Sarah Lancashire plays Barbara Chase
Is this the first time you have worked with Dick Clement &
Ian La Frenais?
It is. They're tremendous writers with a fabulous reputation and I
knew as soon as I read the script I wanted to be a part of it, simply
because their work is terrific.
I guess everybody has a wish list of people they want to work with
and you hope that one day you may just get to do one of their scripts,
so I'm thrilled really.
Can you explain your character's role within the drama?
Barbara's quite interesting because she doesn't figure heavily in the
book.
I think Dick and Ian have really done a great job drawing on what was
in the book and turning her into the character she is in the script.
She's truly an ordinary woman with a very simple, uncomplicated life,
she has a very solid marriage and a very happy family life but I think
that when Nigel Plumb comes along he awakens any latent aspirations
that she had.
She's very flattered and she's genuinely looking to broaden her horizons
because she's at a crossroads in her life.
Philip is growing up and he's going to leave home and the dynamic within
the house is going to change, it's just going to be her and Sam.
Of course I'm not in that situation where my children are moving towards
leaving home but I'm sure for any parent who suddenly finds the house
a little quieter and the table a little emptier, it must be a huge turning
point.
Did the series reflect any of your own experiences of the Seventies?
My main recollection of the Seventies is the music - Slade, Sweet,
Gary Glitter.
For people of my age group the popular music scene was really all there
was, everyone was into the same type of thing.
And the clothes really were something. Certainly when I saw all the
boys dressed in costume, that brought back some very vivid memories.
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