Gillian Taylforth talks to Viv Hardwick about going on stage with her sister, Kim, as she prepares for a stage musical debut at Durham.

A SISTER act is about to beckon for Gillian Taylforth because the former EastEnders star has agreed to tour her latest stage show with younger sibling Kim next year.

“And she’s playing my younger sister, of course,” jokes Gillian about the drama-musical Girls Night, in which she makes her debut (without Kim) at Durham’s Gala Theatre next week.

Gillian, 54, is three years older than Kim and she bursts into laughter when I ask how many times the two have acted together since they starred in an 1983 episode of ITV’s Minder called Senior Citizen Caine.

“My giddy aunt, is that how long ago it was? I wouldn’t mind seeing a picture of that because we were lucky enough to be in an episode with Lionel Jeffries. We were in another thing called Zigger Zagger (two episodes of a three-part TV drama in 1975), but we haven’t done too much together. So this is a lovely opportunity, particularly because we will be touring. Having part of my family with me will make it really nice.

“We are going to do a tour together next year playing sisters. I think Kimmy was originally up for the Girls Night role and we told our agents it would be nice for us to do a project together. The Durham show was already arranged, but the company said it was definitely going to tour again. So we jumped at the opportunity,” says Gillian.

She says that there’s never been any rivalry between the two, who both trained at London’s Anna Scher Theatre School. The older Taylforth has a career which stretches back to the legendary BBC sitcom The Rag Trade (1977) and she reveals she got her big break in film thanks to her sister.

“Kimmy went up for a part in The Long Good Friday (1980) and got the part, but went out for a holiday in the US and then Freddie Laker’s airline went bust and she was stuck out there. She rang them and said ‘what about my sister?’ and I did The Long Good Friday instead,” she says.

“So I say ‘thank you very much Kim’ and it took a lot of effort on my part to make Freddie Laker go bust,” Gillian jokes.

Kim – who was a 15-year-old member of the Steptoe and Son cast – joined the Metropolitan Police for 12 years before returning to acting with Family Affairs and ITV’s Bad Girls.

Gillian says Kim’s police experience was ideal when she became Sgt Nikki Wright in The Bill for two years from 2006.

Girls Night follows a tour of Mum’s The Word for Gillian and she says that both productions have a reputation for attracting all-female audiences.

“Girls Night is a party. I’ve met the writer, Louise Roche, and she’s great. It’s all set around a karaoke evening and I’m putting my singing voice to the test in this one. I’ve sung a bit in panto before and got through it, but I don’t really count myself as the singing part of the cast. I’ve got an Elkie Brooks number, We Don’t Cry Out Loud, and I think it helps me that she’s got a bit of a gravelly voice.

I can’t reach her notes at all and I was hoping the show might include Lee Marvin’s Wandrin’ Star because I could reach those notes,” she says.

Gilliam confesses she’s had a couple of singing lessons and was due to go into full rehearsal this week before her big debut at Durham.

“I don’t mind the dancing so much because I do Zumba three times a week and I’m looking forward to the chorus songs like Dancing Queen and It’s Raining Men. The thing is, with karaoke, everyone thinks they can sing after a few beers. I think I’m Jennifer Lopez after I’ve had a couple of drinks.”

Gillian plays troubled Carol in the show as a group of middle-aged friends gather to recapture the days when they went to the disco with dead pal Sharon, who just happens to still be hovering around as an angel.

The mother-of-two is pleased that she’s managed to keep her weight down to around eight stone. a move that was motivated by her split from partner Geoff Knights.

“I’m doing weights as well now, so keep your fingers crossed. People do come up to me and say ‘you look really good’, but is isn’t easy because the weight won’t come off with diet alone when you get over 50.

“You just have to stick at it and buy the extra face cream,” jokes the woman who has vowed to avoid cosmetic surgery. “The iron comes in handy as well,” she jokes. I don’t want to drag her back to the ancient history of EastEnders, but I wonder if she keeps in touch with her other “son”, Adam Woodyatt, who played her soap son Ian Beale.

“I still give him the odd phone call and he still says ‘hello mum’. Sometimes I see him at the red carpet events. It’s such a shame that everyone hates him as Ian… he obviously takes after his father. And now we’ve got the same with Ben Mitchell.

“I do still watch. In fact I watch quite a few soaps. I’ve got into Emmerdale because my old mate Pauline Quirke’s in that and now I’ll be tuning into Coronation Street because Michelle Collins has gone into that.”

So what’s her advice to Collins?

“I think it’s great because there used to be that taboo about not going for another big role in a rival soap. I think ‘well done to her’ and perhaps she’s broken that taboo and I might well end up in Hollyoaks or in Emmerdale as Pauline’s sister.”

• Girls Night, Durham Gala Theatre, Tuesday-Saturday. Box Office: 0191-332-4041 galadurham.co.uk