In a tastefully decorated but homely living room, Sally Lindsay perches on a squashy sofa. The room – at the home of her latest character, happily married recruitment consultant Lisa Johnson – is dominated by a huge television and oozes affluence. We are in Mount Pleasant, a fictional Manchester suburb full of comfortably off thirtysomething professionals that provides the setting for, and title of, Sky1’s latest comedy offering. Although the cast is filled with familiar faces, including Angela Griffin and comedy veterans Bobby Ball, Pauline Collins and Paula Wilcox, Mount Pleasant is very much Lindsay’s show. Scriptwriter Sarah Hooper wrote the role of Lisa specifically for the former Coronation Street star, and the show, which begins on Sky1 on Wednesday, August 24, revolves around Lisa and her friends, family, colleagues and neighbours... What do you think viewers are going to like about Mount Pleasant? “It’s got a lot of laughs in it – which is rare for modern comedy. I’m quite proud of it, too, because it’s a modern portrayal of the North. It isn’t grim up here, like so many people think. It’s quite sparky, we’ve got nice restaurants and we wear good clothes. There’s a lot of grittiness in TV at the moment. I’m a bit sick of gritty. Everything seems to have a Simon Schama History of Britain wash on it. Everything’s a bit dark. We need a bit more warmth. There’s warmth in things like The Royle Family and Coronation Street, and that’s what we’re going for.” You have a few comedy legends in this with you, don’t you? “Yes, the casting is brilliant. There’s Bobby Ball, Pauline Collins and Paula Wilcox. If you look at it, Pauline looks like my mum and Bobby could be my dad. Dan Ryan and I look like we could have been together for 10 years. Me and Dan over the years have nearly been cast as husband and wife three or four times, but it never happened. Neil Fitzmaurice is there, too. I was Neil’s girlfriend in Phoenix Nights.” What’s it like working with someone like Bobby Ball? “Bobby is a legend. I have such huge respect for the people who used to pull in millions of people on a Saturday night in the days before The X Factor. On their worst nights, Cannon and Ball would still get 25 million viewers. He told me a joke in the first five seconds of meeting him. It was a damn good joke, too, but it is too rude to repeat.” You seem to have a lot of chemistry with Daniel Ryan. Are you too finding it easy to work together? “He’s absolutely hilarious to be with. We have very similar lives, too. His partner’s just had a baby, and I’ve just had twins. We had that connection. We laugh a lot. He’s very comfortable to be with, which is good because we have a lot of intimate scenes. There are a lot of bath scenes.” Is your character Lisa Johnson anything like you? “There are connection between me and Lisa. My mum does a lot for me, too, although I don’t think I’m quite as spoilt as Lisa – although my mum would probably disagree. Actually there’s a really weird bit. My partner Steve is a drummer and there’s a line in the script where Lisa asks Dan what her favourite part of her body is. So I asked Steve the same question. He said: 'Your arse', which is exactly what Dan replies to Lisa in the script. I rang up Sarah our scriptwriter afterwards and said she was a freak who must be bugging my home.” You’re talking about Sarah Hooper, who also wrote for Shameless. She says she wrote this for you. That must make you feel very proud... “Yes, it’s very, very special having a part written for you. Shelley was written for me, too, on Coronation Street. It’s a lot of responsibility. Sarah’s very good at writing lines that sound right in my mouth” Since you mentioned Coronation Street, has it been difficult for you shaking off the role of Shelley? “I knew I would be Shelley until I got another role with as much character as her. I think I have now. This part is phenomenal because I get to do drama as well as comedy. It’s got a lot of heart. It’s a script with some amazing comic lines and some amazing characters, too. They are people you’d quite like to live next to. They hold parties you’d want to be invited to.”
