Lesley Joseph: This bird has flown

Apr 8 2009 by Will Harris, Crewe Chronicle

WILL HARRIS chats to sitcom legend Lesley Joseph

ACTRESS Lesley Joseph of Birds of a Feather fame is loving the female audiences.

The 63-year-old is starring in a UK tour of Hot Flush!, which stops off at the Regent Theatre, Hanley, this week.

She plays Myra, a successful barrister whose life starts to fall apart with the onset of the menopause when her husband leaves her for the blonde bimbo in the office.

The theatre regular has become a West End favourite and she says it’s great to interact with so many women.

“It’s a snapshot of these people’s lives and they get together on a Tuesday evening to discuss their woes,” she says. “There’s a lot of music and I talk to the audience a lot. There’s also a lot of stand-up and it’s very funny.”

“There’s probably about 5% of men in the audience so I reckon it’s the nearest I’ll ever get to becoming a Chippendale!

“What’s lovely is there’s probably a lot of people coming who don’t normally go to watch straight plays and think theatre’s not for them. But we’re doing really good business.

“It’s slightly anti-men but Sam Kane (of Emmerdale and Coronation Street fame) redresses the balance and tells you how it is from his point of view. And it proves to be a hit with the men who do come.”

Hot Flush! comes to the end of an extensive and successful tour in 10 weeks.

But this could be the last chance to see it for a while, as the show’s producers decide whether to reprise it for future tours.

Lesley adds: “If business is good it will probably keep going. Whether they bring it back will depend on the audience size, which is surprisingly good despite the recession.

“I think now more than ever, people are just glad to spend a few pounds to enjoy an evening and forget their problems.”

She made herself a household name as the man-hungry next-door neighbour Dorian in the hugely popular BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather.

The show ran for nine years, with Lesley starring alongside Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson in arguably the most successful programme ever to centre around female characters.

At the peak of its popularity, it was regularly enjoying 20m viewers.

Lesley says: “It was one of those shows that was a combination made in heaven. I’m very proud of it and I think Dorian was a great character to play.

“It was of its time really, Thatcher was in power and Essex people were all the rage. People still love it.”

And it’s that popularity that has seen rumours resurface of a new series.

“I think we would all like to do it again but it’s up to the TV companies to get their act together. There’s been talk before and it came to nothing but hopefully it will happen.

“It’s one of those things, a comedy that somehow worked, it was so well-written.”

Lesley had a brief stint in the ill-fated ITV soap Night and Day and has starred in a series of theatre productions, both in the West End and touring.

She even hosts her own radio show alongside Christopher Biggins in London.

She says: “I think there was a risk of being pigeon-holed with Birds but I’ve done such diverse work. Because I’d done so much work beforehand I went back to doing what I’d done then.

“Theatre is my first love but I’ve done some reality TV work and that keeps your profile up.”

And it may not be long before Lesley considers winding her career down.

“I’m getting quite tired and it could be time to retire before long,” she says.

Hot Flush! is at the Regent Theatre in Hanley on Friday and Saturday (8pm). Tickets are £12.50 to £27.50. phone 0870 060 6619 or visit http://ambassadortickets.com/ Regent-Theatre.