We talk to Monarch of the Glen star Susan Hampshire about family heartache and why she is backing North charity, The Children's Foundation. The urge to ask if it's Molly, the dotty dowager of Glenbogle at the end the phone, is overpowering. The quiet and measured tone of the voice is the same, and the slightly scatty approach to life. Would it be possible to ring back? the woman asks. "I've been stuck in traffic and I need to get my eyes on." It's not Molly of course, but Susan Hampshire, the woman charged with bringing her to life for the BBC's hugely successful Sunday night comedy-drama, Monarch of the Glen. Half-an-hour later and Susan still hasn't managed to `put her face on'. "I'm in someone else's property," she sighs. "I'm in the middle of converting a barn into a new home and I've not got a phone or any heating and the lights keep going off. I've just left the BT man who said he couldn't believe my architect had never thought about where the telephone was going to go. "BT is going to have to dig a huge trench and lay new cables. It's all so frustrating, although I suppose it will all come right in the end. But to add to all this I've got interviews for Monarch of the Glen to do. I was supposed to do two this morning and forgot all about them, which is unforgivable, but I've got so much on my mind. "And now I've discovered I forgot to bring any make-up with me and I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere. I've got nothing for my eyes and I look dreadful, I really do. Oh....." Susan gives an exasperated cry. You can picture her flinging her arms up in the air and tearing at her blonde hair, much as Molly MacDonald does when she finds herself caught up in another could-have-been avoided disaster at Glenbogle. It is hard not to see Molly and the 65-year-old actress as one and the same person. But despite the chaotic morning she is having, Susan is adamant she and Molly have little in common. "Molly is awful in the garden, she can't cook and she isn't particularly good at running the house. But she is pretty good at keeping the peace, she is very good with people and she has style and panache. I, on the other hand, am good in the garden and I enjoy cooking, but I can't claim to be as nice as Molly. I think Molly is probably a very nice person." Monarch of the Glen, which is filmed around Loch Laggan, Newtonmore, Kingussie and other locations up and down Badenoch and Speyside in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, is now more than half-way through its fifth series. The Glenbogle estate has witnessed many changes since the series first hit television screens in April 2000 - not least the death of Molly's husband, Hector (played by Richard Briers) and the recent dramatic departure of her son, Archie, who has left behind his new wife and his responsibilities to head off to Nepal. Can Glenbogle survive without its young laird? Susan believes so. "The stars are really the house and the scenery and the light comedy that is offered and the romantic situations," she maintains. "People can come and go, but the series will always have the same appeal. "I think there is a huge hole in the market for things which the whole family can watch. I'm not exactly Mary Whitehouse, but I do feel very strongly that we should be given programmes which can be watched together by families. And there is an older generation who are being denied romance and glamour on television." But it is still being decided if there is to be a sixth series? "Negotiations are still under way with all of us," says Susan. "We should know by the end of this month if another series is going to be commissioned." And will Molly still be part of the equation? Susan considers the question. "I do love it up there, but I miss my own home terribly and, of course, I miss my husband (theatrical impresario Sir Eddie Kulukundis). It's a nine-hour drive and 12 hours by train door-to-door, if you're lucky, to where Monarch is filmed. "I might do 10 days on and three days off, but it's very erratic. Basically, I'm paid to be there all the time. That's my job. So if they change the schedule, you have to go back up. My husband is 72, so it is something I have to think long and hard about." There will be no shortage of things to keep Susan occupied should she decide to wave goodbye to Glenbogle. Apart from completing work on her new home in the Chilterns, she is in constant demand as an actress and is a keen supporter of numerous charities. It is the latter which will see her heading to Newcastle on December 2 when she will be hosting a pre-Christmas celebrity lunch in support of the Children's Foundation. The leading children's healthcare charity in the North-East and Cumbria, it raises money to fund medical and lifestyle research as well as a number of community-based pro- jects. Children and young