From The Vault: Dawn French
Full Disclosure with James O'Brien
Global
4.6 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
From the dislocated, sun soaked childhood of an RAF family to a life spent shaping British comedy, Dawn French’s story is one of resilience, warmth and hard won self knowledge. In this generous conversation with James O’Brien, recorded five years ago, she reflects on the moves that defined her early years, the confidence gifted to her by loving parents, and the shock of losing her father just as adulthood was beginning. She recalls her time at boarding school in Plymouth, the drama teacher who changed her life, and the year she spent in New York after winning a fiercely competitive debating scholarship.
Dawn speaks openly about stumbling into comedy by accident, her early days at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and the moment living with Jennifer Saunders set the course for their four-decade partnership. She revisits the wild beginnings of The Comic Strip, moonlighting as a teacher by day and performing in a smoky Soho club by night.
Along the way, she discusses the unusual pressures of fame, the introversion that sits behind the jazz hands, and the fierce, uncomplicated love that shaped her as both daughter and mother. Warm, candid and often very funny, this episode offers an intimate portrait of a national treasure who remains thoughtful, grounded and endlessly generous in spirit.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a Global Player Original podcast. |
| 0:10.4 | Hello and welcome to full disclosure. |
| 0:15.5 | As the new year begins and we all slowly emerged from the soft blur of the Christmas break, |
| 0:21.0 | there is something rather comforting about returning to a conversation |
| 0:24.5 | that offered warmth, humour and some unexpected perhaps perspectives. |
| 0:29.9 | Since we launched full disclosure in 2019, |
| 0:32.4 | we've been lucky enough to sit down with countless extraordinary people |
| 0:36.3 | from right across public life and beyond. |
| 0:39.4 | But every so often there's an interview that stays with you even longer than the others. |
| 0:44.3 | And long after we've packed up the studio. |
| 0:46.9 | This week we are going back in time, right into the vault, if you prefer, to revisit a conversation with the incomparable and inimitable |
| 0:55.5 | dawn French. It really is one of the most generous, funny and moving episodes that we've ever |
| 1:02.0 | recorded. You know her, of course, as a beloved actor, writer, comedy pioneer whose work truly |
| 1:08.1 | transcends generations. But what makes this conversation so special for me |
| 1:12.9 | is the openness with which she reflects on everything from her nomadic childhood in an RAF family |
| 1:19.3 | to the love that fortified her, the loss that changed her, and the very accidental beginnings |
| 1:25.2 | of a career that has helped redefine British comedy. |
| 1:28.9 | From boarding school to New York to the wild early days of the comic strip |
| 1:33.0 | and that lifelong bond with Jennifer Saunders, all of it examined and explored with Dawn's |
| 1:38.6 | unmistakable wit and honesty. If you've heard it before, it's a perfect companion |
| 1:43.3 | for easing yourself back into |
| 1:44.8 | the rhythm of the new year. And if it's new to you, then you're in for a real treat. |
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