She’s one of the best-known British television actresses of her generation - and a Londoner from the heart of our capital.
Catherine Tate’s famed for her eponymous sketch show, plus roles in the American version of The Office and as Donna Noble, Doctor Who’s outspoken companion.
Now, Bloomsbury-born Tate is bringing another very London story to life - the Enfield poltergeist.
The ghostly tale about an apparition apparently menacing a family home recently had something of a renaissance in shows on Sky and Apple TV among others.
Now, Tate’s appearing at the Ambassadors Theatre in The Enfield Haunting co-starring David Threlfall, who’s famous as Frank Gallagher in Channel’s 4’s Shameless.
The play’s a fictional take on a true story from the summer of 1977 when furniture and toys started moving about apparently without human intervention at the home of the Hodgson family, a council house at 284 Green Street, Enfield.
You may have seen the famous picture of sixteen-year-old Janet Hodgson leaping out of bed, allegedly possessed.
Hoax of haunting? You decide.
Now in this latest production, Tate plays Janet’s mother Peggy, with Threlfall as ghost hunter Maurice Grosse.
The play’s by Paul Unwin, co-creator of the long-running BBC medical drama Casualty.
In this special edition of the Standard podcast, you’ll hear the Evening Standard’s chief theatre critic and co-host of our Theatre Podcast, Nick Curtis, in conversation with Tate on stage at the West End playhouse.
Make sure to stay tuned for part two, where you’ll hear them discuss BBC’s Doctor Who, her years of collaboration with David Tennant, the sci-fi show’s reboot with new Time Lord played by Ncuti Gatwa, plus a certain well-known catchphrase.
Listen above, or wherever you find your podcasts.
