Alison Steadman The Many Faces of...


Alison Steadman

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She is one of our most respected actors,

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equally at home in serious drama or comedy.

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I said to Mick, if we'd have had another son,

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I'd have loved him to be a homosexual.

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I honestly think there's nothing she can't do.

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She has created some of the most memorable characters in British television.

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We don't want to listen to classical music at the present moment.

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-Well, what do we want to listen to, then, Beverly?

-Demis Roussos.

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She'll always give you something that's spot on. Spot on.

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Throughout, she's conquered every role she's played

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and she's never backed away from making bold choices.

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'For the time, it was quite a big thing.'

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I remember being quite nervous about it.

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Her faultless performances continue to command praise

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from her every colleague.

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# Black smoke, crisp bags

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# Detergent in the river

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# Cigarette smoke It makes me choke

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# Litter makes me shiver. #

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Generous and a good laugh off-camera as well.

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You can't ask for more than that.

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Her credits read like a roll call of Britain's finest productions,

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but she has never made any grand career plan.

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I've never been one of those actors that have gone,

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"I've want to play this, if only I could play this role."

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I've never done that.

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Girls, girls, is he not a good father?

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And never to tell us, what a good joke! Ah-ha-ha!

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Oh, and now you shall all dance with Mr Bingley.

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But could her incompatible gift for comedy have overshadowed her qualities as a serious actor?

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There are other faces of Alison Steadman,

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and they are neglected, through ignorance and loss of memory.

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These are The Many Faces Of Alison Steadman.

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While I remember, will you sort your washing out, ASAP?

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I've got a white wash ready but it's got to go on tonight,

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-because your dad's run out of pants. You've had to go commando today, isn't that right, Mick?

-What?

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-You've got no drawers on.

-Mum!

-She's right, I'm flapping around like an elephant's trunk down here.

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-Dad!

-Elephant's truck, I should be so lucky!

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In 2007, the BBC launched a new sitcom -

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a long distance love affair, it brought two families together

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from the world of Barry, in Wales, and Billericay, in Essex.

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In its simplest form,

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a show like Gavin And Stacey is the most ordinary story in the world -

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a boy meets girl and they fall in love,

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and it's how their families and friends deal with that.

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Like most successful actors,

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Alison Steadman receives many scripts from hopeful writers.

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But after reading episode one of Gavin And Stacey,

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she was well up for the part.

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I knew I was playing Pamela, this was the character they wanted me to do.

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It just said, "Pamela is lying on the couch in her house in Billericay,

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"with cucumbers on her eyes, and Gavin comes home from work."

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Hi, Gav.

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-All right, Mum?

-No, not really. I'm absolutely shattered.

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-I've been crying all afternoon.

-How come?

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That Pet Rescue, there was this badger and all its litter died,

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and you could actually see the mother badger crying.

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I don't think badgers can cry, Mum.

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Nor did I, my little prince, but I know what I saw,

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and it's knocked me for six.

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I thought, "Yeah, I know this woman

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"and I know the writers know this woman."

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This isn't just a lady from Essex. There's a character there.

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The one thing I remember her saying when she called me was that

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she could hear the character's voice, and that's one of the most important things

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on whether she decides to do a job.

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Can she hear it? Can she hear who they are?

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When we was in school, Smithy thought Spain was in China,

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and he's been there twice.

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-That's stupid.

-You're lush, you are.

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Come here.

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KNOCK ON DOOR

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Just to say, your dad's out for the count

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and I'll put my ear plugs in, so let yourselves go.

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Don't worry about a thing. Night.

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I genuinely believe she is one of the best actresses we've ever had.

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Nothing is out of her limits. If someone called me and said,

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"She's going to play a serial killer," I'd think, "She'll be brilliant."

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If someone called me and said,

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"She's going to play a children's entertainer," I'd think, "She'll be brilliant."

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This fine acting, with an exquisite feel for comedy and character,

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has been honed and refined over a near faultless 40-year career.

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Long before her acting career began, a young Alison Steadman was captivated

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by what she and her family were watching on the box in the corner.

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When we were seven we got television,

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which, of course, then opened up a whole world of comediennes.

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Girls, take my advice.

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# If you find you're getting stout

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# You must cut rice pudding out. #

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LAUGHTER

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Comediennes like Hilda Baker, Joan Turner, Beryl Reid.

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# The whole world smiles with you

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# When you're...

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# When you're...

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# The whole world

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# With you... #

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All these wonderful women that were funny, that we all used to find funny,

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and I thought, "That's good, I'd like to do that."

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Hilda Baker, in particular, was my heroine.

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Where've you been, eh? I told you to be soon, didn't I?

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Be soon, I said! Be soon!

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I can see her now, you know, in her big coat with this big fur collar, and Cynthia would come on.

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"Be soon, I said, didn't I?" and all this.

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I just used to love her.

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And my mum would often say, "There's nothing on this telly, turn it off.

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"Come on, Alison, do Hilda Baker."

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This gift for mimicry, and an unerring ability to make her family laugh,

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led Alison to grab every opportunity to perform with particular gusto.

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When I was 12, when we read Romeo And Juliet, I acted out...

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I was playing Romeo and we had the books

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and we were acting it out in front of the class.

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"And with a kiss I die," and I threw myself on the floor, and all the class fell about.

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"Ah-ha-ha!"

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The teacher said, "No, no, Alison's playing the part."

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I thought, "Why would you not do that?" It says, "He dies." So, I died.

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It was while attending drama classes after school that

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one of Alison's teachers took her to meet some professional actors.

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It was there that Alison made up her mind to follow a life on the stage.

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One of the actors had been to East 15 Acting School,

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told me all about it, and it sounded just my place.

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East 15 Drama School was a bohemian enclave in east London,

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a drama school inspired by the pioneering work of Joan Littlewood, a giant of British theatre.

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It attracted students from across the full class divide.

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If I remember, there was a girl in my year who was a debutante

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and she was called... I forget, Caroline or something.

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She talked terribly well.

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And suddenly, there was this world opened up.

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It wasn't just my little suburbs of Liverpool, it was the world.

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We were at East 15 Acting School together, back in the late '60s.

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Its style of training was quite different to RADA -

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we did a lot of improvisation in our training.

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I think it was quite a left-wing based company,

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and in those days, you didn't get a lot of working class actors.

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It was all sort of RADA, and rather middle-class.

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But there, they started getting ordinary people.

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I remember my dear parents coming to my final show.

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Obviously, they hadn't been to the school and hadn't been to London.

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My mum was really dressed up in a beautiful suit and she had a hat on.

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The principal of the school, Margaret Berry, was quite, sort of, wild,

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she had long hair and an Afghan coat on, and she came kind of...

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My mum was sort of, "Is that the principal of the school?"

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My mum was really dressed up, you know?

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When Alison was in her second year,

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she encountered a young director at East 15 called Mike Leigh,

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whose very individual approach to acting would have a big effect on Alison.

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We used to do a lot of improvisation as an exercise,

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but we certainly didn't perform it as a finished piece of work,

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which is what he did with the year above me, and I love that.

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I got chatting to him there, and I realised that here was someone who talked the same language.

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On leaving East 15, Alison quickly found work in rep theatre.

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After rewarding spells in Lincoln and Bolton, she got an opportunity

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to audition for one of the most exciting theatres in Britain.

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Central to launching the careers of some of our finest actors,

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the Everyman Theatre would play a significant role in Alison's education.

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The Liverpool Everyman had a terrific reputation for being a really progressive theatre.

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They did new work, work that was associated with the city.

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And so, I auditioned for Alan Dossor.

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First thing that Alan did, our first morning, was put us on a coach,

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took us to the Ford factory and gave us a tour of the factory, with all the workers.

