The Street - a new drama for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ ONE
Sue Johnston plays Brenda
"My relationship with Jimmy (McGovern) goes back 25 years and not one of them regretted," laughs Sue Johnston who shot to fame playing Shelia Grant in Channel 4's Brookside where Jimmy McGovern also penned some of the most memorable episodes. "I haven't worked with Jimmy since the days of Brookside.
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It's been a long time. I see him at the match because we're both Liverpool supporters. He came to my 60th birthday party carrying a Liverpool Football shirt with Sue Johnston, 60, on the back, it was signed by the whole team.
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"I wore it for the rest of my party which was totally unglamorous!" She laughs. He is fantastic. A very good friend.
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"When I knew I was doing The Street, I rang him up and we had such a great chat, I was over-excited about it, I think he was rather pleased I was doing it too. "
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Sue plays Brenda the long-suffering wife of Stan, (Jim Broadbent), in episode two of McGovern's new six-part drama series.
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When newly retired Stan contemplates drastic measures following news of a worthless pension's payout, Brenda becomes incensed by his selfishness in a moving story which taps into the frailties of the human condition, and highlights one of McGovern's passions – the state of British Pensions.
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"Brenda is an ordinary woman living an ordinary life and settling for what she's got - an irritating man, a daughter; I think she believes that's what most people have and then suddenly everything turns on its head, and it's a test of her emotions," says Sue.
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"Stan is devastated after losing his job and decides to take matters into his own hands, which sorts of devastates her because she's not been included in his decision-making.
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"The story is about pensions, and what's extraordinary about it is that pensions have always been a passion with me. In fact, just a few weeks ago, somebody tried to persuade me to take out a pension, but having done The Street, and having my own suspicions anyway because I'm from that generation, I just said NO!
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"It is horrendous and painful that's what happens to us. It always got to me when Jimmy wrote at Brookside about the things he really had a passion for; there's no one better as a writer.
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"It was so wonderful to work with Jim Broadbent on a Jimmy McGovern script. It's likes manna from heaven, it was such a joy," smiles Sue.
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I love the things I do and I get enjoyment from them, but none of them are issue-led – very rarely do we see things like Cathy Come Home, all these great Plays for Today which had issues seems to be a dying breed, so when you get a chance to do something which says something, it's really quite exciting.
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"It's moving and very funny. Jimmy has always had that ability, in the middle of something tragic - then wollop - you're laughing, which is great writing.
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"I adored working with Jim Broadbent on this. We were once in the same Morse but never met because we were in on different days," she laughs. "But I have to say I was a bit nervous on my first day!
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"Every actor is nervous on his or her first day of a new job. I was nervous because I thought, 'it's Jim Broadbent I might make a fool of myself and forget my lines'. But he was the most lovable, lovely and sensitive man; and great fun as well."
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The Warrington-born actress whose television credits include Brassed Off, The Royle Family, My Uncle Silas and Waking The Dead is as busy as ever.
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"I am currently filming the new series of Waking The Dead. We have a new team member, Tara Fitzgerald. I think Tara will bring a whole new dimension to it. I worked with Tara on Brassed Off and this is the first thing we've done together since then, so it's lovely to be working with her again. She's a bit special.
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I still love doing Waking The Dead, it's very hard work we're very committed to it. It's on the main channel in Australia now and also popular in America, so we're very proud of it.
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"After Waking The Dead, I will be filming Jam And Jerusalem. We filmed the pilot down in Devon and we're doing a series now. It was a hilarious job to do. It's my first comedy series since The Royle Family.
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The part Jennifer (Saunders) has written for me is great so I am very happy about it. We had a wonderful time together when we were down in Devon and I thought 'life doesn't get any better than this'. I feel very lucky.
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I also have a film coming out on cinematic release in June called Imagine Me & You. It's a romance also starring Celia Imrie. I play Ella, the mother of the main character.
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