Check back later this week for a selection of screen captures from the show.

Loose Women : ITV1 - Monday 1st May : 1.30pm

See below for next weekend's You Rang, M'Lord air times.

• Su then took to the skies. Yes, she has jetted off to Spain on holiday.

• Su was spotted at the opening night of the musical Footloose, at the Novello Theatre (formerly The Strand) in London. Su had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the show.

The Dad's Army Appreciation Society has announced a special event at Bressingham Steam Museum, home of the Dad's Army Experience. The event on Sunday, May 14, will feature Jimmy Perry and David Croft "Dads Army's" co-writers, along with Su Pollard of "Hi Di Hi" fame and Donald Hewlett from "It Aint Half Hot Mum". 

[ Source: www.visitnorfolk.co.uk - 24th April 2006 ]

It may sound like some media practical joke, but Volume 1 is out now, with an exclusive Su article...

Rubbish - "It's what everyone's talking about"

[ Please click on the screenshot to visit the 'Rubbish' website ]

Hi-De-Hi! : RTÉ 1 - Thursday 4th May: 1.55pm
God Bless Our Family. Series 8, episode 4. Clive’s family descend on the camp with the intent of trying to persuade him to return to the fold. They bargain without the culture shock of Maplin’s. Starring: Paul Shane, Ruth Madoc, Jeffrey Holland, Su Pollard, and David Griffin.

You Rang, M'Lord? : UKTV Drama - Saturday 6th May : 10.00am
You Rang, M'Lord? : UKTV Drama - Sunday 7th May : 2.35am
You Rang, M'Lord? : UKTV Drama - Sunday 7th May : 5.10am
Labour of Love. Series 2, episode 1. Lord Meldrum gives Teddy an ultimatum - marry Madge Cartwright or be sent to work in his factory. Teddy thinks it’s a bluff but finds that his brother means every word. Alf discovers that Lady Lavender has got money stashed under her bed and schemes to relieve her of the burden.

Gimme Gimme Gimme : UKTV Gold - Sunday 16th April : 11.00pm
Gimme Gimme Gimme : UKTV Gold Plus 1 - Monday 16th April : 00.00am
Singing in The Drain. Series 3, episode 5. In-your-face and frankly disgusting at times comedy with the hapless flatmates with every personality flaw going. But things seem to be looking up as Linda finally realises her ambition to become a model, while Tom secures an audition for a West End musical. Starring: Kathy Burke, James Dreyfus, Brian Bovell, Beth Goddard, Su Pollard, and Jonathan Harvey.

Hi-De-Hi! : RTÉ 1 - Thursday 20th April: 1.55pm
The New Broom. Series 8, episode 2. Alec Foster, the new Camp Controller, is causing havoc at Maplin’s. He’s already sacked several staff for incompetence and when his attentions fall on the entertainment staff no one is safe... Starring: Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland, Ruth Madoc, Su Pollard, Felix Bowness, Diane Holland, Barry Howard & David Griffin, and introducing Kenneth O'Connor.

Charity workers who have raised more than £3,000 with a celebrity cookbook have launched a new campaign.

They want people across West Lindsey to help them pass the 1,000-mark to increase the funds of Gainsborough branch of Macmillan Cancer Relief.

Since last October, the group has sold more than 400 copies of the book - which features favourite recipes contributed by stars of the stage, big screen and TV.

Celebrities including sports presenter Suzi Perry, Olympic gold medallist Geoff Capes and soccer pundit Alan Hanson all responded to requests to contribute.

Hi-De-Hi actress Su Pollard wrote the book's foreword.

[ News Source: www.beehive.thisisessex.co.uk - 25th March 2006 ]

It returns to TV next month with a £5million campaign that once again will encourage people to go "oo" as they sip their favourite cuppa. 

The adverts will echo the quirky mid-80s series starring celebrities like Frankie Howerd, Julie Walters and Su Pollard, who told us: "You only get an 'oo' with Typhoo." 

[ News Source: Sunday Mirror - 26th March 2006 ]

Breathless from visiting a friend, Su Pollard is about to exercise her bedside manner as Nurse in Romeo & Juliet. But before stepping on stage at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, the former Hi-De-Hi! star found time for a chat with the Express & Star in her dressing room.

