Guess who this is? You haven’t got a prayer!
WITH an unflattering comb-over and oversized specs, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a man in his seventies.
But this is actually Jennifer Saunders in costume for her upcoming role in a BBC One children’s film.
In the hour-long television adaptation of David Walliams’s 2015 novel Grandpa’s Great Escape, the actress, 59, plays moneyhungry villain Miss Dandy – who poses as a vicar to gain the trust of families.
Dressed in glasses, false teeth and black robes, she convinces them to put their elderly relatives in her old people’s home Twilight Towers. Here, she feeds them sleeping pills, forges their wills so she is the sole beneficiary and waits for them to die. She has a room in her spooky mansion where she hoards all the valuable jewellery and antiques collected from former residents.
Speaking of her part in the fifth TV adaptation of Walliams’s books, which airs on New Year’s Day, Miss Saunders said: ‘I love playing villains – they’re so much more interesting than nice people. It’s so easy, it comes naturally. Miss Dandy is the sort of person you’d hope would never be in charge of an old people’s home, but great fun because of that. She’s a self-serving psychopath with very few redeeming features ... I think the fact that her tool of choice is a cattle-prod says a lot about her mentality.’
The role will contrast with her other key Christmas TV appearance, reliving her hit comedy sketch series with Dawn French in their 30th anniversary clip spectacular, 300 Years Of French And Saunders.
As well as Walliams himself, Sir Tom Courtenay also stars in the programme as a grandfather with Alzheimer’s disease.
Once a spitfire pilot in World War Two, he is still convinced he is in the 1940s and does not realise his wife Peggy has passed away.
The plot focuses on his relationship with his 13-year-old grandson called Jack Bunting, who helps him to break out of the abusive home and fly a spitfire once again.
Grandpa’s Great Escape will air on New Year’s Day at 6:55pm on BBC1 – and Walliams plays Jack’s father Barry. Meanwhile the comedian turned author, 46, has topped the Christmas bestsellers list – beating Blue Planet II, Guinness World Records and even Jamie Oliver. His tenth book Bad Dad shifted more than 60,000 copies last week, making it the official seasonal best- seller. It follows a boy called Frank whose father is in prison for aiding a bank robbery, with the two hatching a daring escape to give the stolen money back.
Cookbook king Jamie Oliver lost out to the children’s book by just 1,608 sales, but has raked in nearly double the revenue from sales of his latest cookbook, Jamie Oliver: 5 Ingredients because of its higher price. Guinness World Records 2018 was third on the list with Blue Planet II, accompanying David Attenborough’s hit BBC series, in at Number Five. Walliams – estimated to be worth £19million – enjoyed sales totalling £376,000 last week, while Oliver’s topped £704,000. The Britain’s Got Talent judge is on course to make £17million just this year alone thanks to his hugely popular books.
This year there has been an 18 per cent rise in the value of book sales compared to five years ago, according to figures released by sales analysts Nielsen BookScan.