Today’s Joanna Page

In which we try to review and show pictures and clips of the best bits from everything Gavin & Stacey actress Joanna Page has been in on TV, radio, theatre and film (we’re drawing the line at audio books). As life challenges go, it’s not quite up there with Danny Wallace’s Yes Man, but it’s worth doing.

Today's Joanna Page

Today’s Joanna Page: Adrenaline Junkie

21 July 2009 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Joanna Page - adrenaline junkie

Our Joanna is currently off in Wales filming the third series of Gavin & Stacey. But a little while ago, I mentioned she was in Dubai, filming Jack Osbourne’s Adrenaline Junkie. Turns out, all that navy fun in Making Waves stood her in good stead for some powerboat racing.

“Joanna couldn’t wait to get in, she was jumping up and down. Reggie didn’t like water but he was really good and just said ‘I’m getting in’. Jack and Jesse went back to the hotel. We thought it was really strange – adrenaline junkie or not?!”

But the next day, the boys decided to go ahead with the race.

Sarah said: “Joanna was buzzing and I think she went back to the hotel and told them how amazing it was. Then they were under pressure because if a girl could do it, then they should be able to do it. It wasn’t very adrenaline junkie. Joanna is a true adrenaline junkie.”

Source

Today's Joanna Page

Today’s Joanna Page: Bleak Expectations (the pilot)

14 July 2009 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Well, I mentioned it last week, but thanks to Mark at The British Comedy Guide we have word from Mark Evans himself about who was in the Bleak Expectations pilot and why Joanna Page wasn’t in the series itself:

"Yes, she played Pippa in the pilot. And was excellent. The reason she was not in the series itself was entirely down to availability… It would have been excellent to have had her in the series, but luckily we got the wonderful Susie Kane to play Pippa as she has done fabulously ever since.

The non-broadcast pilot was actually March 2006… then it was a whole year before the first series. Anthony Head wasn’t actually in that pilot – Tom Hollander played Mr Sourquill and Mr Gently Benevolent. Again, it was entirely an availability thing for him not doing the series; again we luckily got the fantastic Mr Head. I think both he and Mr Hollander are superb actors.

James Bachman was still Harry Biscuit, even in the pilot (doubling also with Servewell, Sir Philip’s butler). Thomas was played by Kim Wall; in the first series he became Mark Perry. Again, all availability. I’m a huge Kim Wall fan.

We also had Sophie Thompson as Agnes, Pip’s mother. (In the series played by Celia Imrie.) Once again it’s the whole availability thing. I think Sophie was in Eastenders at that point… but may be wrong. We were very lucky – every time we lost someone from the pilot cast, we found someone just as great to replace them in the series. Oh, and Poppy was played by Kellie Bright, who turned up recently in small parts in Horne and Corden and who is/was Kate Aldridge in The Archers. She, too, was unavailable for the series. Everyone got very, very successful and busy after the pilot. Coincidence? Or just great excuse making so they didn’t have to be in it?"

So there you have it. However, since it’s Today’s Joanna Page, have another picture of Joanna Page filming the third series of Gavin & Stacey:

Today's Joanna Page

Today’s Joanna Page: Bleak Expectations

7 July 2009 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

Bleak Expectations

Today’s Joanna Page was going to be Radio 4’s Dickens piss-take, Bleak Expectations:

The plot revolves around Philip “Pip” Bin and his two sisters, Poppy and Pippa, whose seemingly ideal life is disrupted by the death of their father and the madness of their mother. They are then locked away by their guardian, Mr. Gently Benevolent, in St. Bastard’s, the most vicious boarding school in England, and St. Bitch’s, a nearby convent. Pip and his sisters attempt to free themselves of their guardian with the help of Harry Biscuit, whose father invented the biscuit.

I knew she was in it: her IMDB page says she is* and IMDB would never lie, would it?

I listened to the whole first series, trying to work out which character she might be. It’s actually pretty good if you know Dickens even vaguely, although it does remind me of all those skits you used to write in sixth form where you’d play on words, looking for a silly alternative meaning to every line and then running with the sillier meaning. But it’s very funny all the same, and Anthony Head’s great as the evil Mr Benevolent. I’ll probably scout out the second series when I can, and a third series has just been recorded.

Anyway, for a second, I thought she might be Flora Dies-Early, a pastiche of David Copperfield‘s Dora Spenlow, whom she played in the most recent BBC1 adaptation. But she wasn’t.

Was IMDB mistaken? Surely not. So I investigated further…

Continue reading “Today’s Joanna Page: Bleak Expectations”

Today's Joanna Page

Today’s Joanna Page: Adrenaline Junkie

12 May 2009 Rob Buckley 1 Comment

So what’s our Joanna up to at the minute, given it’s been a little while since our last Today’s Joanna Page? Well, apart from filming the third series of Gavin & Stacey, she’s been off to Dubai for Jack Osbourne’s Adrenaline Junkie, and pretending to be a puppy for the new series of Mist Sheepdog Tales.

But it’s that time of year again, so she’s gearing up for Race For Life in Swansea; she shares her top tips on the latest Cancer Research podcast. Don’t forget to sponsor her!