Joanna Lumley reflects on her role in Coronation Street
Dame Joanna Lumley looks a million miles from her most famous and recognisable roles in one of her earliest parts in the BBC comedy Steptoe and Son. The then 26-year-old played Bunty Kennington Stroud, the posh girlfriend of Harold Steptoe (played by Harry H. Corbett).
Sporting red hair styled in huge voluminous curls, rather than the blonde mane she is best known for, the fresh-faced starlet only had a handful of roles by the time of her appearance but they had been memorable. After a small uncredited role in the film Some Girls Do she had two lines as a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
She also had a brief but memorable role as Elaine Perkins in Coronation Street, who famously turned down a marriage proposal from Ken Barlow. By the time she shot Steptoe, she was a recognisable face but far from a household name.
The hilarious episode allowed her to show off her comedy chops, which would come to the fore years later in Absolutely Fabulous, as the aspirational Harold invited her and her mother back to his home in the rag-and-bone yard for a sherry. His uncouth father Albert (Wilfred Bramble) served it in hospital specimen glasses.
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Later on in the episode, which was in the seventh season of the hit comedy, Albert gives her fleas.
In a bid to kill one, Harold wallops her on the head. In true slapstick fashion, she slaps him back and the whole thing ends in chaos as Harold gets out his DDT spray gun, effectively destroying his fledgling relationship.
That was Joanna's only appearance in Steptoe and Son which ran on the BBC in black and white from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run in colour from 1970 to 1974 alongside film spin-offs and live tours.
Four years later she would land her first major role as Purdey in The New Avengers, which was a successor to the popular 1960s secret agent series The Avengers. She played the role in all twenty-six episodes from 1976 to 1977.
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Since that break, she has barely come up for air working steadily. In 1992 she landed the role which would bring her the most acclaim - Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous.
She played the character on television in series and specials until 2012 and reprised the role for a movie in 2016.
Now 77, she shows no signs of slowing down and 51 years after that Steptoe appearance she is back on screens in the Netflix thriller Fool Me Known which landed on the streaming platform on New Year's Day.
Fool Me Once is available to stream on Netflix now.
