How did your involvement in the project come about?
Nick Hytner called me and firstly talked about this wonderful monologue that he wanted me to do and then explained the project to me and how it was going to be achieved under strict social distancing rules. To me it seemed quite straightforward and such a brilliant idea to recreate these with a new generation of actors. Most people thought they were originally made about 15 years ago, but in fact the first ones were produced in 1988. I’d worked with Nick a couple of times at the National Theatre and we’re friends so I knew I was in for a treat.

Tell us about your monologue, Bed Among The Lentils and your character, Susan?
There’s absolutely nothing to compare Alan Bennett’s writing with. In Bed Among The Lentils he deals with Susan’s pain and longing and loneliness, but laces it with such humour and self-deprecation. He understands the human condition. Susan is a wonderful woman who is full of potential and desperate to have a life of love and validation. She’s stuck in an awful marriage to Geoffrey, a vicar, and is isolated and lonely and the only humour she shares is with herself.

Were you familiar with the original Talking Heads?
I was familiar with the series having watched one or two (when it originally came out it coincided with me having a new baby so I didn’t see much of anything), but I hadn’t seen Maggie Smith do Bed Among The Lentils. Of course one’s initial reaction is, how can I follow in her footsteps? but of course we have to, otherwise nothing would ever be rediscovered or have new light shed on it. The brief was absolutely not to do what Maggie did, that would be wrong. I had free rein to do my thing and see where it took us.

Can you tell us about the preparations for filming you had to do remotely, due to lockdown?
It’s not ideal rehearsing on Zoom, I missed the atmosphere of being in the same room, and it was disconcerting always seeing my face so close up! But ultimately it probably works better for a monologue than anything else because when we filmed it it’s just you talking to a camera.

The make-up session was quite something! Naomi Donne is a good friend so we giggled a lot. I’ve been longing to work with her and never have, and finally when we did get the chance I had to do my own! I sat in front of my computer and she watched me do the make-up and hair and gave notes and discussed along the way.

Costume was a bit more of a challenge for Jacqueline Durran because there were no shops open, so having discussed how Susan should look, she then had to get clothes delivered to me. I sent her a comprehensive set of my measurements and she had things altered before they arrived.

So the artistic discussions were really the same, apart from not being in the flesh, it was just the execution that was different. Quite an achievement though for those departments, but they were undaunted and met the challenge head on and without fuss.

Tell us about the unique way in which Talking Heads was filmed?
Well we couldn’t break any rules so it was very organised and calm. I drove myself to work, had a sanitised dressing room and everyone kept their distance. There were routes marked out to get to the studio and a skeleton crew. There was only ever one person around the camera. When the battery needed changing the operator walked away and the loader stepped in.

The 1st Assistant Director was keeping an eye on everything, and Nick was on the floor directing me from a safe distance. It seemed very straightforward. The day before I arrived on set a stand-in had been used so it could be lit and ready. It was pretty extraordinary that I walked on to set at 8am and by about 8.10 we were doing a take. My monologue was made up of five scenes on three different sets. We did each scene so we had it good twice. I dried a few times or stumbled over words and we had to start again, but to film a 45-minute monologue in one day is pretty good going.

I can see it being far more complex once you have more than one actor involved, but for us I think it was dealt with in a controlled way. I didn’t feel unsafe or compromised at any time. And it was one of the most enjoyable days on set I’ve ever had. I think the crew enjoyed it too. It’s not often they get to see more than two or three pages of dialogue at a time and by nature it’s very fragmented. This was almost like watching a play for them.

Why do you think Talking Heads has been so popular with viewers throughout the years?
Quality of writing. It always starts and ends with that. Characters who make you laugh and cry and that we identify with even if we are entirely different people to them. And they’re funny. Humour that comes from character, what could be better than that?