Ruth Madoc in Last of the Summer Wine

By [rrothery]

IF there were a hip-o-meter for measuring street cred, Ruth Madoc would be swinging off the scale. Having become synonymous with yellowcoat Gladys Pugh in Hi-de-Hi, the actress's cool rating among the young has rocketed since agreeing to play Daffydd's mother in Little Britain.

"I had to pass the script by my 40-year-old son before I did it," confesses the actress who began her career in the far more conservative 1950s.

"I'd never seen Little Britain and when I got the script it was so well... rude! My husband and I are of an age where you just don't say things like that. In fact I actually had to ask my son what some of it meant, to tell you the truth."

Before agreeing she faxed the script to her son who urged: "Go on mum do it. You will get street cred if nothing else."

The fact that Ruth, who is now in her mid 60s, is still game for a laugh and willing to become the very understanding mother of the "the only gay in the village" doesn't seem to have done her profile any harm. She's subsequently been cast in a trendy new BBC sitcom, Big Top, starring Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, John Thomson (Cold Feet), Tony Robinson (Time Team, Blackadder), Bruce Mackinnon (The Office) and Sophie Thompson (EastEnders), which is due to be shown at the end of September.

"It's funny how our business works, Rosanna, because Little Britain was three years ago," she divulges in her Celtic trademark lilt. "Last year I went to an interview at the BBC for a new sitcom called Big Top. Who should be directing it but the man who directed and produced Little Britain. See? They would have thought I was dead wouldn't they if I hadn't done Little Britain?"

Now due to a certain North Devon shepherd, based at Mortehoe, Ruth's voice has become familiar to the very young, too. Hers are the bleating tones of Wild Woolly Winnie in Mist, David Kennard's DVDs and popular series on Five's Milkshake!

"Even my two-year-old grandson looks at the series in Gibraltar and he loves it," she says. "I am really hoping I might meet David and go to Borough Farm at Mortehoe when I visit Barnstaple in September. I've not been down to the area since I started doing the voice over."

Ruth is in Barnstaple at the Queen's Theatre in September to star in a new stage version of the world's longest running sitcom, Last Of The Summer Wine. Roy Clarke has written a part especially for her.

"Being synonymous with Gladys Pugh there is no point in me trying to emulate someone like Nora Batty, so Roy wisely said: 'I will write a part for Ruth where she can be a Welsh woman'."

The Moonbather promises a return to the halcyon days of Foggy, Compo and Clegg. (No doubt the mandatory wheelbarrow catastrophe will be thrown in at some point, too).

"My character goes into the village to sort out her sister, who has been engaged for 14 years. They get embroiled in the fact that there is a streaker in the village. It's a very good farce and that's even forgetting that it's the Last of The Summer Wine. It really is very good entertainment and good fun."

As for Ruth, I get the impression she would throw herself into the next trendy project that crosses her path.

"I've tried to make myself an all rounder because versatility is the name of the game. I came into the business in the late 50s when that attitude wasn't quite in vogue. But as we've gone through the years, especially these days, that hunch has stood me in good stead. I say this to all the people that I coach."

Apparently, she coaches aspiring actors for free: "It's my way of putting back into the business to repay the kindness I have received from so many people along the way."

I'm telling you — the lady is cool!

● Last of The Summer Wine is at the Queen's Theatre from Tuesday September 29 to Saturday October 3 with evening and matinee performances. Box office: 01271 324242.