Whether you're wide awake and setting out for your run or curled up in bed and trying to get to sleep, welcome to Rosebud.

Welcome to another episode of Rosebud.

And when I say it's a very special episode, you may think, oh, he says that every week.

This one for me is a particularly wonderful episode because the actress that I'm talking to today,

Alison Stedman, is one of my favorites.

Of all the roles she's played, my goodness, so many stand out for me from Abigail's party when she was working

with her then husband, Mike Lee. She had lots of films with him, through to Gavin and Stacey.

She has been in hits galore. And she's had a most extraordinary life. She's one of many of our

Rosebud guests who begins their life in Liverpool. There must be something special about Liverpool that

so many remarkable people started out there. From tales of meeting the Beatles, of course she met the

Beatles, right through to working with the great Michael Gambon in the singing detective,

she's known them all and she's been them all. Because the treat for me in this

conversation is that not only does Alison Stedman tell a great story, but she gives an amazing

impression. She is a great actress, but also a great impressionist. I think this is an

episode of Rosebud that will make a great impression on you.

I hope so.

Enjoy it.

Cue the music.

Let's begin at the beginning, Alison Stedman.

What is your very first memory?

My very first memory, I think, was when my grandfather was ill in bed. He'd had a heart attack,

and this was in the 40s. And so he was resting in bed, and sadly, he died. My grandma was giving him a cup of tea and he just died. But I can remember

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