Never too late

EVER dreamt about an entirely different life to the one you’ve been oh-so-cruelly lumbered with? That’s a feeling Alison Steadman’s character in new comedy drama Love and Marriage knows only too well.

Pauline Paradise (Steadman) has hit that equally dreaded and looked-forwardto milestone in life – retirement. But she’s disappointed that no one seems to have noticed, never mind care, least of all her husband, Ken, who has the attentionspan of a goldfish.

As Pauline realises just how taken for granted she is by her family, her father, Frank, is involved in an accident which only adds to the strain.

Getting little comfort from Ken prompts her to think about what the future may hold, and what’s more, does she need to put up with that? Pauline Paradise is far from her namesake heaven, as she ponders whether she should accept her life as it’s always been or take a chance on a new one.

It was only a few years ago that that the actress was despairing of the way the industry seemed to be heading, venting her frustration that TV roles were for the younger generation, and that she was simply the “parent” of that generation.

But ever since then, the Shirley Valentine star has landed some of her most respected jobs – Gavin and Stacey and The Syndicate to name but two.

Her first big break came many moons ago in 1977’s Abigail’s Party, a stage and screen production directed by her-then husband Mike Leigh that she remembers fondly.

“You do a lot of work and suddenly you do something that catches the public imagination and everything changes.

Still now, people stop me in the street and say ‘Aren’t you Beverly?’,” she says.

“I’ve done a lot of work since and people recognise me for other things, too, but I don’t think I can top Abigail’s Party really and I’ve stopped trying. It would be terrible if I hadn’t worked over the years and had just sat at home twiddling my thumbs. But I am still working and I am still doing nice things so I’m happy.”

She’s joined in Love And Marriage by her Gavin and Stacey “husband” Larry Lamb, Duncan Preston, Ashley Jenson and Corrie villain Graeme Hawley (who played the Devil in the York Mysteries Plays last summer).

D-DAY took place on June 6, not June 5, so why is C4 dedicating a prime time slot with a programme called D-Day: As It Happens a day early?

The answer is simple: the Allied forces involved in D-Day began their journey to France on the 5th, with many enduring a very choppy English Channel crossing from 9pm.

The broadcaster is marking the anniversary by following the fortunes of ten of those who took part in the landings, from their trip to the beaches and beyond, and will use archive film, photographs, radio reports, diaries, letters and official reports to do so.

Research by historian Colin Henderson has inspired this enterprise. He’s spent 15 years analysing material collected at DDay to identify individual soldiers.

The programme concludes tomorrow, at 9pm.

IN first-century imperial Rome, two women’s reputations were so shocking that they have fascinated and stunned historians for two millennia.

One was Messalina, paternal cousin of Emperor Nero. She’s said to have bedded 25 partners in one night, according to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History book.

It’s also claimed she had a brothel under another name and organised orgies for noble women.

The other is Agrippina, sister of Emperor Caligula. She was not only a skilled and ambitious politician, but also known as a murderer whose image, along with her two sisters, Drusilla and Livilla, adorned coins of the era. Following Drusilla’s death, Caligula is said to have gone insane.

In Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome, Professor Catharine Edwards sheds new light on these historic femme fatales who both featured in classic drama I, Claudius, recently re-screened on BBC4.