Guess who this is? You haven’t got a prayer!
WITH an unflattering comb-over and oversized specs, this chap appears to be a jolly old man of the cloth.
but look a little closer and you might spot something familiar about him. Or her.
This is actually Jennifer Saunders in costume for her upcoming role in a BBC One children’s film.
in the hour-long TV adaptation of David Walliams’s novel grandpa’s great escape, the 59-year-old actress plays money-hungry villain miss Dandy – who poses as a vicar to gain the trust of elderly people’s families.
Wearing glasses and black robes, she convinces them to put their ageing 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.
in grandpa’s great escape, Sir Tom Courtenay stars with miss Saunders as a grandfather with alzheimer’s disease. Once a spitfire pilot in the Second World War, 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, Jack bunting, who helps him to break out of the horrid home and fly a spitfire once again. Walliams plays Jack’s father, barry.
grandpa’s great escape will air on January 1 at 6:55pm on bbC1.
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 bestseller.
it follows a boy called Frank whose father is jailed for aiding a bank robbery, with the two hatching a daring escape to give the stolen cash 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 title, 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. Saucy series Fifty Shades of grey has a fresh title at number nine, thanks to alternative version, Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian, released last month, by el James. Walliams – said 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 books.
‘Villains are much more interesting to play’