5 MINUTES WITH...

National treasures Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders – back together on screen in a new UKTV documentary celebrating women in comedy…

How is it to be back working together? DAWN, 63: People call it a reunion but it’s not, because we’ve never been apart! But it’s always the same – being very funny in rehearsals and then forgetting it all.

JENNIFER, 63: We’re always funnier in our heads. But the second we get onto set we just revert to being children.

Tell us about the show… JENNIFER: It’s about funny women who have influenced us, who we’ve admired from when we were kids – but also women who are carving out careers in comedy right now.

What makes you laugh?

DAWN: It’s so many different things. Julie Walters, Victoria Wood and [Aussie comic] Hannah Gadsby are all in this show, and they are all people in my life where I think, “Yes! Thank you!”

JENNIFER: Julie Walters could walk into a room and make you laugh without saying anything. And then there’s your own comedy…

JENNIFER: Honestly, we’re just desperate to be funny, get laughs, dress up and be silly. You can get a bit po-faced in some comedy nowadays, but you’ve just got to up the gag rate. DAWN: That’s how Victoria Wood always gave you bang for your buck. She would always want you to get value for money, and she would absolutely feel like she’d failed if she didn’t give you loads of gags!

You talk about the new generation of funny women – Miranda Hart, Phoebe WallerBridge, Michaela Coel… JENNIFER: We’re quite bitter about them.

DAWN: But we’re coming into the generation where we’re just begging for work, really, so we blow smoke up their a***s.