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All the workers going, "All right, from the theatre, hey? Oh, great."

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He then said, "These are the people, this is Liverpool, this is one of the main industries.

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"We are here, performing for this city, for these people, and we're doing plays for them, about them."

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And suddenly, it was a different way of thinking.

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It was an attempt to contact the same audiences

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as were going to music concerts, to films.

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They didn't want to see old music or old concerts,

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they wanted to see what was new.

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Alison was acting alongside Jonathan Pryce in the play, The Foursome, directed by Alan Dossor.

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In the audience was a face from the past, Mike Leigh,

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and he happened to be casting for his next film.

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Mike came over and saw that, and from that,

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gave myself and Polly Hemingway a job on telly. We were, "Yes!"

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-Do you like the kitchen, June?

-Oh, yes, it's lovely.

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-Do you like this estate?

-Yes, it seems very nice.

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I like it because every house is that bit individual,

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do you know what I mean?

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They're all a little bit different. Makes it more select.

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See that wall, not all the houses have got those,

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some are just the through room, but I like the two rooms myself,

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and if anyone should break in the back, they can't get upstairs.

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-Edward, don't chew your fingers, please.

-All right!

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It was exciting to be on telly, and particularly to work with Mike,

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improvising and looking at the background of the character,

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you know, and their environment, and what has made the person the person that they are.

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Working with Mike, I think it was detailed

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so that by the time you came in front of camera,

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you virtually knew the breakfast cereal that your character liked.

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With almost no break in her work since leaving drama school,

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Alison Steadman was now about to enter a uniquely creative period in her career.

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After Hard Labour, her subsequent work would showcase her formidable range,

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that included a very notable comic touch.

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We know our readers are interested in other people's past times.

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-I'm sure they'd like to learn something about your unusual hobby.

-It's Mrs...?

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-Err, Miss.

-Both Misses.

-Never married.

-Shy of men.

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Always have been.

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Both spinster ladies.

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I see. When you first started...

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Never married, because men get full of desires.

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Desires and lust.

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-Full of lust, men are.

-Yes.

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Now if we could...

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-Lust.

-Desires.

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To get your first job as an actor is the best feeling ever, and...

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from then on, you're just grateful every time another job comes up, you know?

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They've got hot breath, and all, and they pant with it.

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Grips you hard and fast, and you can't fight free.

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-And they'd be panting away in a frenzy.

-A frenzy!

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Huge thighs, men have got. Great, huge thighs.

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Ooh-hoo-hoo! Thighs, men have got!

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Could you please show us some of your musical boxes?

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What flaming musical boxes?

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They whip themselves into a frenzy of passion!

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Ladies, please...

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The panting and the hot breath.

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It's too much for us spinster ladies.

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-Shy of men.

-Always have been.

-Get his shirt off!

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APPLAUSE

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Beyond comedy, Alison was also capable of excelling in serious drama.

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Her next two roles would demonstrate that she was not afraid to tackle difficult subjects.

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In 1974, she appeared in a play that called for British TV's first lesbian kiss.

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I feel all lovely and safe and warm.

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Good.

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Turn the light out in a minute.

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I'm shattered, all of a sudden. God, I hate duty, it's so boring.

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I hate being bored.

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For the time, it was quite a big thing,

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and I remember being quite nervous about it.

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But the director we had, Peter Gill, handled it very well and didn't make a big thing of it.

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And he said to us, I remember, on our very first day,

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"Don't think of this as a play about two lesbian women,

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"think of it as a love story between two people, that's what it is.

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"It's a love story that's gone wrong."

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Will you miss me?

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Yeah.

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Alison's next role confronted another subject

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that was uncomfortable territory for television.

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It also demonstrated her continuing development as an actor

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of significant power and truth.

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Through The Night was a television play by Trevor Griffiths,

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about a woman who has a mastectomy.

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It was a very serious and profound dramatic piece,

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and Alison played the central character.

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At that time, Alison must have been about 26, 27.

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What you crying for, love?

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They've taken it off, Joe.

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SHE SOBS

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I thought you were just in for tests, love.

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I mean, you weren't even ill!

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It was a hugely important piece of television.

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It caused quite a controversy,

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and Alison's profound performance was taken very seriously,

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and I think...

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what I feel about it is that it's a side of Alison Steadman,

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one of Alison Steadman's faces that has kind of,

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sadly, in a way, got lost.

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Nobody says anything.

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They treat you as if you're already dead.

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Specialist, he never even looked at me, let alone spoke.

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I know it was serious. I'm not a child.

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You don't cut a thing like that off for nothing.

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It sounds strange now, but breast cancer was then something

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that women didn't want to admit to, or didn't want to...

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if they found a lump in their breast,

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they would try and ignore it and hope it would go away.

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Dame Flora Robson wrote to her

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and congratulated her on her performance.

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You know, that's the level of it.

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Is this the Alison Steadman everybody knows?

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Sadly not.

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By 1976, Alison and Mike Leigh were together

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in a marriage that would last 28 years.

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On screen, their next two collaborations

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would result in two high points in British television.

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Still a young actor at 30, Alison Steadman's place

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among the finest of character actors would soon be assured.

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With a number of significant productions already to her name,

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Alison was about to realise the full breadth of her substantial range.

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# "I wonder where we'll go," she said

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# I wonder where we'll go

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# "I'll look around the world," he said

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# "I'll search both high and low"

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# The prettiest is Dorset

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# It has so many charms

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# We'll walk across the hills and dales

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# And look at all the farms. #

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-Can't sing that, Keith.

-Why not?

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It doesn't sound right.

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How better to sing...

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# We'll walk across the hills and dales

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# Linking each other's arms. #

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That doesn't scan.

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Nuts In May was originally a stage play, upstairs at the Royal Court.

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It was called Wholesome Glory,

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and there were three characters in it -

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Keith and Candice Marie, and his brother,

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played by the late, great Geoff Hutchings.

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And that's when Keith and Candice Marie

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first saw the light of day, really.

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-Important thing, of course, is to maintain a dietary balance.

-Mmm.

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We're having our protein in the beans, aren't we?

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That's right. Body-building proteins.

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We had cheese at lunchtime,

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-and we're having haricot beans for our evening meal.

-Mmm.

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It was very successful.

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People kind of laughed and hid behind their hands watching it,

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you know, because they were by turns amused and appalled.

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They used to squirm.

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-Are we having salad for lunch?

-That's right.

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-What's the treat?

-Guess.

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-Raw mushrooms.

-That's right.

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Mmm, my favourite. And onion and nut roast for supper?

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Boiled jacket potatoes.

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BOTH: Vitamin C in their skins.

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Yoghurt to follow and cocoa at bedtime.

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I think I was much more relaxed on that film.

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We had a long, long preparation period, and we were down in Dorset.

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I was more experienced by then

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and perhaps more sure of that character.

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Perhaps I liked the character more, it was more fun.

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Keith!

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-Yes!

-Isn't it lovely?

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-Can you imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago?

-Yes!

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All the sort of kings and queens walking about in all their fineries.

0:19:540:19:58

Yes.

0:19:580:19:59

And eating great bowls of fruit and luscious grapes.

0:19:590:20:03

And drinking wine out of golden goblets. Must have been lovely.

0:20:030:20:06

You don't have a script when you start, you know,

0:20:060:20:10

so you trust Mike to a great extent in terms of the process,

0:20:100:20:16

and it's by turns slightly scary -

0:20:160:20:19

and it's not for everybody -

0:20:190:20:22

it's slightly scary, but also wonderfully creative,

0:20:220:20:25

because you get to do more as an actor,

0:20:250:20:28

in a way, than you do normally.

0:20:280:20:29

MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO

0:20:290:20:31

We'll have to tell him, Keith.

