Interview with Emma Pierson

How would you describe Jenny?
Jenny is a very sweet and kind woman; she is also rather ditzy and does often teeter on the brink of hysteria - whether that be laughter or tears. She adores her best friend Brenda and Brenda's family, and while Tim leaves her exasperated most of the time she is very in love with him and his caveman ways.

Jenny is creative in spirit, perhaps not so much in talent, but you can never doubt her enthusiasm for giving it all a good go. Whilst she hasn't quite got her head around feminism in the way that Brenda has described it to her, she certainly knows what she wants in life and is determined to get it. It just so happens that her big dream is to have a baby with Tim and marry him - in whichever order that needs to happen and whatever way that needs to happen! She also loves shoes, Farrah Fawcett's hair and knitting.

Are you quite different?
I think, truthfully, we are quite different. I'd be thrilled to say we are similar in terms of having enthusiasm, and Jenny has a good and kind heart for the things and people she loves, but I would hope that I'm able to execute the things I approach in a slightly more logical way. Although I also love shoes, Farrah Fawcett's hair, and I'm rather partial to a good piece of knitwear - just haven't quite got round to knitting it myself yet.

What drew you to The Kennedys?
I've worked with Chris Gernon, the director, and Emma Strain, the producer, before - they're an absolute dream team, so when they asked me to be part of this project I didn't hesitate in saying yes! Coupled with the scripts, which are completely and utterly brilliant. Emma Kennedy writes such glorious, funny, characters and dialogue, and every episode has so much joy and life and bonkersness in it, that they are a treat to read in themselves - let alone the fun one has in bringing them to life.

Then the icing on the cake was this cast. Katherine I have worked with before, and we had such a laugh and really enjoyed hanging out and getting to be ridiculous together so we were thrilled we'd get to do that again. Dan is just one of the nicest people that could exist within this industry and his performance is melt-your-heart lovely, and Harry I've known since I was 17 when we worked together - on another 70s sitcom funnily enough - called Days Like These. Tim and I have and I have laughing out loud at his performance.

Then little Lucy turned up and put us all to shame with how incredibly talented and clever and professional she is. And to be honest, you have one of the loveliest jobs and bunch of people you could ever have wanted to work on and with - that’s what drew me to this!

What did you think of Jenny’s 70s style?
When you are doing a period piece it can be easy to get over-excited with the era and just chuck in all of the fashion references that we know existed, but these need to look like clothes that exist within a real person's wardrobe - and within a certain type of person's wardrobe. So for instance, Jenny and Brenda dress very differently, because Jenny tends to be a bit girly - though I have to say some of the pieces that Jenny had were really lovely.

I think in today’s fashion, we pull our influences from so many different times that out style appreciation is very broad. Rather fittingly the 70s are hugely influential on the high street right now and I genuinely wouldn't have felt out of place wearing Jenny's outfits in London - East London especially - I think all of the cast could have gone out and no one would have batted an eyelid!

Are there any funny stories from set?
There are so many funny moments that cropped up across every day as we were filming that I couldn't possibly single one out. We really did go to work and enjoy each other's company and enjoy the scripts and scenes and watching it all come to life. We were very lucky and having seen some of the episodes I'm ever so proud to be part of it - and I really hope that the audience have as much fun watching it as we did making it!