Talking is definitely her strong point - she never stops.

"Hi darling, look - there are the party poppers for our big bash. This is our last week - we've been doing it for three months," Su says.

"I'm not used to Shakespeare, but I've loved it. Before this I was being the wicked queen in Snow White and before that it was The Vagina Monologues. It's an eclectic period for me."

Su reaches for a cough sweet. No, she hasn't got a cold - apparently they are good for "getting the saliva going," which helps when you're talking all the time.

Despite being 56, Su feels like a spring chicken and is bursting with energy.

"I should have tried getting away with 47. Actually I feel 19 and-a-half. Yes, that was a great age because I was in love with somebody and mini-skirts were all the rage."

In fact, Su was wearing a very short skirt and her legs are certainly in good shape. So how does she stay so slim?

"I try to be healthy and always get my five fruits a day. I love bananas, satsumas and apples. Oh and I'm mad on porridge - it's good for slow-release energy.

"I also work out three times a week. I have a pilates routine for stretching and toning and do 100 skips a day for my cardio. I couldn't bear it being doddery - I need to be nimble, darling."

Sue was born and brought up in Nottingham, but home is now London and has been for the past 32 years.

"Who said 'when you're tired of London, you're tired of life?' I love London, apart from the traffic - that drives me insane. You can fly to New Zealand in no time but it takes four hours for me to get to Heathrow. I don't drive, so I either get a driver or get on the Heathrow Express. It's a very good service."

New York, Bombay and Bangkok are among her favourite holiday destinations, along with Huddersfield and Skegness.

"I'm not fussy. I go with a couple of mates or my sister Jeannie. She's a human biology lecturer and very brainy."

Like a true party animal, she raves about going clubbing, drinking and eating out. 

"I'm not into champagne or spirits, I like Chardonnay or a pint of lager. I'm a mad keen lunch and dinner woman - it's my biggest extravagance.

"Going out for lunch is best because it's more relaxed and they can last forever."

Su reminisces about her longest lunch to date, spent with 'Allo 'Allo! star Carmen Silvera at Le Gavroche in Mayfair. "We started at 1pm and were still there at 7.30pm. The maitre d' came over and asked if we were staying for dinner.

"By then we were starving again, so said yes. We had fish, salad, ratatouille and cheese to share. I love cheese. Of course there were a few bottles of wine thrown in. It was all fantastic."

Su also drinks plenty of tea. If there was enough time in the day, she could easily get through 30 cups. 

"It's a totally ridiculous amount. But usually I'm too busy working. I never refuse anything, as long as it is a good quality script."

Her other indulgence is, of course, glasses. She owns about 70 pairs of specs of all shapes and sizes.

"I get them from the Anglo-American Optical Company - I've got some brilliant butterfly ones and another pair that are like guitars.

"The most I have spent is £525, which was a bit of a shock. They are the sexy secretary style with leopard skin print frames."

And she still has the owlish glasses, worn for her most famous role as scatty chalet maid Peggy Ollerenshaw in the hit TV comedy Hi-De-Hi!

"I've got the whole costume, darling. They were happy days." 

No stranger to the Grand Theatre, she last played orphanage matron Miss Hannigan in the musical Annie three years ago and is very pleased with her current role as Juliet's nurse. In fact she has been looking after the entire cast.

She said: "I'm a bit of a mother hen. I started bringing in sweets for them all, but now it's grapes and satsumas to be good.

"There are lots of young ones, so I've taken them under my wing."

As for having her own family, Su is resolutely single. She divorced Australian school teacher Peter Keogh in 1992 after eight years of marriage.

"I finished with men ages ago. I can be more productive without them. I'm just happy being everyone's aunty."

And with that she disappears backstage.

"Bye darling, lovely meeting you. Are you coming to the show?"

[ News Source: Wolverhampton Express - 30th March 2006 ]

[ Thanks again to Paul Lomas ]

To celebrate here is a great picture of Su onstage, as Nurse, with Juliet, in a scene fro mthe production.

Reviews have been great. Please check over March news, as well as the Archived January/February 2006 News for lots of Romeo & Juliet related content.

[ Thanks to Paul Lomas - Please check back soon for more caps from the show ]

Su has had a wonderful time playing The Nurse in the production, throughly enjoying her first Shakespearian role. The audiences have been great and reviews have been very favourable.

