The Change
I Want People To Feel Nostalgic
Bridget Christie, Jerome Flynn, Paul Whitehouse & Tanya Moodie tell inside TV about their new comedy...
Written by Lynn Gibson in Inside Soap on June 13th, 2023
Bridget Christie writes and stars in this fantastically funny and heartfelt comedy as 50-year-old menopausal mum-of-two Linda who, tired of years of thankless tasks, dusts off her old motorbike and heads to the Forest of Dean to find both her identity and a time capsule that she hid there as a child.
It’s a journey that leads her to the eccentric Eel Sisters; old-fashioned local Tony (Paul Whitehouse); radio DJ (Tanya Moodie), and ‘Pig Man’ (Jerome Flynn) – who lives in the woods with only wild boar for company.
We had a chat with the cast to find out more…
Hi, all! Tell us about your characters…
Bridget I’m Linda: it’s her 50th birthday, and her husband is getting all the attention while she’s tidying up.
She has lots of symptoms she’s worried about, then the doctor explains that it’s the menopause.
Paul I play Tony, a lascivious ageing fool! But there’s a soft underbelly to him. I think meeting Linda in the pub is the first time in his life that he’s directly challenged by an intelligent woman.
Tanya My character, Joy, hosts a local folk radio programme. She’s one of the first people in the community that Linda meets, and they bond because Joy’s having a hot flush!
Jerome Pig Man worked in the City, then his family was hit by tragedy. He found himself adrift until he saw an article about the forest’s wild boars, so now he protects them.
Did you research the roles?
Tanya I didn’t know a lot about British folk music, so I went really deep into documentaries about it.
Paul I don’t often do parts in things I’ve not been involved in the creation of, just because if I’ve written a character, I know to a certain extent that I can do it. But Tony leapt off the page straight away.
Jerome I’ve done quite a bit of animal activism, mainly about the treatment of pigs – and then Bridget asks me to play a man who protects pigs!
Bridget I know! That was unbelievable. Then we found out about the frothy coffee…
Jerome Yeah – there’s a certain mix I make, I call it the creamy dreamy, and there’s a scene where I make Linda a frothy coffee! But Bridget didn’t know that!
Bridget, is it true that you bought a motorbike for your 50th birthday?
Bridget I did, yeah. I was a proper biker when I was younger, about 15 to 23. But then getting to 50 and trying to remember what I used to be like, I did buy a big bike. That was a lot of fun! And definitely because of the menopause.
What was it like filming in the Forest of Dean?
Tanya It was so badass. We had to spend a whole summer there…
Paul It was like a joke summer, wasn’t it? So hot!
Bridget There were a lot of days where I was in full leathers and my gloves and helmet, and had to do the same bit of riding about 20 times in the mad heat! But I had an absolute ball.
Jerome Within the shade of the forest is where you’d want to be on days like that, so we were quite blessed.
What do you hope viewers will take away from this?
Bridget I don’t want young women to dread this thing that’s coming. It doesn’t have to be life-ending: it can be a complete rebirth of how they live their lives and how they feel about themselves.
And I want people to feel nostalgic: I hope I’m bringing them back to something…
Written by Lynn Gibson in Inside Soap on 13th June 2023.
Filed Under: The Change