Listening to veteran actress Josephine Tewson talk about her life and career provided a pleasing afternoon’s entertainment and one that her audience, all of a contemporary age, enjoyed - identifying as they did with her references to past names and shows.

Although best known through television work in the popular series of Keeping Up Appearances and Last of the Summer Wine, Miss Tewson has enjoyed a long stage career since she graduated from RADA.

There were many amusing anecdotes regarding her early days in various regional repertory companies along with life in theatrical digs – cockroaches and coffins had to be taken in their stride.

Her ill-fated marriage to Leonard Rossiter – a brilliant actor but a dreadful husband – provided a couple of bizarre tales involving her mother-in-law.

Early TV work saw her stooging for comedians Frankie Howard, Ken Dodd and Harry Worth. Later she gravitated to sophisticated comedy with Frost on Sunday where she began a long working partnership with Ronnie Barker.

Working on Appearances proved to be a happy time and has enabled her to do an excellent impersonation of Patricia Routledge. By comparison Summer Wine had its pressures – a tight budget meant that there was often no rehearsal times.

Three stars