MANDANA AND SIMONE INTERVIEW

In the first part of the interview they were asked about their unusual names. Simone told the story about the fact that her Father is a French Algerian and came over to Scotland to get away from family troubles, met her mother and fell in love and stayed. Mandana said that her name sounded like 'someone with a basket of fruit on their heads' (sic Carmen Miranda!!) and said that it was an old Persian name and that it should actually be pronounced Mon-de-na but that, as few people did that, it had been Anglesized to Mandaaarna. She then went on to say that her Mother always told her to say she was Persian rather than Iranian but she felt it was a little far fetched, a little romantic ( a bit 'dance of the seven veils' ish!!)and although Iran sounded less exotic than Persia, that is what it's called on the maps and she only liked to deal with facts

They were then asked about dealing with being recognised and did they enjoy the fame. Mandana said that she never expected to be up at 6.30 in the morning on Safari and that that had been very special for her. She then said that it is disconcerting when people go up to her in the street and hug her but that everyone was so nice and she had never had anyone say 'you are crap'! She said that it was interesting how people's memories fade as time goes on - during the run of the series she is recognised all the time and it gets less and less as time wears on from the series being on the box. Simone said that they usually can time how long after the series has finished before they can take off the sunglasses and hats! Simone said that she enjoyed the attention during the series but was always glad that, when a series had finished, she can go back to being invisible again. Mandana said that it was difficult to judge sometimes whether someone was looking at her because she was 'interesting looking', because they felt that they knew her from somewhere or because they recognised her from the TV. She then said that there are times when it does feel a bit intrusive like 'when you are doing a few quiet lengths at the swimming pool in your hat and goggles and 5 people shout "oooooooh it's Nikki Wade, my little boy loves you"'
They were then asked about the fact that children watch and BOTH SAID THAT IT REALLY CONCERNED THEM AS IT IS AN ADULT DRAMA!!!(for those who argue that kids should watch!!)

at this point I lost the connection for about 5 mins..........

They must have been asked about the treatment of prisoners:
Simone 'they are treated by GP's rejected by the National Health Service, shoved in cells and sedated, when they should not even be there'
Interviewer 'Simone, you play the Wing Gov involved with an incredible weed (LOL) who is involved in garden design or something, who she just shouldn't be with!!!'
Simone 'he gave terrible foot massages as well!!' Loads of giggling.
Simone said that Helen is a fantastic part to play 'I really enjoy her bravery, she's a very emotional character and gets very involved in the prisoners stories, makes connections with the prisoners.'

Loss of connection again!!

Mandana said that Nikki doesn't choose an easy path but she doesn't have any other choice because the only thing Nikki has is her own personal code, which she plays by and she won't compromise. If she did 'play the game' she would hate herself and that's all she has to cling on to. If she loses that, she loses herself, so that's why she'd rather take days down the block than grass up a fellow prisoner. 'Nikki, despite a cynical exterior is extremely idealistic. She sees that Helen really does care about making changes to the system and is not just after Brownie points and this has given Nikki something to believe in.......have I answered the question, I forgot what it was???????'
Simone said that Helen believes in Nikki's power and potential, her intelligence and encourages her into the education system....

Loss of connection again

A caller rang and asked how long they thought the series would run for and did they think there would be spin off series
Mandana said she couldn't envisage spin off's with characters from BG. 'There has been a certain spin around BG, more programmes about prisons. I don't know whether it's like when you buy a new car, you see that model all over the world!!, but there definitely seems, to me, to be a lot more interesting documentaries about prisons so, if people's interest is there then maybe there will be, yes.'
caller 'Well, BG is the best thing on TV'
Mandana 'well, thank you very much'
caller 'next time you come visit Durban'
Mandana 'yes, we will. I've heard a lot about Durban!'

Interviewer then mentioned the media attention in the growing relationship between N & H.
Interviewer 'Nikki is gay and very forthright about it'
Mandana 'totally comfortable with it. Visiting prisons and pretending at work to be a prisoner, the inter relationship between women with women, is not like you would find anywhere else. There is a camaraderie and warmth within the same sex, probably because they're aren't any men around. I don't really know. It's very, very nice. You don't really find it outside because, a lot of the time, there's a certain competition between women. In animal terms, they're all vying for the attention of the male. Move the male from the equation and there is no threat'

interviewer then mentioned Denny and Shell, saying that she wasn't totally convinced Denny was gay because it may just have been that there had never been anyone else and that she was used/bullied by Shell offering sexual favours. She said that you could almost feel sorry for Shell with her past and that she did believe Shell was gay because of the sexual abuse from her father.
Mandana 'I absolutely agree. It raises the interesting question about whether you are born gay or whether it's what actually happens to you in life. Feeling intimate with somebody, it's nicer to do it with someone you trust and feel safe with so, maybe, that's the journey she has been on that has taken her to that position of gayness or being intimate with another woman because, you don't know what her situation was growing up, with her Dad or whoever'.
Simone then mentioned that she had a lot of gay friends who had had awful experiences with men and do not want anything more, sexually, to do with males.