GRAND THEATRE, WOLVERHAMPTON [ Tel: 01962 429 212 ]

Su certainly hopes to be there (subject to professional commitments) reuniting with some of her colleagues from her Perry & Croft days. There will be a chance for an autograph and a chat with your favourite actors and also to view a permanant Dad's Army display based at the Museum. The event will run from 11am - 3pm. 

[ For further details contact the Dad's Army Appreciation Society : www.dadsarmy.co.uk ]

I was struck by her infectious, if a little exhausting, energy and I instantly knew that our interview would be anything but dull.

The 57-year-old is taking a well-earned break between performances of the Birmingham Rep touring production of Romeo and Juliet, in which she plays Nurse.

"It is so nice to be taking a break - I have been working hard on the part, and it has taken a lot out of me because I have to really concentrate on getting all the flowery language right.

"I wanted to do Shakespeare for a while, and the part of Nurse has been a great for me because she is a great comic figure - her character has been easy to ease into because I feel like I'm in familiar territory."

Cast members had just two weeks to rehearse for the four-month show, and perfectionist Su spent hours preparing with the show's director to ensure she got the part spot-on.

"I make sure I warm up properly before every performance. I am a firm believer in the five Ps - which are proper preparation prevents poor performance."

But despite the headaches, Su is having a ball.

"I consider the show to be one of the highlights of my career - the cast is fantastic and we have a lot of fun together."

Su grew up in Nottingham, but has made London her home for the past 32 years.

She is a self-confessed hoarder, and her town house garage is packed with treasured momentos of her career - from her original Peggy costume, to a Noel Edmund's Gotcha Oscar.

She loves the glitz and glamour of the showbiz scene and has had a firm presence on the celebrity circuit during her 30-plus years in the limelight.

She counts the likes of Michael Parkinson and Gloria Hunniford among her famous friends but does not believe in spending a lot on flashy items.

"But I do have my little luxuries like taxi rides - I never learned to drive."

She thrives on challenges and it seems she has tried her hand at everything - having attempted a film career, achieved chart success, and even penned a novel.

Su is perhaps best known for her role as yellowcoat wanabee, cleaner Peggy Ollerenshaw, in the 1980s hit sitcom Hi-De- Hi!

However, she has been performing since the age of five, when she made her acting debut in a school play and found she adored the attention.

"I just love making people laugh. To me the greatest sound of all is when you hear people practically being sick because they are laughing so much!"

But Su seems to have favoured theatre over the small screen in recent years.

"I do love television, but many shows are not as well produced these days, and are far too reliant on reality show formats. I find these shows ghastly - I have turned down three offers to appear on Celebrity Big Brother because I do not want anyone to control my actions."

But what are her thoughts on the good old days?

"I remember filming episodes of Hi-De-Hi! as if they were yesterday, and I do still miss it.

"The scripts were of such good quality, and there was a fabulous sense of comradeship on the production - we had a lot of fun and I am still in touch with cast members.

"The show is now being enjoyed by a whole new generation, which is great, and I get kids knocking on my door asking for Peggy - I tell them `She's not in at the moment because she's doing the chalets, but she'll be back tomorrow'!"

But does Su mind that she is best known for a character she played more than 20 years ago?

"I think that all stars are known for one significant point in their career, for example look at Alec Guinness - all those great performances and he is still best remembered as Ob-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars!"

As she re-applied her bright pink lippie, Su pondered future goals.

"I would love to do a musical comedy film with Barbara Streisand who I think is a fantastic actress. When I was last in California, I put a note through her door suggesting that we work together - her secretary politely declined the offer."

The tour of Romeo and Juliet finishes next month at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton, but Su's workload will not be easing.

Future projects include a revival of her successful one-woman show, a voiceover for a new series of BBC children's animation Little Robots, a reprise of her role in the Vagina Monologues, and a return to a favourite panto role of hers, the Wicked Queen in Snow White.

[ News Source: Huddersfield Daily Examiner - 24th March 2006 ]

Little Robots : BBC2 - Monday 27th March : 9.40am
Stripy on the Ball. Stop-frame animation about Tiny and his Little Robot friends. Stripy makes a ball but the Sparky Twins steal it. They get trapped and have to be rescued by the robots, and they all play a game with the ball.

Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Monday 27th March : 10.55am
Eruptions. Series 3, episode 13. Classic Jimmy Perry comedy from Maplin's Holiday Camp. Ted isn't happy when Joe Maplin installs a working model of a volcano which erupts during his act. The only thing to do is sabotage it! Starring: Paul Shane, Su Pollard, Ruth Madoc, Simon Cadell, and Geoffrey Holland.

Oaklands opened its doors to patients last summer but staff were keen to organise an official opening and unveiling of a plaque to mark the completion of the major planning and building project which has been several years in the making.

Practice manager Jonathan Himsworth at Oaklands said: "Staff at the centre have come to know Su Pollard over the years as she regularly stays in the area and we are thrilled that she agreed to carry out the official opening ceremony for us."

[ News Source: Huddersfield Daily Examiner - 22nd March 2006 ]

The first lot, of four, run from 3.30am to 5.30am, with the second batch airing from 10.00am through till 1.15pm.

The channel also airs an episode of You Rang, M'Lord? this afternoon too.

In touring theatre, you can't go far wrong with Romeo and Juliet. Many school groups were in evidence and at the end they cheered rapturously. But, in truth, Birmingham Rep's production directed by Bill Bryden is a pretty featureless affair. The actors are set adrift on Hayden Griffin's bare wooden set, which leaves them little option but to stand around artfully. Costumes are strangely eclectic - jeans cut to look like Elizabethan hose are clever enough, but to what end? The sound effects are dreadfully clichéd: claps of thunder; tolling bells; ravens cawing to send us into the interval with a sense of foreboding (the kids laughed at this - I didn't blame them). And the whole thing was topped and tailed by the sort of cheesy muzak you might hear in a cheap Italian restaurant. 

Not helped by their environment, the cast turned in competent performances, led by Jamie Doyle as an endearing and impassioned Romeo, Gus Gallagher as a sardonic, bawdy Mercutio and Su Pollard's Nurse. Anjali Jay tried perhaps a little too hard with Juliet, while Gerald Harper, as Friar Laurence, tried for solemnity but ended up with monotone. The play wasn't much harmed, save perhaps by the decision to deliver the voice of the Prince through the theatre's PA system, like an invisible, omniscient god. Shakespeare is robust, and as long as his marvellous lines are delivered competently, he still has the power to thrill the next generation.

[ News Source: The Scotsman - 17th March 2006. By Susan Mansfield ]

The actress is appearing in a critically-acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet at the Theatre Royal. 

She is starring alongside newcomers Jamie Doyle and Anjali Jay who play Shakespeare's most famous lovers. 

Su plays the nurse while Gerald Harper appears as Friar Lawrence in the show, which runs until March 18, and is directed by the award-winning Bill Bryden.

The production is the latest in a series of collaborations between Birmingham Repertory Theatre and The Touring Consortium. Previous hits include The Crucible, A Doll's House and Of Mice And Men. 

Tickets start from £10. For performance times contact the box office on 0141 240 1133. 

[ News Source: Glasgow Evening Times - 15th March 2006 ]

Unlike the morbid severity of Shakespeare's other famous tragedies, Hamlet or Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet has a much more youthful, vibrant and energetic spirit and that is to the fore in Birmingham Rep's staging of the well-loved tale of forbidden love and looming doom.

With comic actress Su Pollard as the nurse and time-served English thesp Gerald Harper as Friar Laurence, the show is still contemporary in design and direction. With simple wooden panelled staging, the players make good use of the cleverly angled floor and compactly minimalist environment; this is a production where none of Shakespeare's poetry is lost in the delivery.

Jamie Doyle is elegantly troubled as the innocent, fresh-faced Romeo, while his Juliet, Anjali Jay, sometimes appears a caricature of the love-struck girl. The most fleshed-out character and the hero of the comic interludes is Mercutio; as played by Gus Gallagher he is the master of witty exchanges and physical horseplay. Gallagher excels, playing confidently with the text and choreography to the delight of the giggling school girls, and his death leaves a void onstage.

There are many other enticements for the female theatre-goer. The male costumes, ladies, are a sight to behold and the explicitly base antics of the three horny lads in Act One positively blush-making. Rest assured, girls, you will not be turned off by their exclamations of love.

