Jam not tea as Pauline returns
in all-star show
 By Trevor O’sullivan
Actress Pauline McLynn looks set to have another hit on her hands thanks
to the success of her new sitcom — Jam and Jerusalem.
The BBC’s star-laden vehicle has started well by pulling in 6.7million
viewers despite it going head-to-head against reality ITV smash I’m
a Celebrity.
The show about the Women’s Guild of a small West Country village
has an impressive cast list containing some of Britain’s best-loved
comediennes.
Starring alongside Ireland’s McLynn is the show’s creator
Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Joanna Lumley, Doreen Mantle and Maggie
Steed.
And although the actress- turned-author starred in the massive hit Father
Ted she describes this show as one of the biggest highlights of her career.
She said: “It’s kind of like a bunch of misfits in a small
English town — mongrel women and indeed a handful of very wonderful
men. They are part of a Women’s Guild which is the saving of some
of them and the driving to madness of many more.
“We made a pilot a while back and then the BBC commissioned it.
The pilot starred Miss Jennifer Saunders herself and Sue Johnston from
the Royle Family.
“Jennifer is the main character in it and I’m her best friend.
And Joanna Lumley is in it like you have never seen her before. Thrown
into the mix is also Dawn French who is playing more than one person in
a very unusual way. It’s an incredible thrill.”
Jam and Jerusalem was filmed with the help of the North Tawton, Devon,
Dartmoor and Staines Women’s Institutes.
Maggie North a member of the North Tawton Women’s Institute thinks
the show is done in the right spirit.
She said: “We’ve always laughed at Jam and Jerusalem and if
we can’t laugh at ourselves then it’s a great shame really.
I think that’s half the fun of it to be honest.
“They are having an affectionate giggle at us and I shall look forward
to seeing it. I hope it shows us in some good light as well as laughing
at us.”
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