I still can’t quite believe that Lynda Snell has been part of my life for over 30 years and is celebrating her 70th Birthday – terrifying! But also rewarding to play someone who arouses such strong, conflicting reactions. She is supremely irritating, self-regarding, humourless and smug and yet, deeply vulnerable, well-meaning and human. And we all know someone just like her! In fact, discovering Lynda can be quite cathartic for everybody, including me!
Here are some of my favourite moments from Lynda's life in Ambridge.
Dame Edna
I love the irony of placing Lynda away from Ambridge, on a great theatrical high, only to be completely overwhelmed by the glamour, absurdity and charisma of Dame E! Recorded at the Birmingham Hippodrome, Lynda became the butt of some of Edna's jokes but with typical bravura, she reveled in her delusion of having upstaged a superstar!
"Alternative" Lynda
Ever in pursuit of the next good cause, Lynda became obsessed with Feng Shui. As she sought the right “chi” she constantly moved the bedroom furniture for Robert to trip over!
Then there was the time Lynda embraced essential oil therapy and ended up massaging Joe Grundy! It left him rather bewitched, bothered and definitely bewildered! She confidently assumes the role of healer and spiritual know-all – so often to be repeated.
Don Giovanni
This is a classic case of Lynda’s ill-founded claim to be Doyenne of the Arts and Cultural Crusader, born to save Ambridge from the encircling gloom of Eddie Grundy’s Country music.
When a singer for a production of Don Giovanni at Lower Loxley failed to turn up to rehearsal, Lynda was keen to step into the breach but the director rejected her desperate bid to take over the role! Nevertheless, she gallantly brazened out her hurt and embarrassment by criticising the soprano’s "rather thin" voice!
We all snigger behind our hands (along with the Grundys) but there’s a sense, uncomfortably perhaps, of the pathos just under the surface.
The return of Scruff
This saw Lynda in the raw. Scruff had been missing for months since the great Ambridge Flood – probably dead, though no-one dared suggest it... She painfully bottled her feelings, hoping it’ll all be alright, but dreading the truth.
On her first Christmas Eve without Scruff, Lynda sat by the fireside with Leonie while the bells of St Stephen’s rang out. All was peaceful, except for the silent grief in her heart. (Scruff is almost a metaphor for child she never had.) Suddenly, she heard a sound outside, opened the door – and unbelievably, a whimpering Scruffy came to her slowly, out of the dark. Lynda was overwhelmed and even though Scruff was only heard on tape, he could just as easily have been in the room!
Grundy Moments
Many of my favourite moments as Lynda are with the Grundys. Rollicking roughshod over Lynda’s airs and graces, they establish an ongoing basis for some wonderful run-ins, with Lynda getting increasingly irritated and hysterical as Joe and Eddie casually take advantage of her.
A particular favourite was the shepherd’s hut saga – enjoyed as much for the way the writers pushed the bounds of absurdity ever further as each character struggled to outwit the other.
Eddie and Lynda test the strength of his carpentry!
Robert Moments
Dear Robert, the only person in Ambridge and the world to understand Lynda – and still love her!
She tends to drop her "role-play" mode when they’re together and becomes an almost frilly little girl, safe in the understanding that he “knows the truth” about the real Lynda.
She was in tears for nearly two weeks when she thought he’d left her. "P'raps he's gone to Wales", ventured Joe Grundy. "Wales!" screamed Lynda, "We don’t know anybody in Wales!" I had a lot of fun delivering that line!