0:20:340:20:36

Dear Candice Marie, you know,

0:20:360:20:38

she's so sweet and sort of floaty and everything,

0:20:380:20:40

but in their relationship,

0:20:400:20:43

she really kind of tweaks him.

0:20:430:20:46

ANNOUNCER ON RADIO

0:20:460:20:48

It's not fair, is it?

0:20:500:20:51

"Keith, did you see that? Did you see what he did?"

0:20:540:20:56

I don't know how you can sit there and read books, Keith,

0:20:560:20:59

with all this row going on.

0:20:590:21:01

MUSIC CONTINUES ON RADIO

0:21:010:21:03

Well, if you don't tell him, Keith, I'm going to have to go over myself.

0:21:040:21:07

Keith!

0:21:090:21:10

'For him, it's a bit like Lady Macbeth, really,'

0:21:100:21:13

because he's put in a position where he's got nowhere to turn.

0:21:130:21:16

He's got to do that confrontation,

0:21:160:21:19

because, you know,

0:21:190:21:21

there's nothing else he can do.

0:21:210:21:24

-Put the stick down.

-Leave it.

-You want a fight, I'll...

0:21:240:21:26

-Look, be told!

-You touch me, I'll bleeding kill you.

0:21:260:21:29

Now, look, I don't want to fight you,

0:21:290:21:30

I just want to tell you that you shouldn't...

0:21:300:21:32

-Keith!

-Look, keep away from me!

0:21:320:21:34

I just want you to stop making the fire and breaking those branches.

0:21:340:21:37

Come on, Finger, leave it alone.

0:21:370:21:39

-Come on, hit me! Come on!

-No.

0:21:390:21:40

No, I'm not going to.

0:21:400:21:42

Get away from me! I'll knock your head off!

0:21:420:21:44

-Get back, I'm warning you!

-You touch me, I'll kill you!

0:21:440:21:47

I'll knock your head off! I'll knock your head off!

0:21:470:21:51

When you leave those characters behind,

0:21:510:21:54

it's hard to imagine that they're over.

0:21:540:21:57

I kind of think they're still living somewhere,

0:21:570:21:59

Keith and Candice Marie are still pottering around somewhere,

0:21:590:22:02

you know, in their nutty kind of way.

0:22:020:22:04

# Black smoke, crisp bags

0:22:040:22:07

# Detergent in the river

0:22:070:22:10

# Cigarette smoke, it makes me choke

0:22:100:22:12

# Litter makes me shiver... #

0:22:120:22:15

'We got on very well.'

0:22:170:22:18

'She's a wonderfully warm and joyful person, really,'

0:22:180:22:24

and I think audiences respond to that.

0:22:240:22:26

I think they can sense that.

0:22:260:22:29

Nuts In May achieved classic status

0:22:300:22:32

for featuring the comic eco-frenzy of Keith and Candice Marie.

0:22:320:22:36

But it's the beautifully drawn characters

0:22:360:22:38

and faultless performances that have seen it endure.

0:22:380:22:41

# Oh, love to love you, baby... #

0:22:420:22:46

Alison's next appearance on television

0:22:460:22:48

would see her create a monster.

0:22:480:22:50

# Oh, love to love you, baby... #

0:22:500:22:55

The role of Beverly in Abigail's Party

0:22:550:22:57

proved that Alison was the complete character actor.

0:22:570:23:01

# When you're laying so close to me

0:23:010:23:03

# There's no place I'd rather you be than with me... #

0:23:030:23:06

This woman was always trying

0:23:080:23:10

to break out of the world that she was in,

0:23:100:23:13

move somewhere else, move further forward,

0:23:130:23:17

and for her, moving further forward would be to be a catwalk model,

0:23:170:23:21

'so even when she was on her own,'

0:23:210:23:24

'in order to mix herself a drink she puts some music on,'

0:23:240:23:27

'and kind of enjoys that role-play, so that when her guests arrived,'

0:23:270:23:31

'all the thing of,

0:23:310:23:33

'"Would you like a little drink, "a little top-up?" and all that'

0:23:330:23:35

'was all kind of...her presentation of herself, you know.'

0:23:350:23:39

# Oh, love to love you, baby... #

0:23:390:23:43

The play was centred around an awkward suburban soiree

0:23:430:23:46

with an underlying tension brought about

0:23:460:23:48

by the overbearing Beverly.

0:23:480:23:50

Who'd like some olives?

0:23:520:23:54

-Not for me. Ange?

-No, thanks.

0:23:540:23:56

No? Tony, do you like olives?

0:23:560:23:58

-No, I don't.

-No, they're horrible, aren't they?

-Yes.

0:23:580:24:01

Told you nobody'd like olives, Laurence.

0:24:010:24:03

No, not nobody, no, Beverly.

0:24:030:24:05

I like olives,

0:24:050:24:07

and that's 25% of the assembled company.

0:24:070:24:11

The choice of people who were going to be at his little soiree

0:24:110:24:15

wasn't his choice.

0:24:150:24:16

That was all down to Beverly.

0:24:160:24:19

So if they were mismatched, it was nothing to do with Laurence.

0:24:190:24:23

It was all Beverly's fault.

0:24:230:24:25

'He would have invited the lady next door, the more middle class lady.'

0:24:250:24:28

-Sue, do you like olives?

-Yes.

0:24:280:24:32

Fine! I'll get you some.

0:24:320:24:35

Thank you.

0:24:350:24:37

-You've got a friend for life there, Sue.

-Oh?

0:24:370:24:40

-None of us like olives, you see.

-Oh, I see.

0:24:400:24:43

No, I can't stand them. It's those stuffed olives, Sue.

0:24:430:24:45

You know the little red bit that sticks out?

0:24:450:24:47

Well, it reminds me of a little...

0:24:470:24:49

Well, I'm not going to say what it reminds me of! But it puts me off.

0:24:490:24:53

I can't eat them.

0:24:530:24:55

She is a completely truthful actor.

0:24:550:24:57

She has the ability to live in the moment,

0:24:570:25:02

and she acts as only an intelligent actor can,

0:25:020:25:07

in a way that really gets to grips

0:25:070:25:10

with the meaning of the moment as well as its resident truth.

0:25:100:25:14

Darling?

0:25:140:25:16

Why don't you dance with Sue?

0:25:160:25:19

I really don't think Sue wants to dance,

0:25:190:25:22

-thanks very much,

-darling.

0:25:220:25:23

Then why don't you ask her, Laurence?

0:25:230:25:26

-Sue, would you like to dance?

-No, thank you.

-There you are.

0:25:310:25:35

Sue doesn't want to dance.

0:25:350:25:36

Of course she wants to dance!

0:25:360:25:38

Now, go on, Sue, have a little dance with Laurence.

0:25:380:25:41

Go on, enjoy yourself,

0:25:410:25:42

have a little dance, go on.

0:25:420:25:44

Would you like to, Sue?

0:25:440:25:46

All right.

0:25:460:25:48

'Her performance in that...'

0:25:480:25:50

there was such fun.

0:25:500:25:53

It's such comedy,

0:25:530:25:56

such amazing skill,

0:25:560:25:59

and such bravery in that.

0:25:590:26:05

Because the thing about being an actor,

0:26:050:26:08

when you're playing a part who's unpopular or irritating,

0:26:080:26:12

'and be so vile and sensitive

0:26:120:26:16

'and so vulnerable and despicably irritating in the same vein,

0:26:160:26:22

'it's quite an achievement.'

0:26:220:26:25

With 16 million people watching,

0:26:250:26:27

Abigail's Party was an enormous success.

0:26:270:26:30

Alison became synonymous with her character,

0:26:320:26:34

and this became her defining role.

0:26:340:26:37

Want to sit down?

0:26:380:26:41

Yeah?

