I LIKE THE CUTOF HER GIB

Dawn French was a Beatrix Potter fan as a child, but warmed to her even more when she discovered what she was really like. ‘She was slightly spiky, and she didn’t seek out popularity for her books,’ she says. ‘She wanted to protect the Lake District and breed rare sheep. I like the cut of her gib.

‘The key moment in the show is when this boy runs into her garden. From her point of view he’s just one of many children who came and bothered her. She’s quite tough with him at first and tells him to “buzz off”, until she realises he’s had a bit of a tough time. There’s this lovely moment that changes both of them in different ways. From something he says, she realises something quite profound.’