Five minutes with... Una Stubbs

Dec 21 2009 By Leo Stevens

Veteran actress Una Stubbs stars in one-off children's drama Ingenious, which airs on BBC One on Christmas Day.

She went on to feature in Till Death Us Do Part, Worzel Gummidge and, more recently, Benidorm.

CAN YOU TELL VIEWERS WHAT INGENIOUS IS ABOUT?

It's a story of three children who find a very, very old bottle, and a genie comes out. One of them is an orphan who lives with her granny on a farm, and they're in dire straits financially, and there's a local villain who's trying to get them out of there. There's also a dragon somewhere in the area, and a local author has seen it. So really, it's about finding the dragon.

WHAT'S YOUR CHARACTER LIKE?

Her daughter has been killed, so she's been looking after her granddaughter. She's hiding her grief, but is trying to make it an as-smooth-as-possible transition for her granddaughter. She welcomes all her granddaughter's friends for meals, so there is always a lot of children at the farm.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH A CAST FULL OF YOUNG ASPIRING ACTORS?

It's fascinating. Over the years it's lovely to watch their journeys. I worked with Emily Blunt and Ann-Marie Duff and it's wonderful to watch their progress, so I really enjoy it. You have to hide the pride because Ann-Marie is playing Margot Fonteyn [in a BBC film], and you get so thrilled. You know which ones stay with acting.

DID ANY OF THE YOUNGSTERS COME TO YOU FOR ADVICE DURING FILMING?

No, I think they are all pretty self-assured. They come to me for cuddles instead.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH FORMER TORCHWOOD DIRECTOR BRIAN KELLY?

Fantastic. He's probably still working on the dragon at the moment. Having worked on Torchwood, special-effects are his speciality. I think those programmes have brought back children's television as it should be, how it used to be years ago. There was a period where it was secondary children's programmes in which they didn't have much money to finance them as they wanted to. Now it's lovely to see how important they are.

HAD YOU READ ANY OF WRITER JEANETTE WINTERSON'S BOOKS PRIOR TO STARTING FILMING?

It was the wrong timing for my own children but, obviously, I'll be getting them for my grandchildren.

DID YOU ENJOY APPEARING IN BENIDORM?

I loved it. I enjoy Benidorm the place as well. We were there out of season, so it was lovely and a nice job. I'm a fan of the writer Derren Litten because I did the Catherine Tate Show with him. Johnny Vegas is a fantastic person and really interesting to talk to. He's very romantic and not what you'd imagine at all.

YOU'VE STARRED IN SOME FANTASTIC ROLES OVER THE YEARS, WHICH WOULD YOU SAY YOU'RE MOST PROUD OF?

I absolutely love starring on-stage. I was recently in Don Carlos and The Family Reunion at the Donmar [London theatre]. I do enjoy it, and I do think it stretches you if you work with fantastic directors as I have been.

WHAT ARE YOU MEMORIES OF SUMMER HOLIDAY?

It was very unusual to have musical films in England back then - it did cause quite a stir. I was quite a fan of Cliff's, as I suppose all of the girls were. He was a huge pop star then, it was very unusual for a dancer to step out of dancing and be in a film. It was special, they haven't made a musical film like that for a long time and they should, I think. Summer Holiday might come across as being a bit quaint nowadays, but it hasn't dated too much.

WHAT ELSE IS THERE LEFT FOR YOU TO ACHIEVE WORK-WISE?

I'm just grateful to still be working. You hear that there's not much work out there for older women, so I'm very lucky to still be working.

WHAT ROLES ARE YOU STARRING IN OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS?

I'm doing Sherlock in January, which is a modern Sherlock Holmes series and I play the housekeeper. I plan to see the new movie when it comes out as I am a big fan of Robert Downey Jr. And we've got Benedict Cumberbatch, who's a fantastic young actor.

YOU'RE STILL GOING STRONG IN YOUR SEVENTIES - WHAT'S YOUR SECRET?

Luck, I think. I'm quite tenacious as well, but I think it's all to do with luck and I could be in for a big slump. You just have to make hay while the sun shines.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO RETIRE?

I enjoy working when I'm asked. One may look different, but I don't feel different. I know I don't look the same, but I feel exactly the same - so why shouldn't I keep working? It's one of the advantages of the business, that you can keep working even when you're old. If you can still walk and move, you can work. I'll carry on until they stop asking me.

YOU'RE A KEEN DRAWER - DO YOU GET MUCH TIME TO DO THIS WHILE YOU'RE WORKING?

I sketch every day and I always have a notepad in my pocket, so I'm sketching all the time. There are moments between filming when you're just sitting, so it's quite nice to draw. It's all very secretive. I do it so nobody can see I'm doing it, and I love sketching people I'm working with. I suppose that if you're an actor you are interested in people.