0:26:410:26:42

Along with the accolades,

0:26:420:26:43

there were plenty of offers to cash in on the success.

0:26:430:26:47

'I did get...a lot of parts came in,'

0:26:470:26:51

and people wanted me to do adverts as Beverly,

0:26:510:26:54

advertise this, advertise that,

0:26:540:26:57

and I did resist all that,

0:26:570:27:00

because I didn't want to cheapen that role,

0:27:000:27:04

I didn't want to then exploit it in a wrong way,

0:27:040:27:07

and I'm not criticising anyone else

0:27:070:27:09

for exploiting roles that they've played.

0:27:090:27:12

They can do what they want, it's entirely up to them.

0:27:120:27:16

But for me, it was so special,

0:27:160:27:18

I wanted to keep it there.

0:27:180:27:21

'Beverly did her a huge number of favours.'

0:27:220:27:25

I'm so proud of Beverly, and working with her on it,

0:27:250:27:27

on Abigail's Party all those years ago, was a fantastic experience.

0:27:270:27:31

And we knew we were on to something.

0:27:310:27:33

I mean, no-one could have anticipated that Abigail's Party

0:27:330:27:36

would become the kind of cult classic it apparently is,

0:27:360:27:40

but nevertheless, we knew we were striking some kind of gold.

0:27:400:27:45

As the '70s drew to a close,

0:27:460:27:48

Alison Steadman had built up an enviable body of work,

0:27:480:27:51

with enough critical praise

0:27:510:27:53

to satisfy even the most ambitious of actors.

0:27:530:27:55

But Alison was only beginning.

0:27:570:27:59

The next decade would see her reputation

0:28:000:28:02

continue to grow on stage and screen.

0:28:020:28:05

At the dawn of a new broadcasting era,

0:28:060:28:09

Alison appeared in one of Channel 4's first films.

0:28:090:28:13

Duckworth!

0:28:130:28:14

What the hell are you doing?

0:28:140:28:17

Nothing, Miss.

0:28:170:28:19

Out! All of you.

0:28:190:28:21

Please, Miss, I was just getting my homework.

0:28:220:28:24

All of you!

0:28:240:28:25

Out! Go!

0:28:250:28:27

Beasts of the field!

0:28:270:28:28

Out!

0:28:280:28:30

-I just...

-Not you, beast of the field.

0:28:300:28:33

And she excelled on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company

0:28:340:28:38

in a prestigious staging of Moliere's Tartuffe.

0:28:380:28:41

What are you doing?

0:28:410:28:43

I'm feeling your dress.

0:28:430:28:46

Oh.

0:28:460:28:47

Isn't it silky?

0:28:470:28:49

Oh, please don't.

0:28:500:28:52

I am very ticklish.

0:28:520:28:53

Good workmanship.

0:28:530:28:55

It's wonderful, the things they do these days.

0:28:550:28:59

My word!

0:28:590:29:01

I've never seen anything like that.

0:29:010:29:03

I'm sure!

0:29:030:29:04

But can we get back to the point?

0:29:040:29:06

'It was a terrific piece.'

0:29:080:29:09

Absolutely wonderful.

0:29:090:29:11

To be on the Barbican stage, it was scary,

0:29:110:29:14

but oh, God, it was a great experience.

0:29:140:29:17

Wonderful.

0:29:170:29:18

Great actors get the great parts,

0:29:220:29:24

and 1985 would mark yet another career high.

0:29:240:29:27

Dennis Potter's distinctive and often surreal dramas

0:29:300:29:34

were in marked contrast to the gritty realism of Mike Leigh,

0:29:340:29:38

but Alison could excel in both,

0:29:380:29:39

and again played a significant part

0:29:390:29:42

in creating another milestone in British TV drama.

0:29:420:29:45

'I was lucky enough to be in Singing Detective,'

0:29:470:29:50

which I think is an absolutely stunning piece of work.

0:29:500:29:54

I'm not talking about my performance,

0:29:540:29:56

but as a whole,

0:29:560:29:58

I think it's a real kind of radical...

0:29:580:30:03

'step into the unknown.'

0:30:030:30:05

# ..That all the other fellows cannot steal... #

0:30:090:30:11

The Singing Detective garnered huge critical acclaim

0:30:110:30:14

and won countless awards.

0:30:140:30:17

It was Dennis Potter's masterpiece and boasted a stellar cast,

0:30:180:30:22

who delivered extraordinary performances.

0:30:220:30:25

It featured many of Dennis Potter's favourite motifs,

0:30:260:30:29

as he weaved a complex web of fantasy, reality and flashbacks.

0:30:290:30:34

I can remember reading it, first of all, and thinking,

0:30:370:30:40

"I don't understand a word of this!"

0:30:400:30:42

I was really confused, cos I was thinking it was this, or it was that.

0:30:420:30:47

It wasn't till we got to the read-through

0:30:470:30:49

and we heard the whole thing and all the actors playing

0:30:490:30:52

the different characters that it began to bed itself in, and then,

0:30:520:30:56

of course, when you shoot it,

0:30:560:30:58

you are completely just locked into your own thing.

0:30:580:31:01

As well as the difficulty of playing two characters,

0:31:010:31:04

Alison Steadman would also find herself in an unfamiliar

0:31:040:31:07

and uncomfortable position

0:31:070:31:09

as the object of attack for one controversial scene in the series.

0:31:090:31:14

My character, Sun, who was portrayed, I think, as 11. 10 or 11.

0:31:150:31:21

He was watching his mother having sex with this stranger, in the tree.

0:31:210:31:26

That was the main thing of it.

0:31:260:31:29

Of course, the boy wasn't there on the day of filming

0:31:290:31:32

and anyway I think he was 14 anyway, though he looked quite young.

0:31:320:31:36

He wasn't there, of course, but it looked as though he was because

0:31:360:31:39

you see the shot of him in the tree

0:31:390:31:41

and then he looks down and there's the shot of his mum.

0:31:410:31:44

And a lot of people got upset about that - particularly

0:31:440:31:47

Norman Tebbit, Mary Whitehouse and various people, and that's their

0:31:470:31:51

prerogative but it did overshadow the piece a little bit, for a time.

0:31:510:31:56

We've received over 200 letters about The Singing Detective,

0:31:560:31:59

mostly like this from Valerie Siggins of Cleckheaton.

0:31:590:32:02

Mrs EM Johnstone of Darlington says:

0:32:060:32:08

But Paul Thompson of Shrovesbury asks:

0:32:120:32:14

About a year later, I was at some do and this journalist said,

0:32:190:32:24

"Well, Singing Detective was very popular, wasn't it, Miss Steadman?"

0:32:240:32:29

I said, "Oh, yes it was." I was just walking in.

0:32:290:32:31

He said, "I bet you thought,

0:32:310:32:32

'Cor, that's one in the eye for Mary Whitehouse, then'? "

0:32:320:32:35

I just said, "Yeah, whatever." Walked in.

0:32:350:32:38

Next day in the paper,

0:32:380:32:39

"Alison Steadman says 'One In The Eye for Mary Whitehouse' ".

0:32:390:32:42

Of course it sounded like I had said that and I hadn't. So, you learn.

0:32:420:32:47

Building characters through improvisation had been a key

0:32:510:32:53

feature of Alison's work with Mike Lee.

0:32:530:32:56

It was this talent that made Alison so desirable for directors

0:32:580:33:01

and she never disappointed.

0:33:010:33:04

In 1990, she was uncanny in her accuracy

0:33:060:33:09

when asked to play a tough-as-teak Fleet Street hack.

0:33:090:33:13

So, where are you going out with this mystery man, then?

0:33:140:33:17

Just out, darling.

0:33:190:33:21

-I'm going out for a curry.

