Su Pollard on early starts, Hi-de-Hi, Masterchef and entertaining an audience again

"Good morning, is that Matt?" she says, already seemingly full of boundless energy and enthusiasm.

After I provide a quick acknowledgement, Su's off, speaking breathlessly and she recounts her start to the day.

"You know what it's like, probably a bit like yourself, you wake up sometimes and think 'oh it's a bit early, I'm not getting up," she says.

"But I did because I wasn't tired – it was 3am dear! I'd had enough sleep, I wasn't tired."

Up at 3am and the 72-year-old is full of beans and the joys of life.

I'm on my third coffee and still desperately seeking that daily wake-up call, a pick-me-up.

It's Su who provides it. She's as you'd imagine, warm, friendly, bubbly. she talks to you as if you are an old friend.

She's heading to the Tamworth Assembly Rooms this Friday as part of a national tour, an Evening with Su Pollard.

And she's as eager to ask your opinions as to wax lyrical about her own life, someone very down-to-earth, with no airs and graces.

"I've never played at the Assembly Rooms, it seems to be a nice venue," she says. "Is it nice, Matt?"

"My production manager Josh – his mum lives 20 minutes away so he's thrilled to bits. He'll see his mum, get fed and then come and watch."

After a chat about the venue, Tamworth and drifting off into conversation about Tamworth pigs, Su explains more about the show.

"I hope it will be great for people to come out and hopefully they will be royally entertained and be able to see how lovely their own theatre is" she says.

"It's been a scary time during the pandemic but I hope people will relish the thought of getting a bit dressed up and coming out.

"I'm really looking forward to it," she adds. "We will do a meet and greet beforehand which is always nice.

"In the first half, I will have some nice anecdotes of stories that have happened over the years and there will be songs.

"What we are trying to do is make the first half one of real variety. It won't be just me talking with a plant pot on a table beside me - that's boring dear!

"We are trying to bring people out of their houses so I want there to be something for everybody."

Su has a stream of television and film credits including, of course Hi-De-Hi!, You Rang M’Lord, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Benidorm, Doctors and The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends.

Stories from such roles are bound to come up, along with stories from her theatre work, including Me and My Girl, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Little Shop of Horrors, Menopause The Musical, The Vagina Monologues and Shout!

"I'll be singing my greatest hit, I've only had one," she adds. And with Su bursts into a rendition of 'Starting Together'.

"I'm going to mention a few things that people don't know about and a few things they might to," she tells me. "As I say, we just want it to be value for money, that's my manta – VFM.

"I pepper it with a few things that come from nowhere too.

"I might tell a story and then I'll go 'ooh, I've got a joke here' or I'll just come in with it. I like little daft jokes that don't take forever to tell!"

The great thing about an audience with Su is that she attracts an audience of all ages.

Recently seen on Celebrity Masterchef, she's captured a whole new group of fans.

"With Masterchef, it means that as well as older audiences, those just off to college are now saying to me 'Ooh, we like Masterchef, we enjoyed seeing you on it, can we have a selfie!?'"

Cooking, Su explains, came out in lockdown.

"We couldn't do anything apart from just go to the shops," she reflects. "So I thought I'd have time to practice my cooking.

"Lockdown is no good for anyone of us but it was something positive."

Time is ticking on my 15-minute time slot and I have, of course, have to get some memories of Hi-De-Hi! and the role of chalet maid Peggy Ollerenshaw, which proved such a smash hit with the audience.

"Miss Ollerenshaw will be making an appearance in Tamworth!" she confirms. "I should imagine people may well have quite a few questions about that period."

I wonder what Peggy might be doing right now, all these years after the end of the sitcom.

"We had this great chat when we finished Hi-De-Hi!" she recalls. "Gladys would be firmly ensconsed in Australia with Clive.

"Ted Bovis would be in the clubs, Spike would have given up the business and got married and Peggy would be the manageress of The Odeon.

"That's the nearest she would be to getting a yellow coat again – although she got one – and then it got shut down.

"That would be her next nice thing and maybe she has met a nice man. I'd like to think she would be living the perfect life, bless her!"

Su is still very much in touch with her former cast members despite the show having ended in 1988.

"Jeffrey (Holland) and I often get asked to do shows together," she says. "Last week I spoke to David Webb (who played Stanley Matthews). He goes round doing slides, talking about the days in Hi-De-Hi!

"We all try and keep in touch as often as we can because we all have great memories and they are all inter-related. Our memories are each other's memories.

"They are all great people as well. (Writers) David (Croft) and Jimmy (Perry) would never have anyone 'starry'.

"It was a team show and we all learned from each other. They were some of the best memories of your life. We were all lucky to be involved in it."

So, her own show aside, what does the new year have in store for Su?

"I am doing a piece called Tickledom," she recalls. "This was written 20 years ago, a family fantasy. It's a beautiful little story and were doing a short tour of that.

"It's enchanting with fabulous light effects. We start that in May.

"I just thought it was well written. There's a couple of lovely songs in it and the costumes are great."

She adds: "And I'm taking my other show, Harpy, about a hoarder, out again."

She's certainly busy and adds: "You try to do different things and move forward.

"I'm more fortunate now. I can afford to turn things down if I don't think they are good enough.

"People deserve good entertainment, the best you can give them."

Su's ready to move onto another topic but we have run over time and suddenly panics.

"Oh I've got to go. It's been so nice to talk to you, thank you for your time!"

I put the phone down after an 18-minute look into Su's frenetic world, which leaves me smiling for the day ahead.

The audience is Staffordshire this week can look forward to having that feel-good factor on Friday night.

An evening with Su Pollard takes place on February 4 at Tamworth Assembly Rooms. Ticket Prices are £18.50. There are a limited 30 seats available for a Meet 'n' Greet with Su at £40

Doors open at 6pm. Show starts at 7:30pm. For more details, visit tamworthartsandevents.co.uk