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28 October 2014
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|  |  |  | | Eat, eat, eat, eat. You see I was very, very plump.
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| | | | |  | | | | | | Having It Off - BBC THREE.
Having It Off is a dirty, camp comedy set in an Eccles hair salon. Guy (Antony Cotton) dreams of snipping his way into Nicky Clark's limelight, but in reality the salon he manages is a haven for old ladies who've just come in for a blue rinse. His co-workers are all misfits, and the salon-owner's wife is a foul-mouthed slapper who uses the salon for adulterous liasons as well as bikini waxes.
The cast includes Antony Cotton as Guy, Frances Barber as April, Sarah Moffett as Jolene and Caroline Pegg as Philippa.
We chatted to Sarah Moffett, who plays Jolene, and who co-wrote the series with Antony Cotton.
What is Having It Off about?
It’s about the exploits of the staff of a down market hair salon in Eccles.
Where did the idea come from?
My mother was a hairdresser so it’s in the blood (which can be very uncomfortable in hot weather).
What attracted you to the subject of hairdressing?
It’s a set up where you can have series staples i.e. the staff and a plethora of hilarious characters that only turf up in a few episodes i.e. the customers.
Why did you decide to set it in Eccles?
Any town which is famous for producing a cake is fine by me. I’m a big fan of Bakewell too! It was also very important to me, that Having It Off was about working class people. I grew up in Keighley, a working class town in Yorkshire but had lived in Manchester for several years. Eccles reminded me of Keighley and is familiar territory to Antony.
How did your writing partnership with Antony Cotton come about?
After meeting Antony in the queue for a portaloo in Stoke, I actually had to teach him to read and write. He thought one could produce a script via the means of potato print.
On a good day he drained all the energy out of the room. On a bad day I could have happily cut off his face with shards of glass and fed it to him, in a Hannibal Lecter fashion.
Tell us about your character, Jolene Hartley.
Jolene is Dolly Parton’s and April’s biggest fan. She’s rotund and fluffy (I had to bulk up) yet glamorous in a 1980s, Las Vegas trailer park kind of way.
She’s trusting, naïve and extremely moral – the polar opposite to April.
Are the characters in Having It Off based on anyone you know?
All of them... I bet you wonder where I spend my evenings.
Did you always plan to appear in the series yourself?
Yes of course! That’s the reason that Ant and I wrote it, though I beat off some stiff competition. The names Judi Dench, Su Pollard and Elizabeth Hurley were bandied about willy nilly, as ideal ‘Jolene’ candidates. Make of that what you will.
Do you prefer acting or writing?
I feel more suited to fingering my lap top (and I enjoy writing too), but I love love love the showing off and not being told to ‘shurrup’ aspect of acting.
What are your comic influences?
‘The League of Gentlemen’, ‘Round the Horne’, ‘Are you Being Served?’, Victoria Wood, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Eric Morecambe, Dick Emery and Jeanette Krankie.
What are you working on next?
The pick ‘n’ mix at Woolworths.
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