-Are you?

-Yeah, I'm going down Brick Lane

0:33:220:33:26

with a few of the lads. Have a bit of a laugh. You should come!

0:33:260:33:29

Curry down Brick Lane, darling,

0:33:290:33:31

with your farting friends isn't exactly a turn-on.

0:33:310:33:33

It was all going to be improvised...

0:33:340:33:38

and so I said, "OK. Right."

0:33:380:33:42

There's nothing like being terrified to make you work really hard.

0:33:420:33:46

So I sort of gritted my teeth and I said, "Right.

0:33:460:33:50

"I want all the research" you know.

0:33:500:33:52

"I want all the help I can get.

0:33:520:33:54

"I want contacts with all these newspapers,

0:33:540:33:56

"I want to visit the newspapers,

0:33:560:33:58

"talk to journalists" and I just sort of...

0:33:580:34:00

really went in at the deep end and had a whale of a time

0:34:000:34:04

chatting to journalists, erm, about their job.

0:34:040:34:08

Interviewing them, if you like, about their work.

0:34:080:34:11

Going to newspapers, being on the floor, watching them,

0:34:110:34:14

how their lives work, you know?

0:34:140:34:15

And building up a picture, and then gradually building up a character

0:34:150:34:19

of this columnist on this newspaper.

0:34:190:34:22

There's something I've got to ask you,

0:34:220:34:24

cos everybody wants to know.

0:34:240:34:26

I want to know because I've never been to one,

0:34:260:34:28

and that's what is an acid house party like and have you been to one?

0:34:280:34:32

Oh, I've been invited a couple of times,

0:34:320:34:34

but I've never taken up the offer to actually go.

0:34:340:34:37

So you've actually been invited to an acid house party,

0:34:370:34:40

-but you've actually said, "No, I'm not going to go."

-That's right.

0:34:400:34:43

-What do your mates say? Are they full of drugs and cocaine...?

-Yeah.

0:34:430:34:46

-There's a lot of that.

-Crack and all that? Yeah. Right.

0:34:460:34:49

I think she certainly goes for it in the characters that she does.

0:34:490:34:53

I mean, as a worker, as an artist, she's certainly bold

0:34:530:34:57

and courageous in the actual work she does.

0:34:570:35:00

'She really can turn herself inside out

0:35:000:35:02

'and upside down and be different people.'

0:35:020:35:05

Alison's meticulous research paid off

0:35:050:35:07

and she could pass as a seasoned journalist.

0:35:070:35:09

But she was on edge when the director insisted

0:35:090:35:12

on blurring the line between fact and fiction.

0:35:120:35:14

Up until then, in my fictitious job,

0:35:160:35:19

I'd been interviewing actors who were in the film

0:35:190:35:22

and he said, I want you to interview

0:35:220:35:25

"someone for real." And he said, "we've got Edwina Currie for you."

0:35:250:35:30

And I thought, "Oh, no. Not a politician! Please!

0:35:300:35:33

How do you actually get on with Margaret Thatcher these days?

0:35:330:35:36

You has a good relationship in the past, but since

0:35:360:35:40

your resignation, do you actually have a good relationship with her?

0:35:400:35:44

Well, as I think I've explained in the book,

0:35:440:35:46

junior ministers don't see the Prime Minister all that much.

0:35:460:35:49

That was quite scary because here was a real person

0:35:490:35:53

and she was a politician, so she's pretty canny.

0:35:530:35:56

Do you see yourself as a future prime minister?

0:35:560:35:59

Perhaps before I answer that, I should say I've got a car waiting.

0:35:590:36:03

We've got two or three minutes, so if you want...

0:36:030:36:05

Maybe I could have these last two or three minutes?

0:36:050:36:08

What I want to do is move this...

0:36:080:36:09

I've got two more questions to ask Mrs Currie

0:36:090:36:11

and then you can have all the time you want.

0:36:110:36:14

You've been sitting here drinking tea and I haven't had any decent chances

0:36:140:36:17

I'm telling you I've got two more questions.

0:36:170:36:20

I want to get some decent shots now and I want to move this table.

0:36:200:36:23

Just edge it out the way, like that.

0:36:230:36:26

When I've seen Alison do, er, straighter stuff,

0:36:260:36:29

it's just still been lovely.

0:36:290:36:32

I think because you're either a good actor or you're not, I think,

0:36:320:36:35

and because you've either got the eye on the truth or not,

0:36:350:36:38

and putting the story above you and not the other way, you know,

0:36:380:36:43

and not your cheekbones above everything else, you know,

0:36:430:36:45

and I think she's really got that.

0:36:450:36:47

Alison's impeccable work continued, whatever the role.

0:36:490:36:53

In 1992, when she worked again with Mike Leigh in the film Life Is Sweet,

0:36:560:37:00

she played Wendy, a character every bit as memorable

0:37:000:37:03

as Candice Marie and Beverly.

0:37:030:37:06

A working mum struggling to make ends meet as well as nursing

0:37:070:37:10

family and friends through their individual crises,

0:37:100:37:14

Alison delivered another brilliantly drawn performance.

0:37:140:37:18

-What you get now?

-A shirt.

-This it?

-Yeah.

-Can I have a look?

0:37:180:37:22

If you want to.

0:37:220:37:23

-Oh, it's nice.

-Yeah, it's all right, innit?

-Yeah.

0:37:230:37:27

-Why do you always get a man's?

-Cos I like 'em.

-Suits me, thanks a lot.

0:37:270:37:31

-Funny man(!)

-It's not for me?

-No, it's not for you.

-Oh. Shame.

0:37:310:37:36

Thought me luck had changed.

0:37:360:37:38

You should get a nice blouse. Short sleeves. Show yourself off a bit.

0:37:380:37:41

-Shut up.

-Well.

0:37:410:37:43

Don't listen to her.

0:37:430:37:45

That character of Wendy, like a lot of women,

0:37:470:37:50

she is the kind of rock of the family.

0:37:500:37:53

She's had these twin little girls and she's brought them up,

0:37:530:37:56

little frilly dresses and, you know, little angels,

0:37:560:37:59

and ended up with one kind of quite butch daughter

0:37:590:38:03

who's a plumber and one who's, um, you know,

0:38:030:38:06

got real sort of serious health problems

0:38:060:38:08

and bulimic and has lost their way.

0:38:080:38:12

-Hey, Andy, guess what?

-What?

0:38:120:38:14

Woke up this morning, I felt a little bit wotsit, you know,

0:38:140:38:17

and I thought to myself, "Ooh, blimey. "Don't tell me I'm in the family way!"

0:38:170:38:21

What's the 'family way' supposed to mean?

0:38:210:38:24

-You know what it means.

-No, I know what pregnant means.

0:38:240:38:27

-You don't half talk some rubbish.

-Well, silly little sayings.

0:38:270:38:30

-Oh, shut up.

-You shut up.

0:38:300:38:32

I was lying there, Andy, and I thought to myself,

0:38:320:38:35

"Oh, I'd love another little a baby."

0:38:350:38:38

You're too old to have a baby.

0:38:380:38:39

-Of course not!

-You may not be, I am.

0:38:390:38:42

You wouldn't see me for dust, I tell you.

0:38:420:38:43

Oh, don't, Andy. Don't be rotten.

0:38:430:38:46

Typical. Typical man.

0:38:460:38:48

-Oh, shut up. What do you know about men?

-Enough.

0:38:480:38:51

Wendy and Andy were such giving people,

0:38:510:38:54

um, and, um...

0:38:540:38:57

they...they were triers in life.

0:38:570:39:00

They worked hard in life to get somewhere

0:39:000:39:03

and sometimes it wasn't successful, but they really gave it a go

0:39:030:39:07

and were incredibly optimistic people.