They then talked about the mating habits of Lions and monkeys, which was really interesting (Mandana is an expert on it!!!!) and was all part of their Safari yesterday, but this was a vvveeeerry long interview so I have to be selective!!!

Caller rang saying BG was the best series she’d ever seen on TV and asked about Debra and what she was like in real life.
Simone ‘We’ll spill the beans’
Mandana ‘Nothing like Shell Dockley, nothing like her’
S ‘She’s very gentle, very talented. She started off as a stand up comedienne and she does lots of impersonations. In Britain she gets asked on to lots of chat shows because she’s very entertaining. She’s married, they’ve been together since they were 16’
M ‘She’s an only child and I always have an image of Debs that she was up in her room playing, sort of doing impressions and entertaining herself (laughs) I think that’s how she kind of got into it. We went to her wedding, didn’t we Simone? A couple of years ago and met her Mum and Dad and that’s very much the impression that you get’
Caller ‘so she’s a lot more stable than the way she comes across?’
M ‘Oh God, yes!’
S ‘Weeeeeeeell?????........I’m only kidding’
M ‘She’s very gentle, a very, very gentle woman’
Interviewer talked about people confusing the actresses with the characters they play. She said that Simone had said she was nothing like her character.
S ‘obviously, there are things that are similar. We’re both Scottish!
Interviewer ‘but you don’t go out with a ‘weed’ (much laughter)
Simone then went on to say that when she gets a new character, she sits down and decides where they are similar. Then she discovers all the other things, adds those to the character.
S ‘there are aspects. I think I’m quite idealistic as well. I’m certainly a passionate person and quite caring in terms of womens issues as well. Am I like my character Mand.....?
M ‘erm..............’
Int ‘ I don’t think your character is at all street smart. That was very obvious in prison.’
S ‘She wears very bad twin sets!!’
M ‘ that’s why she needs Nikki, that’s one of the reasons she needs Nikki’
S ‘Yes, she’s trendied her up hasn’t she????’
M ‘ No, Nikki can do all the street stuff..........’

Loss of connection

Int ‘Nikki can see danger coming. Your character cannot see danger coming, she’s missed a great deal’
Mandana then went on to say that she doesn’t see Nikki as a criminal. She thinks that Nikki regrets the grief she caused Gossards family, but that he was a nasty piece of work who bullied people and tried to bully money out of Nikki and Trish’s club and he was a bent copper, who Nikki doesn’t regret killing

