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Ruth Madoc is a comedy veteran who became a household name when she played Gladys Pugh in the Eighties ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ comedy series Hi-De-Hi! Most recently she played Daffyd Thomas' mother in the second series of Little Britain.

Ruth plays Georgie, the grande dame of Circus Maestro, a vain old-timer who has been in circuses for years with various acts.

She now works with her small dog, David, who she often uses to get what she wants – 'David's not happy with the size of our caravan', 'David insists on bottle water and not tap'.

Georgie feels superior to everyone and everything around her and acts entirely out of self-interest. The truth is that she doesn't care about her pet – she uses him to hide behind her demands for more money or better conditions.

Ruth explains: "Georgie is a dog-trainer. She has a lovely Scottie dog and it's the only animal act in the circus. Once upon a time there would have been elephants, tigers and seals, but the only thing left is this rather naff dog act. He doesn't really do as he is told, our David."

Tony Robinson comments: "Georgie has this very cute dog – a lot of the comedy comes from the look on his face – but underneath she is a real force to be reckoned with, a money-grabbing nightmare!"

Ruth admits that Georgie ruthlessly exploits her dog in an effort to get what she wants: "David is trained to do certain things, and it was important that I should have a rapport with the dog that plays him.

"He's a very friendly, laid-back Westie, he loves cocktail sausages, and his real name is Ralph. I've worked with lots of children and animals in my time and I wasn't at all worried about working with a dog.

"And Ralph is very docile and loves being in the studio!"

She continues: "This series is very colourful and I get to wear the most fabulous costumes, false eyelashes and a very snazzy, colourful modern hair cut.

"The action in Big Top mainly takes place behind the scenes, which can get very claustrophobic. In an institution like a circus, people are oblivious to the outside world very often because they only mix in their own company. It's one hell of a life, from week to week and they are entirely self-contained."

Ruth is a regular circus-goer and has spent many a happy hour under the stripy canvas of the Big Top: "I know quite a lot of circus folk, I have to admit, because when you stay in theatrical lodgings, you meet a lot of those sort of characters, albeit even older than I am, and they'll tell you all sorts of stories. Also, if you go to places like Blackpool Tower you can see the permanent circus, which is fascinating.

"So I knew quite a lot of background before I took this job. If there's a rival circus in the vicinity, all hell breaks loose. They like to sabotage one another!"

She adds: "I still go to the circus a couple of times a year to see my friends perform. There are also quite a few circuses in Ireland. The one thing I notice is that the acts all use a lot of fake tan!"

Ruth herself is a bit of a veteran when it comes to filming situation comedy: "I did nine years in front of a studio audience with Hi-De-Hi so, in a way, I'm almost happier in front of them than when I'm rehearsing!

"But Big Top is unlike Hi-De-Hi in that it's very slick, fast paced comedy – it's edgy and I think that will appeal and the scripts are very, very funny."

She laughs: "It's a really accomplished ensemble piece. I really wanted to join the ranks of the youngsters who were doing this sort of comedy and I'm very lucky that I was able to!"

Ruth explains: "I came into this business in the 1950s and it was very difficult. If it wasn't for Hi-De-Hi I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you now. That enabled me to send my children to university and, for that, I'm very grateful.

"To be working with these people is absolutely super and that's what I shall take away from the last eight weeks. I really hope that we get to do it again!"

She pauses: "If I were in a circus, I would like to be the ballerina on the back of the horse, because as a little girl I wanted to be that girl balancing on the back of the horse wearing a pink tutu with two palomino ponies. But in the meantime I've been learning to juggle with three balls!"

She concludes: "With everything that's going on at the moment – the credit crunch and so on – everyone needs entertaining. I think this series will take the audience out of themselves and they will sit in front of their televisions and have some real belly laughs!"