[ News Source: Glasgow Herald - 16th March 2006 ]

The production finished a week-long run at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe last night and opens in Glasgow, for its penultimate week, at the Theatre Royal on Tuesday evening.

The final week, for the time being at least, of Romeo & Juliet will be at the Grand Theatre in Woverhampton a fortnight after Glasgow, beginning on the 28th March. 

The production has received many positive reviews over the last couple of months and Su has really enjoyed her first Shakesperian onstage experience.

Please look over recent News Updates for Romeo & Juliet related Reviews, Interviews and Articles.

Su Pollard delighted generations in the TV sitcom Hi-Di-Hi and with her one woman shows. Now she takes the role of the nurse in a modern production of Romeo and Juliet, which comes to The Swan this month.

What's it like doing Shakespeare for the first time?
It's the same approach as doing an entertainment show, preparation is everything. But I have never done this flowery language' before, so it requires a bit more concentration. If you get your haths' and your doths' mixed up, it can be dauinting as it ruins the rhythm. Essentially it is the same as any other show, but the concentration factor is phenomenal.

What do you think about your character?
She is very similar to lots of characters I have played before. She is sympathetic, as she bonds with Juliet, but she is also very light hearted. She is very bawdy at times, and gets away with talking about sex a lot. I call Shakespeare the Bawd, he's not the Bard, as his characters are always talking about sex. All of Shakespeare's characters essentially had to entertain stand-up audiences, who were completely drunk.

Can you relate to that?
Of course. I started in working men's clubs, where they introduce you and get your name wrong. You are singing away, and people stagger in front of you with their drinks, dropping them, then the cleaner comes and mops it up while you are singing My Way.

The main thing is, you have to have focus, and the ability to soldier through any situation.

Does anything make you nervous?
Opening night. It never gets any easier, because all the work that everyone has put into it yourself and other performers, backstage, lighting it all has to come together at the time. I give myself a good talking to, and think how marvellous that you have an audience who can appreciate all the hard work. So a good telling off usually does the trick.

What is your most enduring memory of being a teenager?
Wearing a fantastic striped green mini-skirt right up to my bum, fabulous boots, and a halter neck top, sitting on a bar stool in the Hippo Club and falling off it.

We were definitely the breakthrough generation. Elvis had come along, and broken the music mould, and designers had done the same with fashion, and we were so lucky to be liberated. We had those fantastic clubs with peep holes in the door, and you had to say can I speak to One-Eyed Pete please' to get let in.

What did you learn at school apart from lessons?
Team efforts and camaraderie will get you through life. You need the strength of everyone around you. Also that everybody deserves the same chance. I couldn't deal with kids being bullied or picked on. In those days it was dealt with quickly, and it doesn't seem to be the same now.

What do people most often get wrong about you?
They probably don't imagine that I am a deep thinker on things, but I am. I don't live my life on that deep level. But I am not just the froth on the top of a cappuccino.

What makes you turn off the TV?
A lot of things have no substance. The same boring trailers make you feel that you have watched the episode already.

Who makes you go weak at the knees?
Any man with fabulous thighs or shoulders. Although that sounds so vacuous.

What is your most treasured possession?
Apart from my family, my voice. I was at primary school at the age of five, and there was an audition for the choir, and you got a tap on the soldier if you were suitable, and I was over the moon when I got selected.

Just being on stage gives me most pleasure.

I adore musical theatre, so the ideal thing is to dance, sing, make people laugh and cry all at the same time. When I am playing Shakespeare, there are a lot of monologues, and I have to stand and listen, which is hard. My mind can't wander, and I need physical discipline. It makes a nice change. When I come off stage, I am bursting with energy.

What was the turning point in your career?
I was on the TV show Opportunity Knocks when I came second to the singing dog. I couldn't believe it. I was swept away with disgust.

On the Simon Mayo radio show, 20 years on, the man, who was a headmaster at a school, admitted on that he got all the kids at his school to vote. I lost by 1000 votes and there were 1500 kids in the school. He said he couldn't sleep at night.

