Linda Robson is heading back out on the road this month for a second set of dates for the incredibly successful reunion tour of comedy show Birds Of A Feather, which see our three favourite girls reunited for the first time since the show ended in 1998.
With Linda also having just about recovered from her time on I’m A Celebrity; Get Me Out Of Here, we talked to the actress about the upcoming tour, her time in the jungle and the possibility of TV Bird Of A Feather return.
So for those who’ve not seen the tour yet, what can you tell us about it?
It’s what’s happened to Sharon, Tracey and Dorian thirteen years on and what the women are up to. There’s quite a few surprises in there. The girls, well the old girls, Sharon and Tracey haven’t seen Dorian for a few years and it opens with them at home and a letter arriving from her from an old peoples home. They’re thinking she’s now in there, all decrepit and that, so the they go along to see her and she makes an entrance that’s a show stopping moment and the audience go mad.
In the last episode of the TV show I gave birth to a son in a stable in Ireland, so he’s around now too. The script’s absolutely fantastic, originally the script was terrible and we all said no. We’d never have come back with that. So we did a bit of a diva thing and said that we wanted our writers back. They know the characters and the history of the show so well. Thankfully they listened to us, we got them back and got a fantastic script.
We’re so pleased that people are enjoying it. We didn’t want people to be disappointed and think “Why did they come back”. Lots of people remember the series and they bring their sons or daughters and it’s a show that really stands on its own. If you haven’t seen the TV show, it doesn’t matter because it’s a little story all by itself. Of course if you have then there’s lot of references for you in there.
So what was it like meeting up with the girls once again?
Firstly we did a photo-shoot for the poster and things we got to this studio and they were trying to take photos of us but we couldn’t stop talking. It was like we’d never been away, it was just non-stop between the three of us. Any chance we got we just chatted. Then at rehearsals, the poor director was trying to shut us up so we could get some work done!
The first night when we opened, we’d never been so scared in our whole life. We were thinking whether people would actually come and see it, it’s been a long time since the show but the audience reaction was just amazing. Myself and Leslie have done a lot of theatre, but Pauline Quirke’s only ever done one panto over twenty years ago, so she was petrified, we had to drag her onto the stage.
After the first couple of weeks though, you get more relaxed and confident. We can’t wait to get back on the road again.
Why do you thing think the show’s still so loved?
I think that they loved the characters. It was a sitcom, but we only did it if we believed in it. There were episodes of Bird Of A Feather that dealt with testicular cancer, abortion, things that had never really been touched on in comedy.
We always used to call it a ‘dramedy’ as we played it for real, that was important. You have to remember that our husbands might have been bank robbers, but we didn’t know that they were bank robbers. First episode we get a knock on the door and while we think they’ve been building conservatories, they say they’ve been caught doing armed robbery!
I also think the chemistry between the three of us is a big factor. They tried to do an American version but all the actresses were fighting over the funny lines, but with us there was never any of that. We all just knew which lines were for each character and it’s always been like that with us.
Was it odd getting into the touring lifestyle?
It sort of was. We started off in hotels last year and then quite quickly we realised we didn’t like that lifestyle. It was quite nice to have a little apartment you could go back to instead, where you could do your beans on toast or keep your healthy food in the fridge. Also, in the hotel, people would come in and clean your room and not only would you feel bad, but you’d also be walking the streets for an hour.
Now we just get little flats wherever we go, usually in the same complex as each other. Then we’ll all meet up in the morning; have a little wander around where we are, going into the shops, buy lots of candles. That’s what we ended up doing a lot last year and it was lovely.
We most recently saw you in I’m A Celeb, so is the jungle really was hard as it looks?
Oh my god, it is so hard. Everyone asks me if it’s real and yeah, it’s real. We don’t get any extra food or drink, if you want water, you have to boil it and you are starving most of the time. The first two days I was in there I just thought “I’m not gonna last, I’m going to walk out, there’s no way I can put up with this”.
On about the third day though, I woke up and all of a sudden it all seemed all right. We’d had quite a long trek in the rain into the jungle and arrived in the middle of the night it (which was quite scary actually) but by the third day we were getting on well and building friendships and you just start getting used to it. It just becomes second nature really, you get used to the environment. I loved it, I really did.
What was the hardest bit?
Firstly, we were meant to jump out of plane and a parachute in. It’s hadn’t rained on Australia for four months before the day we were meant to jump out so of course the heavens opened and we were just hanging around in the rain waiting to see what was happened. But the weather was too bad, so we had a rather long trek instead. You don’t get umbrellas either, as I said, what you see is what you get.
We then got to that bridge and you didn’t even see on telly how scary it was. I mad it halfway across the bridge and my legs were shaking my arms had turned to jelly and I just knew I wasn’t going to get across. So, I just said into the mic, “Boys, I’m going to jump, you’d better catch me” and leapt off. It was just such a relief to get off that bridge. Then they asked if I could carry on and I just couldn’t. I was aching for days afterward, I’d use parts of my body I’d never used before.
Any highlights?
My highlight was the bed challenge, I lasted in there with all the creepy crawlies for much longer than many others. I was proud of myself for that as I’m quite claustrophobic. Also the friendships that you make, I loved everyone in there we all got on really well and most people said what great group it was this year.
So to finish off, is a Birds TV reunion is something we might be able to look forward too?
It’s possibly something you could look forward too yes. We had a meeting last week, Pauline, myself, the writers and producers and a script’s been commissioned and written and we absolutely love it. So it’s all been sent to the powers that be and hopefully they’ll commission another series from this first episode so we’re all keeping our fingers crossed as it’s looking pretty likely right now.
The Birds Of a Feather tour starts in Coventry on the 26th of February and check out www.birdontour.com for more details.