Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Versatile British actress best known for TV comedy in 'Acorn Antiques' and 'Dinner Ladies'.
On the island
Eight records
the first one is a song I've always adored called Is That All There Is? I love it sung by Peggy Lee, but um I've just recently heard Bette Midler sing it, and she tips the scales. I think she's wonderful.
Tiptoe Through the TulipsFavourite
We're going to have, just to make us laugh, we're going to have Darlene and Jonathan Edwards singing Tiptoe Through the Tulip.
The next one is for my father, uh Jimmy Shand and his reel.
Well, this is apparently um the saddest song Elvis Presley ever heard. Um and it's sung by a wonderful singer, one on a judge. Um and we're going to play the sort of towards the end of it. Apparently she went she asked to go into the recording studio by herself in the dark and just sing it by herself, and it's absolutely heartbreaking.
Well, this is my mother's favourite piece of music, and she played it on her violin.
A, It makes me roar with laughter. It's a part that I've played twice actually, but never as brilliantly as I can hear Barbara Wincer does it, and also because I'm mad about the film.
This is um my favourite opera with Maria Kallas in T playing Tosca and Tito Gobby. in the the end of the second act of Tosca.
Well I'll definitely be marching to this, it's the Royal Artillery Orchestra and The March of the Toys.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:47Had you done that usual star thing of the zone diet and down at the gym for an hour and a half every day for six months prior [to filming Calendar Girls]?
Yes, we all suddenly were crammed into the gym. I loathe gyms actually. We were all swimming at six o'clock in the morning.
Presenter asks
4:53You have worked so successfully with [Victoria Wood] over the years... Did you enjoy that [stage version of Acorn Antiques]?
Of course. Actually, at the beginning, because Victoria had been so clever in writing just a tiny little snippet each week... when she told me she was going to write a musical of sort of two and a half hours long, I must say I was a bit worried... But anyway, needless to say, it did, and I was absolutely thrilled to be part of it.
Presenter asks
14:22So you were eleven when you were told [you were not the right shape for ballet]. And what do they do? When you go to the auditions and so on, do they just say to you, 'no, I'm sorry, you don't make the grade'?
No, they would probably write to you... I found the letter in her writing desk... And they said, Yes, she's very good, but I'm afraid she's going to be too big. So I thought, oh, well, I'll I'll get small then.
The keepsakes
The book
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
Ebenezer Cobham Brewer
because it tells you all about the sort of mediaeval swear words you can use. I love dictionaries. The idea of a dictionary would be delicious.
The luxury
a cut glass crystal chandelier
Because it'll reflect all the sunshine and make this is what I'm imagining all patterns on the sand. It'll reflect the moon and the stars at night and keep me company. And then I can pick off a prism every now and again and lay it on some twigs and light a fire, you know, with the sun on the glass. And then I could sort of make rainbows with it.
Presenter asks
15:02Tell me about getting small [and your experience with anorexia].
Well, it was... a stupid thing to do, but I thought at a young age then I'll get small and I'll I won't eat so much... This anorexia thing. It's an awful thing, but you get yourself into it and only you can get yourself out of it.
Presenter asks
25:17Did you mine a little bit of that [anorexia] experience for the performance [in Polar Bears]?
I think I did actually, because I I remember my darling mother coming across... to visit me. Practically every day. It must have been ghastly for her... So, yes, I suppose I again I've based myself on my mother, and it it is difficult to to understand your child.
“I think really good work happens when people are all having a good time...”
“This anorexia thing. It's an awful thing, but you get yourself into it and only you can get yourself out of it.”
“I love the sort of gamble of life, not knowing what's happening next.”