0:39:070:39:10

Er, and I think that both Alison and Jim

0:39:100:39:14

played those characters superbly.

0:39:140:39:16

You totally believed in their marriage and that they made each other laugh

0:39:160:39:21

and they were really a proper little unit.

0:39:210:39:24

Me and Jim got really close filming that

0:39:240:39:28

and even now when we see each other,

0:39:280:39:30

there's an unwritten thing that we've got that closeness between us.

0:39:300:39:35

HE LAUGHS

0:39:350:39:37

Come on, you bastards! I'm open!

0:39:390:39:42

The scene in the restaurant, oh, I remember filming that.

0:39:420:39:45

That was just hilarious.

0:39:450:39:47

I mean it was quite hard not to laugh sometimes, you know.

0:39:470:39:51

That is enough.

0:39:510:39:52

No more.

0:39:520:39:54

Right?

0:39:540:39:55

Because you're being a naughty boy.

0:39:550:39:57

-Marry me, Wendy.

-What?

0:39:590:40:01

I want to marry you.

0:40:010:40:04

Now, stop it!

0:40:040:40:06

Aubrey, stop it! Get off!

0:40:060:40:10

I love you!

0:40:100:40:11

(SHE LAUGHS) He's going, "Wendy, I love you."

0:40:110:40:15

"Yeah, I know you do. I know you do.

0:40:150:40:16

"Get up! Get up!" You know, and all this!

0:40:160:40:18

It was just hilarious!

0:40:180:40:20

-What are you doing?

-I'm going to give him the suit.

0:40:200:40:22

Leave your trousers on, Aubrey!

0:40:220:40:24

-Aubrey, leave your trousers on.

-No!

0:40:240:40:26

Behave yourself. Leave your trousers on!

0:40:260:40:28

'I had to strip off and say, "Aw...I love you, I love you, I love you!"'

0:40:280:40:32

"Give my trousers to your husband.

0:40:320:40:35

"He's a poor man! He's a poor man!"

0:40:350:40:38

CRASHING

0:40:380:40:40

Life Is Sweet does, you know,

0:40:440:40:46

give Alison the opportunity to be light, comic, engaging.

0:40:460:40:52

But when it comes to it, as you were saying,

0:40:520:40:57

real, moving, grounded.

0:40:570:41:00

Great acting.

0:41:030:41:05

Blimey days, Nicola. Look at the state of you.

0:41:050:41:08

You're sitting there like there's a grey cloud over you.

0:41:080:41:11

It's like the sun's gone in.

0:41:110:41:13

You've got no energy cos you don't eat your dinners.

0:41:140:41:17

-You've got no joy in your soul.

-How do you know?

0:41:170:41:20

I know, because you've given up.

0:41:200:41:22

Because you're not happy. That's how I know.

0:41:220:41:25

'Mike will set up a situation'

0:41:250:41:27

in order to facilitate those sort of moments.

0:41:270:41:32

And he's not sitting there saying,

0:41:320:41:33

"Now I want you to do this touching scene,

0:41:330:41:35

"where she breaks down and says, 'You don't love me,'

0:41:350:41:38

"and she does this," you know?

0:41:380:41:40

It's not like that at all.

0:41:400:41:42

He sets up improvisations in order to allow those moments to happen.

0:41:430:41:48

I don't know what I want to do yet!

0:41:480:41:51

Oh, don't you? Well, you had your chance, Nicola, when you were 17.

0:41:510:41:54

When you were at the college doing your three A-levels.

0:41:540:41:57

You were going great, and then suddenly, you stopped.

0:41:570:41:59

You stopped eating, you stopped everything.

0:41:590:42:01

You ended up in the hospital.

0:42:010:42:03

Well, you put me there. I didn't want to go!

0:42:030:42:06

Oh, for God's sake, Nicola! You were at death's door!

0:42:060:42:08

You were trying to control my life!

0:42:080:42:10

-You were dying!

-No, I wasn't!

0:42:100:42:12

-Yes, you were!

-I'd know if I was dying!

0:42:120:42:15

Dr Harris told us you had two weeks to live!

0:42:150:42:17

You didn't know that, did you?

0:42:220:42:24

'It was a difficult scene.

0:42:250:42:27

'I mean, we'd improvised it'

0:42:270:42:28

in various different forms.

0:42:280:42:31

And, you know, they were a hard improvisations because,

0:42:310:42:37

like I say, Nicola was in such a tunnel

0:42:370:42:43

that she really couldn't see out of that.

0:42:430:42:46

And so to be told the truth

0:42:460:42:49

was really not something that was easy for her

0:42:490:42:53

as a character, as a person, to take on.

0:42:530:42:55

-Come and have a little cup of tea.

-No. I don't want one.

0:42:550:42:59

Come on, do it for your dad. He's been asking for you.

0:43:000:43:03

-Has he?

-Yeah.

0:43:040:43:07

Sitting there with his tongue hanging out.

0:43:070:43:09

You know what he's like. He wants a bit of tea and sympathy.

0:43:090:43:13

I just want to talk to you.

0:43:130:43:15

Do you?

0:43:170:43:18

Along with the plaudits, Alison won awards for Life Is Sweet.

0:43:220:43:26

Although one of Britain's most established performers,

0:43:270:43:31

she was aware that her career was approaching a significant,

0:43:310:43:34

and often unwelcome, benchmark.

0:43:340:43:37

'When you get in your 40s, if you're a woman,'

0:43:370:43:39

it's quite hard to get through that.

0:43:390:43:41

Most jobs seem to be for 20 to 30 year-olds on telly, you know.

0:43:420:43:47

Once you get to 40, will you get through it?

0:43:470:43:49

It's a difficult profession, and you can never be sure.

0:43:490:43:53

You can never sit back and say, "Oh, yes, I'm established now."

0:43:530:43:58

To a degree, you are.

0:43:580:44:00

But, you know, you've always got to sort of think, " Hmmm..."

0:44:000:44:04

But Alison would prevail,

0:44:060:44:07

and there would be no scarcity of parts for her to play.

0:44:070:44:12

If anything, her next role took her further into the national bosom,

0:44:120:44:16

when she was cast as Mrs Bennett

0:44:160:44:18

in the unforgettable 1995 adaptation

0:44:180:44:21

of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

0:44:210:44:24

Even at the rehearsal stage,

0:44:240:44:27

Alison approached her role with her familiar gusto.

0:44:270:44:29

My dear! Mr Bennett!

0:44:320:44:34

Wonderful news!

0:44:340:44:36

-Netherfield Park is let at last!

-Is it?

0:44:360:44:39

Yes, it is! For I have just had it from Mrs Long!

0:44:390:44:43

I do remember Alison's first reading,

0:44:430:44:45

because she absolutely pounced on the part.

0:44:450:44:49

And it was there from the word go.

0:44:490:44:50

His name is Bingley, and he will be in possession by Nickelmas.

0:44:500:44:55

And he has 5,000 a year!

0:44:550:44:59

What a fine thing for our girls!

0:44:590:45:01

How so? How can it affect them?

0:45:010:45:03

Oh, Mr Bennett! How can you be so tiresome?

0:45:030:45:06

You must know that I'm thinking of his marrying one of them?

0:45:060:45:09

I just thought, this woman is...she is over the top.

0:45:090:45:12

This is what Jane Austen has written.

0:45:120:45:15

A woman who...and we know people in life like that.

0:45:150:45:18

Who are a pain, you know?

0:45:180:45:20

They're loud, they're over the top, they talk too much.

0:45:200:45:24

The kind of people who when they walk in you go,

0:45:240:45:26

"Oh, God. She's here."

0:45:260:45:27

I mean, there are people like that in life.

0:45:270:45:30

We are never to know Mr Bingley, and it pains me to hear of him.

