil Spector because that sound was so wonderful
I'm a great sort of mascot to the band and I've also worked with Brian May
I did a tour in Italy for three months of the Rocky Horror Show, and for the whole time the record that was played in every single disco... was Michael Jackson's thriller
Adam Faith, I feel, is a a lovely man and a very lovely actor. And I'm so sort of excited about working with him soon
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:50Do you sometimes think you might have been happy pulling pints in anonymity?
There may have been a moment in my youth where I thought I could have been, but I know most definitely now that no, I couldn't have been happy. I did work in a pub in the East End for a short period when I was at drama school, in between terms, and I loved it. It was it was fun. But um I couldn't have spent the rest of my life just doing that. You like being famous? I like being an actress, and I'm very proud that I've been recognised.
Presenter asks
1:57Can you bear being alone on a desert island?
I think I could, for a certain amount of time. I am quite used to living on my own, and being on my own, and I do like my own company. But I think if it was for too long I would crave somebody else to talk to. Or at least a telephone.
Presenter asks
7:05When did your interest in the stage begin?
Well, when I was very small, I used to go to a sort of dance troupe, the Ivy Travers dance troupe. And I had sort of, you know, the little um do you remember those sort of swimsuits with the elastic? They all sort of ruched together. Yes. I had a little pair of knickers and a little sort of bikini top that matched in bright red. And I used to do acrobatics and tap dancing and sing a bit, you know, mum made all the dresses. And I did that for quite a while. And then when I went to grammar school, it was very difficult to do bits of drama and to get an education, so that sort of fell by the wayside, and I concentrated much more on just, you know, being at school. I wasn't very good. I wasn't very academic. Ah, so when I left I did try various other jobs for about four years and then realized that actually that was the thing I wanted to do most, and so I went to drama school.
The keepsakes
The luxury
she said it's very important to have the frame for your back and for the sense of sort of home and security. So I would make my own mattress.
Presenter asks
11:55Were your tears real when you were acting?
Oh yes, all of them. I never used glycerin, I'm very proud to say. Never.
Presenter asks
15:54How does it feel to have your private relationships written about in the press?
It's a great shock, too, because I can remember before EastEnders picking up newspapers and reading about other people being exposed. And I'm sure that people now that read about me, you never understand what it feels like until it happens to you. And for me and for my mother and father, it was a huge shock to suddenly pick up the paper and find that people were talking quite intimately about things they either believed to be true or thought were true about you. It was very strange. Also, people that perhaps you'd had a very wonderful relationship with suddenly then talking about you. Or people that you didn't have a relationship with at all, talking about you most intimately. That was even more of a shock because you'd miss that one.
Presenter asks
28:00Do you feel you've deserved your success or just lucky?
I suppose a bit of both. I feel that I haven't cheated. I spent sixteen years earning my wings, if you like. But I do also feel incredibly lucky and privileged, because I am in a privileged position now. The public have given me a certain status which is beyond people's wildest dreams. I mean, to a lot of people and to the little girl I once was, it's sort of the life of Cinderella, really, of Eliza Doolittle, the girl who had not very much when she started, and now seemingly has the world at her feet. So I do feel incredibly lucky.
“I like being an actress, and I'm very proud that I've been recognised.”
“I never used glycerin, I'm very proud to say. Never.”
“you never understand what it feels like until it happens to you.”
“Me is me.”
“I feel that I haven't cheated. I spent sixteen years earning my wings, if you like.”