Alison Steadman on turning 80, royal encounters with the King, and the truth about Gavin & Stacey's cast WhatsApp group

Alison Steadman marked her 80th birthday in August and says she’s “glad to be alive,” a feeling mixed with grief after the deaths of her sisters Sylvia and Pamela, and her mother Marjorie, who died of pancreatic cancer 30 years ago. Steadman, known for Pam in Gavin & Stacey and Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, discussed consulting her late mother for guidance. Professionally, she has forthcoming appearances in BBC Christmas adaptation The Baddies and in the fourth series of Here We Go with Katherine Parkinson. She also recalled a champagne mishap on a business-class flight from Canada when a steward ignored her until the drink went “BOOM!”