On the eve of the premeire of the film about W1 women who went naked for charity, the real-life Calendar Girls tells Steve Pratt how the making of the movie split their ranks.

THE aim of the middle-aged Women's Institute members from North Yorkshire who stripped off for a charity calendar four years ago was to raise money to buy a new sofa for a hospital waiting room.

No one imagined this spot of Northern exposure would end up not only raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for leukaemia research, but become the toast of the Cannes Film Festival and help raise the profile of the Women's Institute movement.

Now, they're the inspiration for the British movie Calendar Girls, already dubbed "the next Full Monty" - not just because ordinary people stripping off are at the heart of both pictures, but because industry insiders believe the story of the women has the potential to become as big an international money-maker as The Full Monty's stripping steelworkers.

This is good news for the Leukaemia Research Fund, to which the WI strippers have signed over their fees. But the road from North Yorkshire to Hollywood has been a bumpy one for the Calendar Girls. As they were forced to choose between rival bidders for their story, they saw their own WI split in two and old friendships ruined.

The makers insist the screenplay is only "inspired" by the Rylstone calendar girls. Names have been changed, and the setting switched from Rylstone to fictional Knapely, although still located in the Yorkshire Dales. That hasn't stopped a breakaway group, dubbed the Rylstone Rebels, threatening legal action if they're depicted in a derogatory way.

The moving forces behind both the original calendar and the film, Angela Baker and Tricia Stewart, are upset by this, while feeling pleased and proud with the movie, which stars Julie Walters, Helen Mirren and a line-up of familiar British actresses.

They came up with the idea of an alternative fund-raising WI calendar after Angela's husband, John, died of leukaemia. These ladies of a certain age posed naked while undertaking traditional WI activities such as cake-baking, flower arranging and cider-pressing.

John Baker was aware of the women's idea for the calendar, but didn't live to see what they achieved as he died in July 1998. "He did know what we intended and laughed along with us," recalls Angela. "He would be absolutely amazed with what we have done."

The whole thing was considered a bit of fun and not thought to be of interest to anyone outside Yorkshire. They were surprised to find the story become big news in Europe and America, where stories featured on the front pages of newspapers and on TV programmes.

There was little doubt that someone, somewhere would want to transfer their story to the screen. Tricia, who comes from Sunderland but has lived in the Dales for 30 years, says they always wanted it to be a British-made picture, never a Hollywood one.

"Angela and her family thought long and hard before we went anywhere with a film. They thought about the royalties for leukaemia research and what a fantastic thing it would as a tribute to John," she explains.

"We discussed it among the 11 of us on the calendar and five didn't want to be involved in the film. They were worried about how it would turn out. All along all of us thought it was Angela's decision. The problem came after we visited America. The New York Times put us on the front page and we were on the front page of the Express with a story saying 'Will Julia Roberts strip for the WI?'

"Then Victoria Wood got in touch, but we were a long way down the road with Harbour Pictures by then. Five decided they would rather do Victoria Wood. So we had to have a democratic vote, and that really did split us. We're civil to each other, but it's not the same."

Angela and Tricia are the only characters in the film directly based on the real women, although their names have been changed.

They were first approached about making Calendar Girls as a TV drama. "We went on gut reaction and what people sounded like," says Angela. "Gradually, over time, we formed a friendship and trust with the people at Harbour Pictures that they would do what they said. It moved from being a TV drama into a movie."

Meeting the actor who portrays her late husband must have been difficult, but after two seconds in the company of John Alderton she knew she couldn't have asked for anyone better to play him. She gave the actor John's watch to wear in the film. "He watched videos of John, met my children, and went on special walks that John liked. I felt like I had known him for ages," she says.

Getting the script right was more difficult. Playwright Tim Firth, author of All Quiet On The Preston Front on TV and Neville's Island on stage, was brought in to rework Juliette Towhidi's screenplay and inject more comedy into the story. Director Nigel Cole felt the balance between the drama and emotion of the story, and the comedy wasn't right in the original script.

Firth comes from the area where the story is set, and remembers buying a calendar from one of the women at a county show. The WI pin-ups also came from the village where he's spent every summer of his childhood.

"I was working on the Madness musical Our House at the time and came on to Calendar Girls for two weeks," says Firth. "I fostered rather than gave birth to it. I deliberately didn't meet any of the women. I gave the script to my mum and she was very relieved because she was concerned my gran, who was in the WI, would be turning in her grave."

His gran might well have been shocked at the Calendar Girls baring all in public. The actresses, some nervous about doing a nude scene, made a pact to support each other when the time came to strip for the cameras. Now they've joined six of the original Calendar Girls to pose for a 2004 charity calendar.

Baring all brought them fame - including being awarded an Erotic Oscar by a mens' magazine - but Tricia was keen that the nudity didn't take over the film. "That's not what it's about. I don't think people are looking at us nude. It's the humour of it, and I think it's a Northern humour," she says.

The $10m movie, which has its world premiere in London tomorrow, is being tipped to be the biggest British movie of the year. This follows a good response at Cannes, where Angela and Tricia were photographed paddling in the sea with stars Julie Walters and Helen Mirren. The film will open in America on Christmas Day, in time to qualify for next year's Oscar nominations.

It's also expected to help give the WI a modern image and boost membership. Already the calendar has been the inspiration for many other professions and organisations to pose naked for their own Calendar Girls-style publications.

The film and the surrounding publicity will also raise more money for leukaemia research. The initial goal was to sell 1,000 calendars at £5 each. In the end, they raised nearer half a million pounds. The local hospital received money for a day care centre, but Angela does have a confession to make: "We never did buy the sofa we set out to raise the money for."

* Calendar Girls (12A) has its Leeds premiere on Wednesday, is showing in Skipton on September 10 and goes on general release from September 12.