‘At my age, I don’t have to be polite!’
Dame Sheila Hancock on her lust for life and why she’s lost her manners as she’s got older
‘I enjoy playing Eileen because she’s so vile’
Not everyone enjoys the ageing process, but Dame Sheila Hancock is definitely a glass half-full sort of person.
For the past three years she has battled rheumatoid arthritis, but she reckons that one of the upsides of being 88 is that you can get away with far more than when you were younger.
‘If I’m a bit curt with somebody, my daughter will say, “Oh, forgive her, she’s old!”’ she reveals with a wry smile. ‘And before lockdown, when we could all get together in a group, I could actually say things like, “Look, I’m awfully bored, I’ve had enough, I’m going home. Sorry.” ‘You can do that when you’re old – they just dismiss you as a silly old fart – you couldn’t possibly do that when you’re young.’
‘I am difficult,’ she continues. ‘I’ve got to the age where I can’t be bothered to be polite. Now, particularly when I’m working, I’ll say what I think. I hope I’m not cruel ever, but I haven’t got the time to try and think of a polite way of saying things. I don’t worry what people think any more.’
It sounds like the perfect mindset for her latest role; that of cantankerous mother Eileen in the current series of the ITV police drama Unforgotten.
Sheila says, ‘My character is horrible – the main reason I enjoy playing her is because she’s so vile, but nevertheless I totally understand where she’s coming from.
‘She is a sharp-witted, educated woman who has had a very full life, and she is confined to talking to a daughter that she really doesn’t like and has nothing in common with. She loves classical music, which I love, so I can see why she’s furious that her daughter has no understanding of classical music.’
Sheila, who lives in London, was married to Inspector Morse actor John Thaw until his death in 2002, and has three grown-up daughters, Melanie, Joanna and Abigail.
‘I think mother and daughter relationships are very difficult; it’s a complex thing,’ she says frankly. ‘If you’re not careful you continue to treat your 50-year-old daughter as your little baby. Several times my eldest daughter has turned round and said, “Mum, I’m 55, I know what I’m doing!”
‘Then they start mothering you! She comes in and says, “Look, you’ve got to do this,” and I think, “Hold on! Who are you talking to?”’
One of Britain’s most acclaimed actresses, Sheila first burst on to the scene in the 1960s sitcom The Rag Trade. She has since performed extensively both on Broadway and in the West End, winning a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Cabaret.
Her long TV career has seen her appear in series as varied as New Tricks, EastEnders and Doctor Who. Last year she was seen gliding along Britain’s waterways with her friend Gyles Brandreth in Channel 4’s Great Canal Journeys, and most recently she has played a 16th-century witch in the Sky drama A Discovery of Witches.
She was made a Dame in the 2021 New Year Honours list
for her services to drama and charity, and the latter is clearly still the driving force in her life.
Since her husband’s death, she has helped run The John Thaw Foundation, and she is a passionate campaigner for improving education, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Of the Damehood, she says, ‘To begin with, I was shocked and thought it was wrong, and then I suddenly felt very proud to be part of it. I’ve done quite a few things, but I’m going to redouble that. I feel I’ve got to prove something and work even harder, particularly for charity.
‘My passion to change the world is as strong now and probably stronger because it’s the last flap of my tail before I die, so there’s a desperation to it.’
‘I don’t worry about the number of years I have left, I just worry about the amount of things I want to do before I go,’ she finishes.
✣ Unforgotten continues on Mondays at 9pm on ITV.