Sarah Parish is a familiar face on our TV screens having starred in such hit shows as Bancroft, Atlantis and Mistresses. But she’s virtually unrecognisable in her latest role as a formidable chief superintendent tasked with training a bunch of hapless police recruits in riotous ITV1 comedy, Piglets.
From the makers of Green Wing and Smack the Pony, the six-part sitcom is centred on the fictional Norbourne Police Training College and follows the (mis)fortunes of six very different cops-in-training: Steph (Henpocalypse’s Callie Cooke), Leggo (Sam Pote), Geeta (Sukh Kaur Ojla) Afia (Halema Hussain), Dev (Abdul Sessay) and Paul (Jamie Bisping).
Sarah plays no-nonsense Superintendent Julie Spry who, alongside her some-nonsense sidekick Superintendent Bob Weekes (played by Friday Night Dinner’s Mark Heap), are putting the ‘piglets’ through their paces, with police trainers Mike and Daz (Wolf’s Ukweli Roach and EastEnders’ Ricky Champ) helping to knock the newbies into shape.
Here, Sarah talks freestyling, food contests and false teeth...
How did you get involved with Piglets?
"The scripts were so funny and silly; it had that absurd, Airplane-style humour and I loved it. I've never really done anything like this before - this humour and this kind of character - and I really wanted to have a go at playing Supt. Julie Spry because she's so ‘out there’."
How would you describe Julie?
"Julie’s a formidable woman, hugely ambitious and very arrogant. She doesn't have any time for the piglets she’s training up. She hates sharing an office with Bob - who she thinks is a complete idiot - and working at the police academy is a bit of a drag for her. She’d rather be out in plain clothes, taking people down because she likes fights. Julie’s a pretty awful person to be honest - but great fun to play."
You undergo quite the transformation as Julie. Viewers might not recognise you…
"As soon as I read the script, I knew Julie would look a certain way. I’d already worked with make-up artist, Jody Williams, on Atlantis - we tried lots of wigs for Piglets, and as soon as I put on Julie’s I knew that was the one. It was exactly how I saw her in my head. Julie doesn’t wear make-up - or SPF - and Jody added loads of broken veins and skin damage to my face. Then Jody suggested fake teeth, so we went the whole hog! Many of the crew had only seen me as Julie, so after a day’s filming they were shocked to see what I really looked like."
Much of the comedy in Piglets is improvised. What was that like to film?
"It’s frightening if you're not used to it, but it was great to have that freedom to experiment and our directors were open to anything. In the show, Bob and Julie are so competitive with each other, so Mark and I suggested they should have an eating competition. We ate noodles, ice cream sundaes, bags of crisps and drank cans of soda. We had a burping contest at the end and Mark made me laugh so much, I couldn't finish the scene. We got on incredibly well and I hope that shows in the series - our characters’ hate-hate relationship is very amusing!"
You’ve starred in lots of dramas - do you enjoy doing comedy?
"Oh my gosh, yes, I love comedy. I’m always slightly miffed when I watch awards ceremonies and all the awards are given out to the dramas, the criers and the wailers when it's much harder to make people laugh; you've got to be on your ‘A game’ every single day. I hope I can do more comedy in the future."
What will viewers most enjoy about Piglets?
"I hope the audience can sink themselves into the humour and enjoy the daftness of Piglets; once you accept how silly and ridiculous it is, you can really enjoy the ride. At this time, we need TV shows we can watch for 30 minutes that will really make us laugh and lift us out of what can sometimes be a pretty dark reality. It’s the right time for a comedy like Piglets!"
Piglets starts on Saturday, July 20 at 9.30pm on ITV1 with all six episodes available as a box set on ITVX.