The real turning point came when I was doing Godspell, and I got spotted by a top agent, which is a bit boring but very important, as it turned round my career. Also Hi-Di-Hi of course.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into the industry?
Be prepared for tremendous competition. People have been led to believe that you can get success overnight, but it only happens to a few. It is nice for some people, like Will Young, who has staying power, but a lot of people are five minute wonders. There should be a fairer way than there is at the moment.

What would be your epitaph?
I'll leave it at that.

[ News Source: Bucks Free Press - 8th March 2006 - by Jeremy Campbell ]

• Completing the Romeo & Juliet UK Tour

• Recording another season of children's animation Little Robots for the BBC. Su will, once again, be voicing the character "Noisy".

• Continuing to rehearse and fine-tune her one-woman-show (working title Lady In Waiting). Su hopes to eventually take this on a nationwide UK tour of some of her favourite theatres and venues.

• Su is also involved in the pilot of a new series, set in a fairly useless detective agency.

• Don't forget that Su will be spending Christmas 2006 at the Palace Theatre in Mansfield in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs.

• All other Su appearances, events and the like will be reported here as and when information becomes available.

While we cannot actually do much about these being listed we would urge fans of these comedies not to buy these discs as future sales (and releases) could be affected by them.

Thanks to everyone who contacted us.

Entertainment North East - What a Nurse!

Darlington Civic Theatre favourite Su Pollard is back on the boards next week in her most adventurous role so far, that of Nurse in Romeo And Juliet. She talks to Viv Hardwick about making her Shakespearean debut and a possible return to TV as a hapless private detective.

AT 55, not many actors would be seeking a Shakespeare debut, but Su Pollard is made of sterner stuff and, possibly, at an ideal time in her life to take on the comedic Nurse in Romeo And Juliet. 

The famous Shakespeare play is a rare touring drama in the spring season and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company has recruited a young cast - Jamie Doyle (Romeo) is just out of Rada and his Juliet is Anjali Jay, fresh from the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed Midnight's Children. But ex-Hi-De-Hi favourite Pollard was delighted to test her experience as the Nurse.

She says: "The nurse is not unlike everybody's favourite aunt. She's got that sympathy for Romeo and Juliet and she has a wonderful scene talking about sex. She'd make a wonderfully bawdy boarding house landlady. I last saw one about six months who I called Brenda the blouse, but then again Shakespeare does revel in double entendre himself."

The set, scenery and costume is minimal and Pollard believes this helps rather than hinders the production. "The show is raked in such a way that everyone gets a good view. So I can see why the director (Bill Brydon) wanted that and I think it works well."

As for her first attempt at the Bard's prose, Pollard says it's like learning any other script, but she admits: "It's slightly more flowery because that's what Shakespeare is known for, but I've never had to listen so hard especially when Juliet goes off on one of her soliloquy-thingies. You can't be wondering about having some lasagne for supper that's no good at all."

The play is on the school syllabus this year, so Pollard giggles about the parties of schoolchildren who are attending the run.

"You know what they're like, the young lads and whistling when Romeo takes his shirt off and all the girls are squealing but by the end they are all sniffling and crying because they've run the whole gamut of emotions."

So why hadn't the Bard cropped up for her before? "To be honest I was always working when I was asked to do things like this before which is a great way to turn things down. It never seemed to really come my way. Jenny the producer who I've known on and off for the a few years just came up with this and said 'I'm pretty sure you can do this'. I thought this was a great script and a great part and I thought this would be a really good piece of theatre."

She laughs about herself and veteran actor Gerald Harper (Friar Laurence) being recruited with the remainder of the cast being fresh out of acting school.

They're learning fast and are extremely good. If I get 'aha' in the wrong place you worry about getting the rhythm right because I should have used a 'doth' there. This isn't the kind of text you can get blasé or lazy about.

"When you think about the difference between this and Me And My Girl, Penny Crayon (an animated TV series) and Miss Noisy in The Little Robots it's fantastic. I've been very fortunate in the last five years because I've started to do things like The Pirates Of Penzance and a lot of new challenges have come along."

One of them is the pilot for a new TV series in which Pollard will be part of a useless detective agency which is touting for a spot of BBC or ITV. Then there's her one-woman show on tour, which she promises will be heading to the North-East, and recording another Little Robots series. 

