Actress , 49, now stars in her own, self-penned cosy crime drama The Madame Blanc Mysteries, set in the south of .
Here she takes a break from the sunshine to chat about creating her own roles, working with her best mates and what she loves about filming abroad.
The Madame Blanc Mysteries is the perfect midweek pick-me-up, isn’t it?
Yes, it’s the antidote to horrible days. That’s what we wanted – clever mysteries and something to keep your mind entertained. Just a lovely set of characters who you want to go and have a drink with, where there’s loads of sunshine. That’s what I want in a TV programme myself, which is sort of why I made it up. It’s like Lovejoy on Sea, or Bergerac.
I’d wrote it while I was filming at Pinewood Studios in the summer of 2018. I had loads of spare time so I thought I’m finally going to get this idea down because it’s getting on my nerves spinning around in my head. Then two days before I finished the job, Channel Five said they wanted it and that was that. I produce and write it and I’m the lead in it, so it’s a big deal for me.
How’s your French?
Un peu?! It’s better than it was. Sue Vincent, my writing partner, is miles better than me. And we’ve got an amazing friend who’s a French lawyer who checks all our French for us. But put ten French people in a room and every one of them will say it’s wrong. So I just leave it to the actor!
Had you spent a lot of time in the south of France before?
No. I came up with the idea in my Winnebago in a car park in , filming Cold Call. It was raining and freezing, and although I loved the drama, I thought there must be something better. At the time Escape To The Chateau was massive and I thought it would be great to set something in France based on a lovely antiques dealer called Jan. She’s a pundit on Dickinson’s Real Deal and I met her on holiday about six years ago.
Where do you film it?
Malta! That was a pandemic thing because France was more ‘shut’ than we were. We wanted to film it in 2021 and the only place that was remotely open was Gozo, which is a tiny island north of Malta.
I wasn’t convinced but we got to Gozo and it looked like the south of France in the 1950s. I couldn’t get over it.
It must be easy getting guest stars to go out there!
It wasn’t the first year because of lockdown. We had to cast from Ireland and France because anybody from a non-EU country had to quarantine for two weeks. That was a little Brexit gift. But my main cast all agreed to it, and last year was much funnier because I could basically ring my mates up and go, ‘Fancy doing this?’ And all of them did.
Lee Boardman and Jenny James I’ve not worked with since Coronation Street, and they’re my dear friends. Lee is all over the place in Netflix and Disney, and they run a very successful drama school together.
Then there’s Les Dennis and David Ames, who are dear old friends. Harriet Thorpe is a mate and Jacqui Boatswain was a right laugh.
I always see at Channel 5 events and I was like, ‘Would you do Madame Blanc?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but you won’t remember asking me.’ I was like, ‘Yeah I bloomin’ will – you’re Tony Robinson!’
Didn’t you meet your co-star Steve Edge doing Phoenix Nights?
Yeah! I’ve known Edgy since we were 24 when we did that show, so 25 years. That’s why the ‘will they, won’t they’ chemistry is such a big trick. If you’re dear friends with someone, it’s very easy to trick the audience into this big spark. He was my number one choice.
And doesn’t your husband, Steve White, who was drummer for The Style Council, do the music for the show?
Yes, he and his band Hague & White do all the music. Every single beat is completely made for the show, which is lovely. Madame Blanc has a very unique sound – and we adapt it too. Like when the prog-rock star comes to Sainte Victoire to record an album, they composed the prog-rock singles this guy had. They had lots of fun with that and it’s good for us.
Is it the way forward – to create roles you want to do?
Well, Jean is definitely me. I created her because I love the character. Our production company does like to create strong female roles for other actors as well. That’s my ambition. You always like to create work for yourself but I’m really interested in creating roles for other women.
Have you got any other places you want to film in?
I’ve fallen a little bit in love with Greece. I’ve never filmed there before and the people were lovely. What’s so great about filming in these countries is you realise how small we are as a country and how there’s a big wide world out there with loads of other brilliant actors. I’d film wherever I could. Rachel Corcoran
The Madame Blanc Mysteries Series 1 & 2 DVD box set is out now