people are close to Susan's heart. In 1967 she married the French film director Pierre Grainier-Deferre and they had a son, Christopher, now 32, and a premature daughter, Victoria, who died within 24 hours. Subsequently she had several miscarriages and the marriage ended after five years. It was a sad period of Susan's life, but she says: "I don't dwell on it. I was fortunate as I already had a son before all these things happened. Once you have one little boy it puts everything into perspective." She is particularly interested in helping charities that are small and benefit those living in their area. "I think it is important to know the money is being well used. When things are too widespread you can find the money tends to go on administration. "And I am especially interested in those charities that help youngsters; those people who are just starting out on life. Having said that, I keep saying I am going to do more for the elderly as I think they are having such a bad time of it at the moment." With regards to the Children's Foundation, she adds: "My heart was particularly drawn to this charity. What I can do is very limited, but hopefully my hosting this lunch will not only raise lots of money but awareness about the good work the Children's Foundation does." Susan is unexpectedly excited about her trip North. The reason soon becomes clear. She is passionate about the region. "I just love Newcastle," she enthuses. "It is a great place." This isn't just the talk of someone trying to impress. Susan is genuinely familiar with the city and the surrounding countryside. "Don't you think the bridges across the Tyne are wonderful? And the Angel of the North is spectacular. My husband is very involved with athletics and Steve Cram and Brendan Foster both come from your area, and, of course, there is the Great North Run." Susan has grown to know and love the North-East for a host of reasons. She has toured in stage productions and she also has a close relationship with Nunnykirk Centre for Dyslexia near Morpeth - the North's only specialist school for young dyslexics. She has battled dyslexia all her life, and as a child she was, at one point, regarded as mentally handicapped because of the then- unknown condition which results in severe problems with reading, writing and spelling. While the condition may have caused her anguish, the public has much to be thankful for. But for her dyslexia she may have been lost to the world of acting. It had been her ambition to become a nurse, but after her dyslexia prevented her from gaining the Latin O-level she needed to pursue her preferred career, she decided to take up drama instead. The NHS's loss has been our gain. She made her stage debut in 1958 in Expresso Bongo and in 1960 she appeared at the Vaudeville Theatre in the musical Follow That Girl. Her fined-boned and very English beauty, as well as her undoubted skills as an actress, soon brought Susan to the attention of Hollywood. In her twenties she was offered contracts by three large film studios, but she turned them down as they wanted to dye her hair red, take a bit off her chin, fix her teeth and straighten her legs. However, her reluctance to become a part of the Hollywood star-making machine hasn't held her back. Over the years she has appeared in a number of famous films, including Monte Carlo or Bust opposite Tony Curtis, as well as some of the most popular British TV series: The Pallisters, The First Churchills, The Barchester Chronicles and Vanity Fair, to name but a few. But she is perhaps best remembered for being the original Fleur in the BBC's 1967 adaptation of the Forsyte Saga, a part that won her an Emmy for Best Actress. She watched the remake on ITV1 recently and says: "I enjoyed it very much. Obviously it was very much truncated compared to the version I was in and I thought it didn't have the atmosphere or the wonderful scope ours had. Things went at a different pace in those days. But I still thought it was glorious." Would she have liked to appear in Granada's adaptation? "Fleur was the best role that any actress could ever ask for. That changed my life. I suppose I could have been one of the old aunties, but I think it would have upset the balance. Many people remember me as Fleur, so what would Fleur have been doing pretending to be an auntie?" The actress, awarded an OBE for her charity work, isn't fed up with still being referred to as an English rose. "I suppose I'm very realistic. We're in a crowded profession. Anybody who works is incredibly lucky, so the fact that I'm surviving in the business is just one wonderful miracle." But how does she manage to stay looking so young and fresh? "I think it's genetics, really, a healthy diet. I don't smoke, don't drink heavily, don't go in the sun and drink a lot of water. But I think a lot of it is luck." | 