She's off to see former Hi-De-Hi sparring partner Barry Howard when both shows are in Glasgow next month (just before the musical opens at Darlington's Civic). "I think the good shows gravitate towards Darlington because this is one of the most loved venues on tour. I'm already planning my social life around the Italian restaurant next door. And we're going to be a little bit of light relief with all those musicals they've got" she jokes.

In Cardiff, the Romeo And Juliet tour produced a meeting with that other star of Hi-De-Hi Ruth Madoc and the pair went out for a meal after the performance.

"Well the lads in there said 'oh look it's you, come and sit down' and all these great big bouncers, 75 stone man mountains went all soft and asked us to sign their books because their mums loved Hi-De-Hi. That was very sweet."

She puts her popularity down to playing life's underdog. "Look at Eddie The Eagle, bless him we all knew he was hopeless but we were all shouting 'go on mate you can do it'."

And any more ambitions? "What I'd like to do is a little more Shakespeare and, hopefully, a Harry Potter film because my kind of acting lends itself to the world of fantasy. I'd still like to do a duet with Barbra Striesand but that may not be in the pipeline, it's a shame really."

Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Sunday 5th March : 3.20am
Stripes. Series 3, episode 6. Classic sitcom fun from the same team that wrote 'Dad's Army'. After a secret visit to the camp, Joe Maplin decides that Gladys should be put in charge of the Yellowcoats. Starring: Ruth Madoc, Simon Cadell, Su Pollard, Paul Shane, and Jeffrey Holland.
Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Sunday 5th March : 3.50am
Co-Respondent's Course. Series 3, episode 7. Laughs with the gang at Maplin's, set in the days when the British preferred not to holiday abroad. Fairbrother's wife sends her new boyfriend to Jeffrey to ask him for a divorce. With the professor unwilling to cooperate, they start to dig for evidence. Starring: Jeffrey Holland, Paul Shane, Su Pollard, and Ruth Madoc.
Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Sunday 5th March : 4.20am
It's a Blue World. Series 3, episode 8. Those leggy Yellowcoat girls send more pulses racing in the classic sitcom set in Maplin's Holiday Camp in 1959. Ted Bovis is offered the chance to hire an, ahem, 'artistic' film to show to the male campers. Starring: Simon Cadell, Jeffrey Holland, Su Pollard, Paul Shane, and Ruth Madoc.

Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Sunday 5th March : 10.45am
Stripes. Series 3, episode 6. Classic sitcom fun from the same team that wrote 'Dad's Army'. After a secret visit to the camp, Joe Maplin decides that Gladys should be put in charge of the Yellowcoats. Starring: Ruth Madoc, Simon Cadell, Su Pollard, Paul Shane, and Jeffrey Holland.
Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Sunday 5th March : 11.20am
Co-Respondent's Course. Series 3, episode 7. Laughs with the gang at Maplin's, set in the days when the British preferred not to holiday abroad. Fairbrother's wife sends her new boyfriend to Jeffrey to ask him for a divorce. With the professor unwilling to cooperate, they start to dig for evidence. Starring: Jeffrey Holland, Paul Shane, Su Pollard, and Ruth Madoc.
Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Sunday 5th March : 12.00pm
It's a Blue World. Series 3, episode 8. Those leggy Yellowcoat girls send more pulses racing in the classic sitcom set in Maplin's Holiday Camp in 1959. Ted Bovis is offered the chance to hire an, ahem, 'artistic' film to show to the male campers. Starring: Simon Cadell, Jeffrey Holland, Su Pollard, Paul Shane, and Ruth Madoc.
Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Sunday 5th March : 12.40pm
The Society Entertainer. Series 3, episode 9. Classic laughs from the holiday camp sitcom set in the Fifties but made in the Eighties. Jeffrey decides that it's time for a new voice on Radio Maplin, while Spike meets his femme fatale. Starring: Simon Cadell, Ruth Madoc, Paul Shane, Jeffrey Holland, and Su Pollard.

Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Monday 6th March : 8.55am
Hi-De-Hi! : UKTV Drama - Monday 6th March : 1.15pm
God Bless Our Family. Series 7, episode 4. Laughs a-plenty with Spike, Ted, Peggy and the gang. Clive's family arrives en masse to stop his marriage to Gladys. Starring: David Griffin, Paul Shane, Ruth Madoc, Su Pollard, Jeffrey Holland, and Felix Bowness.