0:45:300:45:33

But, Mama! >

0:45:330:45:34

I am sick of Mr Bingley!

0:45:340:45:36

I'm sorry to hear that.

0:45:360:45:38

If I'd known as much this morning, I should never have called on him.

0:45:380:45:42

You have called on him?!

0:45:420:45:46

I'm afraid we cannot escape the acquaintance now.

0:45:460:45:48

Oh! Ha-ha-ha!

0:45:480:45:50

My dear Mr Bennett!

0:45:500:45:53

How good you are to us!

0:45:530:45:56

'The woman is desperate.'

0:45:560:45:58

She is desperate, because she's got all these daughters.

0:45:580:46:02

And if her husband dies, they're all on the street.

0:46:020:46:05

And there's no two ways about it.

0:46:050:46:07

Girls! girls! Is he not a good father?

0:46:070:46:09

And never to tell us? What a good joke!

0:46:090:46:12

SHE LAUGHS

0:46:120:46:13

Oh, and now you shall all dance with Mr Bingley!

0:46:130:46:17

'She obviously realised that,'

0:46:170:46:19

that energy was required.

0:46:190:46:20

And that intent that she wanted

0:46:200:46:23

to get the best for her daughters, you know.

0:46:230:46:26

But she's a great comedian.

0:46:260:46:28

And although she played it, you know,

0:46:280:46:30

absolutely straight down the middle, she's terribly funny in it.

0:46:300:46:33

She knows how to get the laughs.

0:46:330:46:35

HE LAUGHS

0:46:350:46:37

You must tell him what a dreadful state I'm in!

0:46:370:46:40

How I have such tremblings and flutterings all over me!

0:46:400:46:45

Such spasms in my side and pains in my head

0:46:450:46:48

and beatings at my heart,

0:46:480:46:50

that I get no rest neither night or day.

0:46:500:46:53

Sister, calm yourself!

0:46:530:46:55

And tell Lydia not to give any directions about wedding clothes

0:46:550:46:59

till she has seen me.

0:46:590:47:00

For she does not know which are the best warehouses!

0:47:000:47:03

SHE WAILS

0:47:030:47:05

I know she found the dialogue difficult to begin with.

0:47:050:47:09

We all did.

0:47:090:47:11

But, you know, she's a brilliant performer.

0:47:110:47:16

She knows how to conquer and get on top of it.

0:47:160:47:20

She did!

0:47:200:47:22

Pride And Prejudice was immediately heralded as a British TV classic.

0:47:240:47:29

Once again, Alison was a central player

0:47:290:47:32

in a multi-award-winning production.

0:47:320:47:34

She was in demand.

0:47:340:47:38

And when the project felt right,

0:47:380:47:40

she got to work again.

0:47:400:47:41

And the results were never less than impressive.

0:47:410:47:45

In 2000, she brought presence to a character in an ensemble piece

0:47:450:47:48

dealing with the emotional turmoil of losing weight.

0:47:480:47:54

Kelly!

0:47:550:47:57

What? Oh, it's only a sandwich!

0:47:570:48:00

It's a bloody great chip buttie!

0:48:000:48:02

-Spit it out!

-I am not spitting it out!

0:48:020:48:05

Now!

0:48:050:48:06

That character of Betty was...erm...was interesting.

0:48:060:48:11

You know, this woman, she'd lost five stone and, you know,

0:48:110:48:14

she was battling with her weight

0:48:140:48:17

and trying to cope with her daughter who was overweight.

0:48:170:48:21

It was a serious subject to be tackled.

0:48:210:48:24

I don't know why everybody's obsessed with being thin!

0:48:240:48:27

You married me, Douglas, because you knew no one else would want me!

0:48:270:48:31

Is that what you really think?

0:48:310:48:33

Yes, I do. I've seen the way you look at other women. Thin women.

0:48:330:48:37

I watched the end of Betty's story

0:48:370:48:40

in episode one of Fat Friends,

0:48:400:48:42

when her and Donald having the big showdown,

0:48:420:48:45

and I was...there were tears falling off the end of my chin.

0:48:450:48:48

'And I wrote it!'

0:48:480:48:50

I don't believe you.

0:48:500:48:52

All this dieting's thinned your brain!

0:48:520:48:54

Yes, I might occasionally look at other women.

0:48:540:48:57

Show me a man who doesn't!

0:48:570:48:59

But I've no bloody idea whether they're thin or fat.

0:48:590:49:02

'So if she can make me forget that I've written those lines,'

0:49:020:49:07

and I'm the writer, and make ME sob,

0:49:070:49:10

what was she doing to other people out there?

0:49:100:49:12

Fat Friends won awards and ran for four series.

0:49:160:49:19

But it also sparked the creation of a smash sitcom

0:49:190:49:21

when two of the younger cast members decided to start writing together.

0:49:210:49:30

I think James was only 19 when he started.

0:49:300:49:32

He was always very funny.

0:49:320:49:36

Very cheeky, very creative.

0:49:360:49:39

And Ruth, again, very talented lady.

0:49:390:49:42

And they just got together.

0:49:420:49:46

But before Gavin And Stacey charmed millions,

0:49:460:49:49

there was more to come from Alison.

0:49:490:49:51

Her prodigious vocal talents had audiences in hoots

0:49:510:49:54

when she worked in the innuendo-fuelled radio comedy.

0:49:540:49:57

KNOCK AT DOOR

0:49:570:49:59

-Hello, let me in!

-Er, hold on a minute, Mrs Naughtie.

0:49:590:50:02

Hamish and I are just in the lavatory together.

0:50:020:50:04

LAUGHTER

0:50:040:50:05

Oh! Shall I come back later?

0:50:050:50:08

-Oh, no. Stay away!

-What?

0:50:080:50:10

-LAUGHTER

-It's not what you think.

0:50:100:50:14

You mean it's NOT a perfectly innocent misunderstanding?

0:50:140:50:17

LAUGHTER

0:50:170:50:19

'I was quite surprised that'

0:50:190:50:21

the big TV, movie star, would deign to do a radio series.

0:50:210:50:26

And was actually quite flattered

0:50:260:50:28

when she said yes immediately to Hamish and Dougal.

0:50:280:50:31

Mrs Naughtie, where have you been?

0:50:310:50:33

I've been getting ready for my dance.

0:50:330:50:36

-Do you like the fishnets?

-Very nice.

0:50:360:50:37

-But you might have taken the herring out first.

-LAUGHTER

0:50:370:50:42

There was no safety net when Alison worked again

0:50:420:50:46

on a film with no script.

0:50:460:50:48

A mockumentary about a wedding competition.

0:50:480:50:50

There was more than enough talent in the cast to ensure

0:50:500:50:53

Confetti had some unforgettable moments.

0:50:530:50:55

5, 6, 7, 8!

0:50:550:50:56

1, 2, 3, 4,

0:50:560:50:58

5, 6, 7, 8...

0:50:580:51:00

I'm sorry, but...

0:51:000:51:01

-Keep going! Keep going!

-5, 6, 7, 8!

0:51:010:51:04

-That is too close to me!

-2, 3, 4!

0:51:040:51:08

For God's sake, Dave! Do me a favour!

0:51:080:51:12

I'm trying my best! I'm trying my best!

0:51:130:51:16

How could anyone be so insensitive? I'm standing here next to you.

0:51:160:51:19

Bash you in the back of the head? Pushing me like that?

0:51:190:51:21

-Oi, come on, guys!

-And if you're not pushing me,

0:51:210:51:23

I can feel that you're making me lose me balance.

0:51:230:51:26

Chris, there's only a little bit of room we've all got, darling.

0:51:260:51:29

All right, what I'm saying is, he's standing right next to me,

0:51:290:51:32

Bish, bash, bosh, bish!

