1961 - For eight-year-old Eunice, this year it’s just her and her dad, and there’s little festive spirit to be found. But, when she delivers eggs to Mrs Whitefield and is invited into her Christmassy home, Eunice is captivated by something even more Christmassy on the TV. Heading home to the farm to put up decorations with Dad, Eunice comes to realise that cherished memories are never forgotten. And, sometimes, they can even be sprinkled with a bit of seasonal cheer.
What attracted you to Little Crackers?
It’s a chance to tell a story that I want to tell.
Your story stands out because it doesn’t feature you, or a younger version of you. Instead, it revolves around an eight-year-old girl called Eunice. How autobiographical is it?
It’s autobiographical in the sense that it’s very much set in the place where I was brought up and with
the people who surrounded me. It’s not my specific circumstances, but it’s about my world.
As well as writing, you’re set to direct your Little Cracker. How difficult do you think it’s going to be
to direct the children and recreate the 60s era?
I’m not anticipating any huge challenges with the children because I cast them and they’re really good. As far as recreating the era is concerned, we’ve been incredibly lucky because we’re shooting in a little village
where, visually, nothing’s modern. It’s perfect – there are little stone cottages that haven’t been renovated,
no satellite dishes and even a red phone box.
Although you’re still very much involved in comedy, nowadays you’re more behind the scenes. Why is that?
It’s a question of wanting to do something new and scary, like directing. I’m not interested in being in front of the camera because I feel like I’ve done that for a long time. Now, I can invent and direct new programmes. It’s good to learn, to not always do the same thing.
When did you realise you were funny?
I was four. I used to pull faces and my mum would say, ‘Go and do one of your faces’. And I’d go into the kitchen, think of a face, come out and do it, and everyone would laugh. What I do now is essentially
an extension of that!
Was there a stigma attached to female comics when you started?
It was more, ‘Oooh, how can that be? How can you be a funny woman?’ People couldn’t place me because their only vision of a comedienne was of those glamorous women in films and theatre. Female comics were a novelty and I’m sure that helped me - I wasn’t very good in the beginning, but that gave me an edge.
Is it fair to say that one of the benefits of being able to write is that it gives you the opportunity
to create decent roles for yourself, and other women?
Definitely. There’s been a lot of hoo-ha in the papers about the lack of roles for middle-aged women. They dry up. In a detective drama, for example, you might have one spanner-faced female cop who’s at the top but the rest are wives, girlfriends and sidekicks. Equivalent roles are written for men of an equivalent age, but when women cross a certain line they seem to become invisible. You may re-emerge as Thora Hird if you’re lucky but most don’t. I’m part of the solution.
You’re something of a TV legend with more than 35 years in the industry. What have been the highs and lows?
My career high so far - I’m hoping to have more highs - was Housewife, 49. It won two BAFTAs® and was nominated for an Emmy®. Everything at the beginning was a trough. I lived in a trough for five years and thought I’d never get my head above the top of it to see a peak!
What do you like to watch at Christmas?
I love Christmas telly and that’s why I seized the opportunity to make Little Crackers. On Christmas morning, I normally watch Monster’s Inc. on the settee with the children. It’s so beautiful and cleverly written.
What’s your favourite thing about Christmas?
The Christmas carols and the lovely music on the radio. I’ve got brass band music and Christmas CDs on my iPod so I play those all the time.
What was your most memorable Christmas present?
A bike when I was six or seven. For my family, that was a big present, a great, big, super-duper thing to get.
Do you have a favourite Christmas cracker joke?
Have you heard about Arthur the human chameleon? He crawled over a tartan rug and died of exhaustion.
