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Woman's Hour

Didi Conn: Frenchy from Grease, Church of England abuse review

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As an immersive version of Grease opens for the summer in London, Anita Rani welcomes Didi Conn, who played 'Beauty School Dropout' Frenchy in the original 1978 film.

Can you imagine running an entire country on just a few hours of sleep? Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, who has referred to herself as 'Japan’s Iron Lady', says she often functions on zero to three hours a night. Whether it's long work hours, caring responsibilities, new born babies, pain, anxiety or hormones, women can struggle to get sleep, so we wanted to look at how much is enough? And does it differ between men and women? Anita is joined by Dr Kat Lederle, sleep scientist and chronobiologist.

The Church of England's Interim Commissioner for Independent Reviews, which investigates cases of historic sex abuse, has published their first report and it's about one woman’s experience and how her case was handled, or rather mishandled, by those in charge at the time. Jane Chevous has waived her anonymity to speak to Woman's Hour. She alleges that she experienced rape, plus spiritual and psychological abuse by two clergymen. Anita speaks to Jane and the BBC’s Religion Editor, Aleem Maqbool.

The Commonwealth Games netball tournament gets underway next week, with all four UK nations set to be involved. England will be hoping to challenge for the medals once again, while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will all be looking to make their mark on one of the sport's biggest stages. Anna Carter, a former player and coach for England, who now runs Elite Netball Academy, gives Anita her take.

This weekend, all around the world, thousands will congregate to recreate Kate Bush's iconic debut single music video. Known as The Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever, for those who take part, it's a truly special occasion. But how did it start and why is it so important for those who take part? Anita speaks to Georgie Sworder, one of the women who originally inspired the event, and Belinda Burton, who will be organising her own 'mass wuther' in Sydney.

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:07.0

If you like listening to BBC podcasts, she felt a crackle of energy, then you might also enjoy a good audio book.

0:13.1

The game's afoot.

0:14.1

Whether it's for your commute or your holiday, I listen to some terrible Spanish radio.

0:18.5

There are loads on BBC sounds.

0:20.7

From contemporary gems to much

0:22.3

love classics. Mr Darcy soon drew the attention of the room. All packed with personality.

0:28.2

With narrators like Julie Andrews, Hugh Bonneville and Andrew Scott. What kind of a name is that?

0:33.3

Just search audiobooks on BBC sounds. Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:40.9

Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been removed for this podcast.

0:47.7

Good morning and welcome to the programme.

0:50.1

We have an exclusive interview with a woman who has waived her right to anonymity to expose the alleged abuse she experienced in the Church of England.

1:00.1

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games netball tournament will tell you everything you need to know.

1:05.3

And Greece is the word.

1:07.3

D.D. Con, who played Frenchie, one of the pink ladies in the original movie,

1:11.2

is here to tell us all about a new immersive Greece experience that's just opened in London.

1:17.6

And staying with music that endures, and also coincidentally from the same year, 1978,

1:23.2

it is the most Wuthering Heights Day ever this weekend.

1:27.6

In 70 cities across the world, there are mass gatherings of people in floaty red dresses

1:32.8

dancing to Kate Bush's debut single Wuthering Heights.

1:36.5

Maybe you too will be out flailing around on a wily, Windy Moore, and in that case, I fully approve.

1:42.5

Also, how did you sleep last night?

...

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