I thought they

would sack me!

Helen remembers her first scene, which involved Trixie and her young colleagues

Jenny (played by Jessica Raine) and Cynthia (Bryony Hannah) sitting around in the kitchen, discussing the manicure Trixie (pictured smoking) longed for, though it didn’t make the cut. ‘I’d done the scene for the audition too, so I thought I was prepared, but I had to light a cigarette while talking,’ she recalls. ‘Well, I just couldn’t do it. I was using matches and I kept snapping them. Bryony laughed about it later, telling me that all she could see was my hands shaking. And I was just thinking, “I can’t even light a fag properly – they are going to sack me!”’

Didn’t one of the older actresses step in? Was Pam Ferris on hand to show her how to light up? ‘Well, she wasn’t in the scene but I’m sure she would have done! From the start it was the more experienced actors who set the tone on set. That’s what makes them so classy. They created a sense of community, and made sure it wasn’t them and us. They individually took me under their wing.’