International Women's Day Series ~ Julia Deakin

Julia Deakin first appeared on my radar in BBC sitcoms 'So Haunt Me' and 'Side By Side', both of which I can still remember really well considering just a little bit of time has passed! In fact you can watch 'So Haunt Me' on YouTube, and I do, regularly. 

Julia as Brucella in Mother's Ruin with Dora Bryan

In the mid-nineties I recall my parents' enthusiasm to give a new sitcom a try. It was called 'Mother's Ruin', it starred the late, great Dora Bryan and Roy Barraclough, so on paper it promised to be decent. I think it was Sunday night viewing if my memory serves me correctly and I thought (and still think when I re-watch on YouTube) that it was hilarious. Barraclough and Bryan made a predictably smashing double act, however it's the third wheel, Julia who steals so many of the scenes, just with a simple and non-exaggerated, often gormless expression. Her character, Brucella, was inspired. From the Mrs Overall-style gait, to the perpetual air of confusion to the permanently nasal quality in the voice, it's the promise of Brucella that has me re-playing the episodes when I need a really good giggle. I thought at the time that it was a great example of her versatility. Although, since recently tuning into the film, 'Mr Love' I now appreciate that Julia's ability to play pretty much any type of role was evident in the early eighties. Incidentally, 'Mr Love' is worth a watch (you can find it on Amazon Prime or YouTube) for her performance alone.

Already at the top of my list of actresses I was in awe of, Julia went on to take over the role of May Skinner in David Croft and Richard Spendlove's 'Oh Doctor Beeching!'. I was a self-confessed fanatic of 'Hi-De-Hi!' and 'You Rang M'Lord' so this new casting was very exciting for me. Probably not so much for my exasperated mom and dad who had heard enough of my sitcom obsessions to last a lifetime and they were about to hear a whole lot more.  

Julia as May in Oh Doctor Beeching!

I adored her as May, she has to be one of my favourite sitcom characters. I suppose she was the 'bit of skirt', married to a man you wouldn't necessarily put her with, whilst very well known (wink wink) to many other men. It would have been easy for May to have simply been the glamorous buffet 'waitress', yet there was so much more to her than that. The writing lent itself to a more rounded and grounded character with plenty of one-liners, and Julia's delivery landed those lines brilliantly. 

My son, Connor has discovered her work as he's watching the re-runs of 'Oh Doctor Beeching!' on That's TV. He was already a huge fan of Jeffrey Holland and Su Pollard and has added Julia to his list. That's my boy!

Moving towards the late nineties, Spaced is a TV series that many people seem to remember Julia from. The series ran from 1999 to 2001, it's the brainchild of Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes and I can only describe it as utterly bonkers! With no TV allowed in my bedroom and it not being my parents' thing, I rarely managed to watch Spaced. However, on the odd occasion that I did, I thought if ever there was a character wildly different from Julia's other roles, Marsha Klein was it. I've been watching it this past week and I'm finding myself strangely drawn to it. The series transcends the decades and I don't think it will be viewed as out-dated for a very long time to come.

Julia as Marsha in Spaced

There are so many more roles and TV shows, films etc. that I could fill this post with, however I feel the last one I should mention is Carole Copeland in Holby City. I thought all the story-lines which involved Carole were strong and extremely easy to become emotionally invested in. Somehow it made sense that Dom's (David Ames) mother should be exuberant if not a little scatty, but with a heart of pure gold. 

I was delighted whenever Carole appeared, and equally devastated that her exit story was such an incredibly sad one. That being said, Julia blew me away. Having been a fan for 25+ years I really thought I'd seen it all. I absolutely hadn't! From the Vascular Dementia diagnosis to the heartbreaking moment that Dom found out (in a public setting) to the decline in health which was very rapid, it was an extraordinary piece of television. 

Julia as Carole in Holby City

I had no memorable experience of Dementia in the family when the scenes aired. My late nan suffered from it, but I was 4 years old when she passed. Having re-watched the episodes over the past month or two, now that my own dad is diagnosed with Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer's - I've realised just how spot on Julia's portrayal was. Dad is in a care home on a floor full of residents also diagnosed with Dementia and every one of them are sensitively represented in that one performance. 

I should mention that Julia's letters to me, way back when, were always a tonic. I loved receiving them and we wrote to each other for a goodly while. I was so chuffed to be able to have coffee with her in 1999 (I think I have the right year!) and star-struck all over again when I met her completely by chance in 2017. I'm sorry not to have seen her in the theatre as I can only imagine what she brings to the stage. One thing's for certain though, I am an unwavering Julia Deakin fan-girl through and through. 

Julia's on screen credits are listed here: IMDB Page

📷 Sources:

      1.Curtis Brown website

      2. Granada Television

      3. BBC

      4. Channel Four archives

      5. BBC