Want a hit show? Then cast more older actors, says the stage and TV veteran

Since I first found fame in the ITV drama Rock Follies in the mid-1970s I’ve usually been in demand as an actress on television – in 2011 I played mischievous hairdresser Claudia Colby in Coronation Street, as you may remember. I’m lucky in a way. I have a recognisable voice, the stature – I’m descended from Polish aristocracy – as well as loads of hair. In short, I still possess a certain ‘glamour’ – although I don’t look so glamorous first thing in the morning!

Since turning 70 last year, however, I’ve noticed that work has been a bit thinner on the ground television-wise. Thankfully I’m still in demand in the theatre – my first love – and am currently touring in a new adaptation of Edgar Wallace’s terrific psychological thriller The Case Of The Frightened Lady.

But it’s sad there are so few good parts for older actors – in particular, actresses – in many television dramas today, as my peers such as Helen Mirren and Imelda Staunton have observed. It’s mystifying because you don’t stop being a good actor when you have a few wrinkles or grey hairs. In a way, you have more depth because you’ve experienced so much more in life, and you know how to keep an audience glued to their seats.

The makers of reality TV shows have cottoned on to this fact, and that helps explain why so many ‘oldies’ have been cast in recent programmes like The Real Marigold Hotel (with Miriam Margolyes, Wayne Sleep and Jan Leeming), last year’s Gone To Pot: American Road Trip (Pam St Clement, Christopher Biggins and Linda Robson) and two I appeared in – Celebrity Big Brother and last year’s A Celebrity Taste Of Italy.

To the surprise of the men in suits at the TV networks, they’ve proved popular with all ages, not just the older generation. They’ve shown – shock, horror – that older people are as entertaining to watch as those in their 20s, 30s or 40s. Younger viewers aren’t reaching for their remote controls and hitting the off button. Quite the reverse, in fact.

The moral of the story is that TV executives are missing a trick by casting young actors at the expense of their more experienced peers, wrongly striving to make dramas all about youth. There is room for both in top-notch television. Contrary to what some young TV executives might think, us ‘oldies’ have a lot of life left in us – we just need the chance to shine. The Case Of The Frightened Lady is on a nationwide tour until 4 August 2018. For full dates and ticket info visit kenwright.com.