Episode 24 – Maureen O’Farrell Interview

The Minder Podcast

This time we feature an exclusive interview with a very well known actress, particularly in the 80’s, Maureen O’Farrell. It took me a while to track Maureen down but once I realised she had changed her name to Sara Farouk Ahmed it was a little easier. You would not think it was easier to reach an actress who became a belly dancer and moved to Egypt than say someone in the UK with agency representation, but it actually was. So a big thank you to Maureen for this exclusive.

Maureen appeared in episode 10 of series 4, the wonderful Get Daley – and as you can see above she was the star guest of this episode. Get Daley is a great episode full of fantastic one liners and a couple of very interesting plots. Maureen can tell a few tales about the show.

There is also a lot of inside information on working with Dennis Waterman, with Rula Lenska on set, and spending the day with George Cole and his wife Penny Morrell. Not to mention the experiences of being a working class actress.

And then there is the fabulous Euston Films series Widows. In fact Maureen is still best remembered today by many as Linda Pirelli.

The first series was directed by Minder legend Ian Toynton so we talk about him a lot. Ian directed nine episodes of Minder and was also Associate Producer.

There is also a lot of info on what went on behind the scenes between series one and two of Widows and the change from Ian Toynton to replacement director Paul Annett. Not to mention what happened to Harry Rawlins, that is Maurice O’Connell.

Then there is the philosophy of Brian Cox. Meeting Christopher Ellison in an oyster bar. Not to mention how it was working with the Euston Films crew.

Finally, which actors were “supremely professional and lovely” on the set of Minder? The answer may surprise you.