The Stage

Square tactics - Patsy Palmer

Published Thursday 5 May 2005 at 15:20 by Liz Thomas

Patsy Palmer has been performing a variety of stage roles in the three years since leaving EastEnders but is still tormented by the cry of ‘Ricky!’ from passers-by. Phil Penfold hears how the one-time Bianca Butcher is now turning her hand to comedy for ITV’s star-studded Monkey Trousers

Every time that she feels that she has laid the ghost of Bianca Butcher firmly to rest, that feisty little lady from Albert Square comes back to haunt her.

Patsy Palmer, who played EastEnders’ Bianca for six years until 1999 and who made a fleeting return in 2002 with a one-off storyline, reveals: “People are generally very nice, really charming, when they recognise me in the street these days. That’s very gratifying - and who wouldn’t want to spend five minutes chatting to a fan? The ones who really get my goat though are the would-be comedians who yell ‘Ricky!’ as you’re passing. For some reason, they still think that is very amusing, when in fact it is extremely boring.”

Flame-haired Palmer is adamant she is not about to make a comeback to BBC1’s flagship soap. “I have absolutely no desire to return to EastEnders. Not at all. In fact, I think that brief spin-off of a storyline for Ricky and Bianca was a double-edged sword. On one hand, I don’t think we should ever have done it, it was a mistake on my behalf. But on the other, it convinced me that Bianca was someone that I did not want to see again. She was past history as far as I was concerned, I certainly learned that. Don’t get me wrong, I had the time of my life when I was in EastEnders in the middle and late nineties and I worked with some terrific people both in front of and behind the camera. But that was then and this is now - the cast has nearly all changed and going back would be worse than foolish,” she admits.

Currently on a major theatre tour, starring in a revival of the hit comedy drama Stepping Out, she will soon be seen in ITV’s comic sketch show Monkey Trousers with talent such as Reeves and Mortimer, Angus Deayton and the inimitable Steve Coogan. She says: “We filmed that last year at the Thames TV studios at Teddington and on location, and I loved every minute of it - I’d love to do far more TV comedy if I get the opportunity. Comedy is extremely challenging and it’s all very, very serious, contrary to popular belief.

“I was doing the play We Happy Few in the West End at the time and that was very loud, very in your face and almost over the top, and so to go down to the studios or location during the day and to play it much quieter to the camera was quite a shock for me. I have to admit that I find social realism, the sort that we had in EastEnders, much easier to play.

“I also realised how little wild and wacky stuff there is on TV. I was brought up watching comedy like Morecambe and Wise, watching it on the sofa with my dad in the East End, and it was just all so funny and daft. Kids today don’t get the silly humour bit but thank goodness that Little Britain and Monkey Trousers might be bringing it back. I think that there’s so much darkness in the world today that people want to be able to sit back and have a really good laugh. And youngsters need something that is off the wall, easy to understand, without it talking down to them.”

Palmer has been performing in back to back theatre productions over the past couple of years and admits she enjoyed the buzz of performing in front of a live audience again. However after the current tour of Stepping Out draws to a close she confesses she is looking forward to a period of reflection on what to do next and spending time with her children.

“Actually, being away from home at this time of year hasn’t been as bad as it could have been”, she says wistfully, “because there are great long school holidays scattered throughout the late winter and early spring months - so that they can all come and stay with me. But yes, I miss them all desperately and every parent knows how fast your kids grow up. If you don’t see them for a fortnight, you notice the changes, even in that relatively short period of time.”