Helen Lederer, who played Catriona in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, has shared her thoughts on working with Dame Joanna Lumley, describing her co-star as "the most genuinely charming person you could hope to meet."
Lederer appeared in 13 episodes of the show between 1992 and 2012. Speaking to Zingo Bingo, she recalled that comedians were eager to be cast in the "iconic" series and expressed her delight at being part of it.
Praise for Joanna Lumley
Lederer paid tribute to Lumley, saying: "Joanna is just the most genuinely charming person you could hope to meet. Honestly, really good eye contact. She's unafraid and is an incredible storyteller."
She added: "She's always been very supportive of me. Joanna is a very special individual, very modest, but absolutely knows what she's doing. You have these two formidable intelligent women, so it was very easy company, but we also knew our place."
Memorable filming moments
One of Lederer's favourite episodes to film was in season three, where her character was offered the job of Jane Horrocks' character Bubbles. She recalled: "There is a lovely bit of improvisation with Jane and myself on the set. Obviously, it was cut. But the live audience got very excited and thrilled. You would hardly have to do anything and they just laughed. It was just madness."
Lederer said the show continues to bring people joy, recounting an encounter at a juice farm where a man told her that watching Ab Fab on TV helped him during a difficult period in his life. She noted: "That's the power of it."
Changing comedy landscape
Reflecting on whether the show's jokes would still work today, Lederer acknowledged that times have changed, saying: "I think you couldn't use the targets that were originally used as jokes now."
She explained: "The whole style of Ab Fab during that time was on the nose. You entered into this kind of playground of mocking things in society. Now we don't live in those times. The evolution of where we're at now is that certain subjects actually are just avoided."
Other career reflections
Away from Absolutely Fabulous, Lederer spoke about working with Miranda Hart early in her career. She said she wrote a play in Edinburgh that was a TV parody with food on stage, and Hart played the floor manager after just completing a pilot episode.
Lederer recalled: "But she was not known. So there's an example of her being in my play and then experiencing a meteoric rise. It was extraordinary."
Later in her career, Lederer appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017. Reflecting on the experience, she said she "started out fine" but would not necessarily return for an All Stars series, describing the claustrophobia and group dynamics as "a really harsh test."
She added: "People are surrendering themselves to make a TV series and you have to keep hold of your sense of self. It's really hard because it's human instinct to want approval. Even though it's all just a game and you can be all lofty about it, it's still an emotional experience."
