From sweet chalet maid to hard-hearted orphanage matron, Su Pollard tells Laura Davis about life after Hi de Hi

IT MAY be more than two decades since Hi de Hi was put to sleep, but the character of ditsy but lovable Peggy is still going strong. Every so often, she makes an exclusive solo appearance on Su Pollard’s doorstep.

“Young children knock on my front door and say ‘Is Peggy there please?’,” explains the 59-year-old actress, who played the holiday camp chalet maid for eight years.

“I say ‘come back tomorrow’ and I put my outfit on for them, just for a bit of fun.”

Currently, though, she has a less likeable role, touring UK theatres as the dastardly Miss Hannigan in the musical Annie.

Pollard first played the part back in 2001.

She will return to the Liverpool Empire next week after a gap of five years, having skipped the venue last year when touring with swinging 60s musical Shout!.

“I was supposed to come but I was taking dad’s ashes to Hawaii,” she explains.

“I love coming to Liverpool because it’s near Manchester and Rhyl, where I have friends, so I’m hoping for a social week.”

Despite the orphanage matron being traditionally played as a villainous rogue, Pollard has a lot of sympathy for the character.

“I try and bring a bit of sympathy to the role for her. I’m trying to get the public to understand that she’s not just horrible, it’s circumstances.

“She’s so upset about these terrible children that give her the runaround – dangling dead mice in front of her and things like that.

“She’s terribly frustrated, poor woman, and she thinks ‘I’m going to take solace in the Jack Daniels’.”

Pollard’s aim is to bring out the character’s funny side.

“It’s a good part,” she says.

“She’s not a very nice woman really, but I try and get some humour into it with her drinking habits.