0:51:320:51:34

-I'm doing me best!

-It's very hard for all of us.

0:51:340:51:37

If you were a bit more sensitive to what was happening.

0:51:370:51:40

I think we shot many, many, many hours.

0:51:460:51:49

Then out of that, you know, was distilled the film.

0:51:490:51:54

And I thought the film worked very well,

0:51:540:51:57

but obviously there was a lot of stuff

0:51:570:51:59

ended up on the cutting room floor.

0:51:590:52:02

But that's the way it worked.

0:52:020:52:04

-'That's what it's about.'

-'She's got nothing to prove.'

0:52:040:52:07

She's so well thought of in that way,

0:52:070:52:09

and she's proved herself time and time again

0:52:090:52:11

with being able to come up with characterisations just like that.

0:52:110:52:15

But it's kind of having a big bit of ballast there.

0:52:150:52:20

That doesn't sound complimentary, but it is! Honestly!

0:52:200:52:24

"Big bit of ballast! I love 'er!"

0:52:240:52:26

That's the best review she's got in the last ten years!

0:52:260:52:29

Even though Alison had played the ultimate comedy grotesque,

0:52:320:52:36

and had been gifted with a comic touch,

0:52:360:52:38

she had never appeared in a hit sitcom.

0:52:380:52:40

She had given it a go,

0:52:400:52:42

but there was one aspect of sitcom she would never warm to.

0:52:420:52:47

'I've done things with studio audiences and I get really nervous'

0:52:470:52:50

and I don't know whether I'm playing to the camera or to the audience.

0:52:500:52:54

And there's never enough rehearsals, and oh, I just hate it!

0:52:540:52:57

But in 2007, and two writers wrote a script with Alison in mind,

0:52:570:53:03

her sitcom credentials would soon be complete.

0:53:030:53:07

'Ruth and I sat down and said,'

0:53:070:53:09

"Let's write a brilliant part for Alison Steadman."

0:53:090:53:14

What's going on?

0:53:140:53:15

I don't know, Pam. All I know is, if I don't eat this now,

0:53:150:53:18

-I'm going to faint.

-Me too. I can barely breathe.

0:53:180:53:20

Smithy, what have I told you about eating late at night?

0:53:200:53:23

All that cholesterol!

0:53:230:53:24

-It's only a six-piece.

-And we got coleslaw.

0:53:240:53:27

Oh, well done, darlings.

0:53:270:53:29

You can rejoice in marvellous acting, but you go,

0:53:290:53:33

"Oh, I know that woman! I used to know that woman! Who is that woman?

0:53:330:53:37

"Is it right?"

0:53:370:53:39

She'll always give you something that's spot-on.

0:53:390:53:42

Spot-on.

0:53:420:53:43

Now, I've got fresh strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, and melon.

0:53:430:53:49

Croissants, pain-au-chocolats, and brioches.

0:53:490:53:52

Where's all this come from?

0:53:520:53:53

I was down at Tesco's at five this morning.

0:53:530:53:55

Mum, you didn't need to do all this.

0:53:550:53:57

With all due respect,

0:53:570:53:58

we're talking about Gavin's girlfriend. Not Princess Di.

0:53:580:54:00

You do NOT mention that hussy's name in this house,

0:54:000:54:03

and you know that, Michael! NOISE UPSTAIRS

0:54:030:54:05

She's coming! Put your paper down!

0:54:050:54:09

You're working with somebody who's kind of done it all.

0:54:090:54:14

She's really, really a top-rate actress,

0:54:160:54:21

and she is an absolutely real person.

0:54:210:54:25

And that combination is pretty much foolproof.

0:54:250:54:30

Will your boy be coming to the wedding? What's his name again?

0:54:300:54:33

Jason? Yes, he's coming over. Lives in Spain, he does.

0:54:330:54:37

-Is he married?

-No, he's gay.

0:54:370:54:39

Really?

0:54:390:54:41

Do you know, I said to Mick,

0:54:410:54:44

if we'd have had another son,

0:54:440:54:46

I'd have loved him to be a homosexual.

0:54:460:54:49

You know, for fashion advice and emotional support.

0:54:490:54:53

Jason's good as gold, like that.

0:54:530:54:55

I miss him terribly, I do.

0:54:550:54:57

Lights up a room.

0:54:570:54:58

Aw! Like a little Will Young!

0:54:580:55:02

There was a time we rehearsed...

0:55:030:55:05

It was the first series, so it's going back a bit.

0:55:050:55:09

I was in the hotel room before my wedding,

0:55:090:55:11

'and she comes in to give me a little pep talk,

0:55:110:55:14

'and it's a really, really tender moment.'

0:55:140:55:17

You look lovely, Mum.

0:55:200:55:21

House of Fraser.

0:55:210:55:24

Hat cost more than the suit.

0:55:240:55:25

Oh, come here, sweetheart. Let me do that.

0:55:270:55:30

Only seems like yesterday I was putting your school tie straight.

0:55:340:55:38

Thanks, Mum.

0:55:390:55:42

It's really rewarding, because it's rare to really, really hit it.

0:55:420:55:47

And you both can feel it, and, you know,

0:55:470:55:51

'something is happening. Some emotion is being created.'

0:55:510:55:54

I'll be getting through these today.

0:55:540:55:56

There's a line where she talks about her maiden name.

0:56:020:56:07

I mean, it is weird.

0:56:070:56:09

-Getting used to being Stacey Shipman.

-Yeah.

0:56:090:56:12

And she says, "I was very upset when I lost my maiden name."

0:56:120:56:18

What was it?

0:56:180:56:19

Griggell-Eschefska. Pamela Andrea Griggell-Eschefska.

0:56:190:56:22

HE LAUGHS

0:56:220:56:25

I don't even know why it's funny!

0:56:250:56:28

I felt quite flat, if I'm honest with you, the day after we got married.

0:56:280:56:32

I felt like I'd lost my identity.

0:56:320:56:34

You know, like Anne Frank, after they found her?

0:56:340:56:37

I think it got better and better

0:56:370:56:39

as they really got into the stride of writing.

0:56:390:56:41

And we also got into the stride of playing the characters.

0:56:410:56:45

I love Stacey.

0:56:450:56:47

It's just, ooh, I don't know,

0:56:470:56:49

I just feel I've got you back all to myself, just for tonight.

0:56:490:56:52

There's my little prince, my handsome king,

0:56:520:56:54

and me in the middle, the Duchess of Cornwall.

0:56:540:56:56

Gavin And Stacey introduced Alison to a whole new audience,

0:56:560:57:01

who experienced for the first time

0:57:010:57:03

her consummate work as a comedienne.

0:57:030:57:07

Comedy or drama,

0:57:070:57:08

on stage or screen,

0:57:080:57:10

she has won awards and entertained millions.

0:57:100:57:14

And as to the future, who knows?

0:57:140:57:16

'All my career, I've never been'

0:57:160:57:20

one of those actors that have gone, "I want to play this.

0:57:200:57:23

"Oh, if only I could play this role." I've honestly never done that,

0:57:230:57:26

and I don't know why I haven't. But I haven't.

0:57:260:57:28

But there may be another challenging role waiting for Alison.

0:57:280:57:33

This time, behind the camera.

0:57:330:57:36

'I did a little bit of directing'

0:57:360:57:38

at my old drama school, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

0:57:380:57:41

But what I would really like to do is make a film.

0:57:410:57:45

I'd like to direct a film.

0:57:450:57:48

And I've got an idea in mind.

0:57:480:57:51

Perhaps I should push myself a bit more to take a chance and do that.

0:57:510:57:55

And have a go.

0:57:550:57:56

Take a little bit of time out from acting, and make a movie.

0:57:560:58:01

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