You ASK...
They ANSWER!
Cobbles big mouth Bernie certainly has the gift of the gab! But will actress
Jane channel her inner Bernie as she faces our readers’ tricky questions?
“Who would you rather be mates with in real life: Bernie, or your
Casualty character, Dixie?”
Oh, that’s really hard! Right now, at this moment in time, Bernie, for the giggles. Dixie would be good for the practicality, because Dixie would be hunkered down, with everything prepared – whereas Bernie would probably just have quite a lot of gin in the shed!
“Did you pick up any medical tips on Casualty, and has anyone ever mistaken you for a real paramedic?”
There was a point where
I sort of thought I was actually a paramedic! I picked up quite a few things, and there have been a couple of incidents over the past few years where I’ve had to wade in and wait for the real paramedics to arrive.
I have helped a few people in distress – but a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing!
“You were in Corrie before
[as Sue Clayton in 1985] – are any of the cast still the same? And did they remember you?”
There’s still quite a lot of the old guard there, Barbara Knox [Rita],
William Roache [Ken]… they remembered me, which was amazing, because I was a snotty-nosed 16-year-old back then. When I left the first time, I got a card from the cast, saying good luck, and Barbara had written, ‘Rovers always return’, which I held really dear to my heart. She was very, very sweet to me when I came back.
“If you could bring one of your former Casualty co-stars into Corrie, who would it be and why?”
Well, I’ve already got Georgia Taylor [Toyah, aka Casualty’s Ruth Winters], which is lovely, she’s a really good pal. But I’d probably bring in Noel, the receptionist, because [his real-life alter ego] Tony Marshall and I have been mates for nearly 40 years. Tony is a bigger clown than me, so he’s always good fun to have around. I think he’d certainly liven up the Street a bit!
“What’s your favourite way to spend a day off ?”
A dog walk around the hills, get a good five or six miles under the belt. Our
“Who is your favourite character to play?”
dog, Gertrude, is a Battersea rescue dog – she’s gorgeous. She’s quite elderly, but she’s an amazing creature. And then I’d come home and cook something, because
I love my kitchen.
“If you could set up Bernie with anyone on the Street, who would it be and why?”
In terms of a friendship,
I’d quite like to work in a garage, so maybe Abi could teach me a few things about being under the bonnet. Relationship-wise, I don’t know if any man is crazy enough to get with Bernie! But she has her eye on Dev, so I feel quite sorry for him. It’s all in Bernie’s head, though. Her reality is usually different from everyone else’s.
“Who was your favourite-ever guest star on Casualty?”
The late Honor Blackman. She was amazing. She was in her late 80s then, and she was just really brave. Some of us actors can do a bit of moaning about what we’re being asked to do – but she was fantastic, she just got on with it, and got down on the floor. She was really stoic – a true heroine.
“If you could be in any other TV show, what would it be?”
This Country, with Daisy May Cooper. It’s really clever TV, and she’s one of the funniest women I’ve seen for a long time.
“Aside from Bernie, who’s your favourite character to play?”
I played a prison officer in a show called Buried, that no one remembers – it won a BAFTA years ago, and I really enjoyed doing that. I always like playing women who exert power, because I’m quite bossy. So it’s quite nice for me to pretend to be someone else for a bit, and be bossy! It’s not very far away from me, really.
“Would you like to see Gemma and Chesney get married? And what kind of mother of the bride do you think Bernie would be?”
Oh, she’d be absolutely amazing. She’d probably think that she was going to be the wedding planner, and then at the last minute it would all go a bit pearshaped. But I absolutely think Gemma should marry Chesney, because he’s just gorgeous – I adore him! Let’s hope it’s going to happen.
“What does your wife Isobel think of Bernie? And do you ever watch Corrie together?”
She thinks Bernie’s a hoot! She just goes, “Oh poor Bernie, she’s so misguided!” She says that quite frequently. She does watch it with me sometimes, but I have a few issues watching myself – I’m not great at doing it with other people. It’s best that I do it with the curtain closed and the door shut so no one can see!
“Did anyone remember you from being in Corrie before?”