Smith said she had to just let her vanity and her ego go, and concentrate on being funny.
“Over 40 years I’ve done this, that matters more, being funny rather than being beautiful or attractive.
“Although there’s some times I look at myself and think, forget it.”
So what can the audience expect from the return to Latimer Crescent?
“It’s Christmas,” Weir said. “And there’s no big surprises – that’s one of the things I love about the script.
“It’s not like suddenly we all move to Australia or we’re going to, you know, Bali on a Christmas holiday. It’s very much what you’d expect, but with some twists.”
Sharp gave a little bit more away.
“Well time has moved on a little bit so some characters have had some life changes since the last time the show has been on air – so that’s something that we will keep secret until the show goes on air,” he said.
“But the rest of the time it’s just a typical Christmas round at Eric and Beth’s with everyone descending on them and disrupting their plans for a tranquil time.”