ELIZABETH SPRIGGS
Elizabeth
Spriggs plays Ursula Gooding
Elizabeth Spriggs loved becoming the first guest star to get a second appearance
in MIDSOMER MURDERS.
“To come back to the show was marvellous because the first time around I just
loved it. I remember feeling sorry when the first film finished – it was a
pilot and they didn't know then if it was going to work. Little did we know!
“I think our return was sparked off by the Americans who kept asking whatever
happened to the Rainbirds. They must have forgotten that we were murdered. So
the producers Betty and Brian thought of the idea that I was the original
character's sister.
“The script is wonderful, subtly contrived and it works perfectly. The crew
was wonderful and it was like going home. I loved working with Richard Cant as
my son again because he is such a darling man, so gentle and sweet natured. And
John Nettles is patient and generous. He is so down to earth and makes everyone
so welcome – that is one of the main reasons why it works. It's like a stage
company.”
Nine years after playing Iris, Elizabeth went through some slight costume
changes to play Ursula.
“You will recognise her as the Rainbird sister – my nails are varnished but
not bright red and I don't have to wear the dreadful teeth this time, I just
have mine. Reg Samuel the costume designer is perfect and I always say he is
half the performance. He gives me Camilla Parker Bowles hats in vivid colours
and beautiful dresses and Ursula gets away with it.
“She really is nasty – an overbearing, bossy lady. Whether she means well or
not I don't know, but she is vile. Sophie Thompson plays her daughter and she is
like a little deer with big brown eyes. I just squash her all the time. It's
like acting with a moth, she is so damaged. I felt terrible when I had to bully
her!”
Like her character, Elizabeth lives in the country.
“I live in a similar cottage to Ursula, an Elizabethan cottage in the country.
Filming the oak apple celebrations was just like the village fetes that I
remember from years ago.”
Elizabeth's many credits include Poirot, Shackleton, Nice Guy Eddie, Wives and
Daughters, Playing the Field, Middlemarch, Anglo Saxon Attitudes, Watching and
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Films include Harry Potter and the Philosopher's
Stone and Sense and Sensibility.
She recently filmed The Queen of Sheba's Pearls in Sweden with Peter Vaughan.