Babs – we chat to the stars of the new film, as well as Barbara Windsor herself
AS HER LIFE IS PLAYED OUT IN A TV DRAMA, BARBARA WINDSOR HOPES WE’LL FINALLY SEE THE REAL ‘BABS’…
We all know the Carry On lady with the saucy laugh, and
Inside Soap readers certainly know the formidable Peggy Mitchell, but this one-off film brings us the real woman behind that most showbiz of characters – Barbara Windsor.
The 90-minute drama is written by Barbara’s friend – and former Eastenders writer – Tony Jordan, who is the main reason behind the actress deciding that the time was right to have her life story portrayed on screen…
“It had been mentioned a few times over the years and I thought, ‘Oh I’m not sure’ as
I had all these things in my life like gangsters, and I thought, ‘It’s all going to be like that’,” says Barbara, who was made a dame last year. “But when darling [Tony] said, ‘I want to write this for you’, I agreed because I know him and love him, and he’s always gotten me.
“This is the real me, it’s what people don’t know about me and what made me,” adds the star. “Some people I know thought it should be more about my showbiz career and theatre work, but that’s showing off. This is warts and all!”
The show begins with Barbara as an aging glamour girl, just before she landed the role of Eastenders’ Peggy, looking back at her life in show business. Two main actresses share the lead role – Jaime Winstone playing the younger Barbara, and Samantha Spiro the older version.
“I’m kind of used to Samantha playing me,” grins Barbara [Samantha having previous played the actress on stage and on screen in a drama about the Carry On films]. “But it’s odd Jaime playing me. I got some fan mail the other day, and someone had sent me a picture [to sign]. I thought ,‘Oh, they’ve made a mistake, that’s a picture of Jaime doing me’. Then I looked again – it wasn’t, it was me! They are both amazing, and both of them have said to me in their own little ways, ‘You’re not like everyone thinks…’”
The story also portrays Barbara as a child, as she entered showbiz at the age of 13, which meant Barbara had the experience of watching two actors [Ripper Street’s Leanne Best and Lock,
Stock And Two Smoking Barrel’s Nick Moran] play the roles of her mum and dad.
“It’s really weird – I had to stay away a couple of times because you’ve got to let them do it how they see it, although they’ve done extremely well,” she gushes. “Of course, there are little things – I would go, ‘Daddy didn’t have that much hair, you’ve got him too good-looking’, but they really are the greatest cast.”
The show follows Barbara from her early success as a child star in the theatre, through to becoming a successful nightclub singer, a leading lady on Broadway, then a film star with the Carry On movies – however, it’s the ups and downs of her love life and her career challenges that drive the story. So is Barbara worried about how people might react to finally seeing the ‘real’ her? “Maybe people will understand how and why the things that happened did happen,” she muses. “I’m a nice lady, though, and I’ve made mistakes, but they’re my mistakes. While I’m ashamed of some of them, that’s what I did at the time.”
And as the icon reaches the age of 80 this year, Barbara is still going strong. “I’m in a good place, I really am,” she beams, flashing that broad smile. “I’ve got a fantastic husband, I’m still working and I can do all my charity stuff. It is a bit difficult now that
I’m a dame as I have to behave, don’t I?! But life is good.”