Loss of connection

A caller rang to ask about British prisons appearing so open. Mandana said that it varied a lot and that she’d spoken to a South African yesterday who was amazed that there are male wardens in British womens prisons. Mandana said that she found it extraordinary that men have that basic power in womens prisons and that it was disrespectful. ‘Why not have just women officers?’
S ‘Definitely. That is one of the issues being raised by the programme. No disrespect to the officers that are very responsible, but there is a potential for those that would abuse that situation’
M ‘It’s like when you see a tiny scene. Shell Dockley on the loo doing her business and he just walks in. In that respect, the basic premise is not respectful’
S ‘They have a rule that they should knock before they enter but, even so, they have the eye piece there that they can look in at any time. There’s no privacy whatsoever. If you see the cell, there is an open toilet at the side and ‘knock and enter’ doesn’t give much time does it, to protect your modesty?’
Caller then mentioned all the time the prisoners spend together in association. Simone pointed out that, for dramatic purposes, it was preferable to showing people locked up 24/7.
M ‘I understand what you mean. Sometimes it does appear to be a bit like a holiday camp!’
Caller ‘You wouldn’t mind staying in one of those prisons then???’
M ‘Exactly’
S ‘Wouldn’t you??’
M ‘It’s a bit of a worry, I know!!!!’
They then talked about the set. It being the biggest in Europe, three stories, 5 million pounds to build, based on a Victorian prison.
M ‘ I think it’s the true star of the show. It’s fantastic’
S ‘ I’m the star of the show (lots of laughter) I’m going to take issue with her......just kidding’
Mandana then talked about how her and Simone tried to practise scenes that they were worried wouldn’t work but as soon as they got on the set it just works. Simone talked about how good the extras were and how their interaction is so important to the feel of the show. Mandana said they had all started on the project together and those girls have now known each other for over a year and their ad-libbing is very natural. They said that extras and main cast all got on so well and have a lot of fun together. ‘They’re diamonds’.
Caller then asked if SA was what they expected.
M ‘I must confess it’s still all very surreal to me. I sort of wandered from my mud palace earth lodge at the game reserve to the backdrop of the Titanic - my Art Deco suite, you know? Oh, where’s my butler????? But I haven’t got a measure or feel yet. We’ve been looked after really well but we’re basically in and out of cars. I haven’t really formed an impression yet, but I must say, being on safari is nothing like.......you can’t image ‘til you’ve done it’
S ‘ Can I just say, I’ve been blown away by the people, how warm, intelligent and easy people are to speak to. People seem very centred, safe in themselves and much more open. In Britain they are more........’
M ‘Frosty pants!’ (laughs)
Caller 'The girls in Britain are streaming 702 and wondered if you could say hello to them’
M ‘Hiya girls!’ S ‘Hi’
Caller ‘ I will most probably see you on Sunday when you go’
M ‘ I’m staying an extra week’
S ‘ I’m thinking about it as well’
M ‘She’s staying. Tut Honestly!!’
S ‘I don’t want to go yet’
Caller ‘that’s good. Have another party. Monsoon is fully booked’
S ‘Well that’s fantastic’
Another caller then asked about whether the writers felt that entertainment creating awareness had resulted in change in Britain. Simone said that really the writers were more informed about how the problems had been affected politically. She said it was definitely bringing about change in respect of gay women, challenging social acceptance and giving women a lot more confidence to come out, being accepted by their families etc. Mandana said that they’d received sack loads of mail talking about how reconciliation's had taken place after many years. She said she’d received one from a lady of about 65 who had never come out or led a truly authentic life and she was going to tell her 89 year old bed ridden mother that she was gay. ‘You know, it was like, nooooooooooo, don’t do it, please don’t do it’
They then talked about Chris Tchaikovsky and how she was campaigning about self mutilation of women in prison.
Caller ‘ooooooohhh yes!’
M ‘Had you fallen asleep there???? Did we wake you up?’
Caller ‘the prisoners seem to wear an awful lot of makeup. Can you tell us about the rules and regulations? Which prison is it?
M ‘It’s invented. It’s Larkhall based on Holloway, in North London’
Caller ‘were all you girls friends off the screen before you met?’
S ‘ We worked together before in another series, a regional drama called London Bridge. I did about 2 years. I left before Mandana did. Yes, we worked together and became friends then. We met each other in the toilets before the audition, didn’t we?’
M ‘and it was “are you going up for my part???” And funnily enough, that was replicated 3 years later when I went up for Simone’s part and the producer said “actually do you want to play Nikki Wade?”. But to answer your earlier question, from what I know, female prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothes. I believe they’re only allowed 4 outfits in total and I think you don’t quite see that in Larkhall. I, myself, only wear this seasons Georgio Armani, of course!!!! They are also allowed 6 pieces of makeup. They’re very strict about that. They’ve obviously worked out that the female morale and behaviour is better if women are allowed to dress up’
S ‘they don’t wear nail varnish’
M ‘no nail varnish’
S ‘partly to do with glass. They’re not allowed anything with glass’
The caller asked about jewellery (re Yvonne)
M ‘It’s a tribal thing. Yvonne cab walk down the prison ‘cause she’s top dog and she can have all those chains and no one can hassle her’
Caller ‘is she top dog?’
M ‘ I think so. She’s given the title, I think’
Caller ‘ you know, SA held it’s breath for your love scene, you know, your kiss scene, everyone held their breath’
S ‘ so did we (loads of laughter) I told her not to eat onions the night before, but hey!’
Caller ‘did you practise?’
M ‘Yeah, I practised. Oh...on each other are you talking about????’
S ‘On dolls. For years, since we were knee high, we’ve practised. No we didn’t. We saved it for the multi take’
M ‘we had 17 takes’
Caller ‘you must have enjoyed it’
M ‘no we didn’t’
S ‘the director was enjoying it’
M ‘I tell you what it was. It was meant to be a kiss that ‘just happened’ and, for me, that’s one of the hardest things to do. Something that just happens is very difficult to the just artificially replicate because you don’t know how you got to there in the first place. So when Simone got it, I didn’t and visa versa, hence it took 17 mistakes and it did look like we’d been married for 50 years!’
Caller ‘ It came over very well’
M ‘Well, thank you. I think I looked like I was drawing my pension’
Interviewer ‘what comes after BG? Or is it just too soon to say?’
Both ‘erm..........’
Int ‘still too soon to say?’
M ‘ I have nothing in the pipeline’
Int ‘but I’m sure you will’
M ‘I hope so’
S ‘ I’ve been offered a play, but not until October, but it’s kind of tricky to make a commitment to yet and I was also offered a short film which I turned down because it had a good script but had extremely explicit sexual content that I didn’t want to do. So, at the moment.......unemployed’
Int ‘well they say that happens to all the best actors and actresses, but I hope you have a brilliant time in SA and thanks very much indeed for joining us’
M ‘thanks very much Jenny. It’s been fantastic’
S ‘it’s been great fun’

Finished with Queen’s ‘I want to break free’!!!!!

(With thanks to Larkhall Librarian for this transcript).

For a poor audio copy of some of this interview - Click here

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