The Stage

Nighty Night’s Davis to play TV chef Cradock

Published Friday 5 May 2006 at 11:10 by Liz Thomas

Nighty Night star Julia Davis is to play Fanny Cradock in Fear of Fanny, BBC4’s new drama about television’s first screen celebrity chef.

The League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss plays her husband Johnnie in the production, which has been devised from interviews with Cradock’s colleagues, family and critics.

It has been adapted for television by Brian Fillis from the acclaimed stage play of the same name. Fear of Fanny is produced by Ben Evans, who produced Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! for BBC4, and is directed by Coky Giedroyc, whose credits include The Virgin Queen, and Blackpool. The executive producer is Sally Woodward.

Meanwhile, Stoned actress Anna Madely is to star in The Diaries of Mrs Beeton, a drama looking at the life of the Harpers & Queen founding editor and author of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management.

BBC4 controller Janice Hadlow said: “Following the success of single dramas exploring key figures from our recent past, including Kenneth Williams and Alan Clark, [the channel] now shines the spotlight on the colourful and fascinating lives of two very different women who changed the face of British cooking forever.”

As The Stage exclusively revealed, Wallace and Edward writer Sarah Williams has penned the new The Diaries of Mrs Beeton. It is produced by first-time producer Katherine Lannon and directed by Jon Jones, who has worked on Archangel and The Alan Clark Diaries. The executive producer is Jessica Pope.