Lesley Joseph rules out more Birds of a Feather

Lesley Joseph doesn’t want to make more ‘Birds of a Feather’ because she wants to do “serious theatre”.

The 78-year-old actress became a household name playing Dorian Green in the 1990s sitcom and though it previously returned to screens in 2014 for three series, as well as Christmas specials in 2017 and 2020, she doesn’t want to go back to the show again as there’s so many other projects she wants to try.

Asked if there’s plans for another revival, she told Bella magazine: “I don’t think so.

“I don’t really want to do any more because I’m in my 70s and there’s an awful lot of work I want to do now.

“I really want to get back to serious theatre.

“I’d love to do a play at the National, I’d love to do Shakespeare, all the things that I started with.

“But I don’t know when I’ll get the time, I’m booked up until summer with ‘Sister Act’ and then I want to explore something new.”

Lesley has been starring as Jac in ‘Jac and the Beanstalk’ in Cardiff this year and she adores being in pantomime every Christmas season.

She said: “It combines everything I love about theatre.

“I came into this business to do theatre and there’s something very magical about it.

“No matter what character I play, I always play it quite seriously, even if it’s funny.

“If it’s an evil character, you can be quite nasty, you work like stand-up because whatever the audience gives you, you can duck and dive around them. It’s magic!

“Some things will go above the children’s heads so the parents and grandparents get it, so it’s for the whole family and this keeps the theatre alive.

“If children don’t go to theatre when they’re young then they won’t grow up to love theatre.”