There are just two absolutes in the universe. The first is that we absolutely don't know if that's a true statement - and the second is - no one can play those deliciously wicked characters we love to watch on prime time soaps as well as the English. They seem to be born to do them so wonderfully well, everyone else should just give up, dunk a tea bag into a cup of tepid water, and sit back, watch, and enjoy.

Case in point: Ms Stephanie Beacham, who was one of the stars on the late series, The Colbys, and, thanks to one of the best casting coups in years, was invited to recreate the character of Sable Colby on Dynasty.

During Stephanie's tenure on The Colbys, I asked her why the English do their villains so well.

"I think," she said, "that we have a very long history of playing some of the nastiest villains you're ever going to find anywhere. Look at Shakespeare, for example - villains everywhere, including his comedies."

Ms. Beacham made the point that villains are usually subtle folks. You're usually not aware of what they did to you until after the deed's been done. "Therefore," she said, "you play your character the same way."

Of course, there's nothing very subtle about Sable Colby, though.

"Well," Stephanie said, "I don't think of her as a villain, as such, rather more bitchy, perhaps. Sable is concerned with having the best of everything and she'll do what she believes she has to do to get what she wants."

Now Sable and Alexis are butting their beautifully coifed heads against one another on Dynasty and everyone loves it. As a matter of fact, if there were any female characters on television whom the average woman in the United States could not, logically, identify with, they would have to be Dynasty's dynamic duo: Alexis (Joan Collins) and Sable. After all, how many of us trail furs and drip jewels; live in surroundings that make Monaco's Pink Palace look like a novel; and have the most desirable men standing around waiting their turn to be loved for as long as you'll have them, and then make way for an always-available successor? But logic be damned. It's the ladies of dubious virtue whom the fans prefer overwhelmingly.

The question is why.

"The answer," Stephanie Beacham said, "is that these are women who wield a great deal of power. What that represents is the ability to be in command of your own life, to make the decisions you want to make, and not be overruled by anyone else. Unfortunately, many women feel they have very little command of their lives, so they enjoy watching women who do."

Stephanie Beacham believes, however, that many of us can do more to shape our lives than we might imagine, and she is her own best proof of that philosophy. "I was born with a hearing problem," she said in an example of classic English understatement. Actually, she was born completely deaf in her right ear and has diminished hearing capacity in the left one.

But Stephanie never accepted that her deafness would severely limit her scope of opportunities. For example, while the prevailing wisdom had been, and still persists in some quarters, that deaf children can never learn to dance because they cannot hear music, Stephanie studied ballet in London and mime in the renowned Mime School of Paris. She "heard" the music through vibrations. She's always felt all deaf children should be allowed to "experience how wonderful it is to be able to dance." The problem, she says, often lies more with the parents who may be afraid they're raising their children's expectations too high and the children will be disappointed.

Stephanie gave an example of how her deafness sometimes made her feel stupid and why it caused her to dread having to go into a looping studio to re-record her dialogue on film. "I'm sure people used to wonder how an apparently bright and intelligent person could suddenly turn into someone who sounded so unintelligent as well as unintelligible. What no one realized at the time was that when they put the small earphone on me so that I could hear the original sound and then repeat the dialogue for the looping, I was no longer hearing my own voice and I would speak the way we often hear deaf people speaking - flat, with no tonal quality. You see, in order to speak properly we must hear ourselves AS WE SPEAK. It was a terrible time for me until a sound engineer solved the problem with another speaker that allowed me to hear my voice AS I SPOKE. Now I no longer dread the looping."

Stephanie feels one of the most important things a parent can do for a deaf child is learn to use sign language with him or her. "It's vital that a deaf child learns to communicate with others as soon as possible." She also says parents should never underestimate a child's potential or intelligence and should encourage him or her to stretch beyond his or her current limits. "When children see that we believe in their abilities, they won't be ashamed of their disability."

Stephanie Beacham made her theatre debut in 1969 in two Harold Pinter plays, The Basement and Tea Party. She also made her first film that year, co-starring with Michael Crawford in The Games. She's worked with many of the top actors, such as Edward Woodward, Ava Gardner, Jeremy Irons, and Marlon Brando, among others. However, what intrigued most people when the season started last fall, was how she and Joan Collins would get along on the Dynasty set.

"Well, I hope I didn't disappoint anyone," Stephanie said, "but the truth is - we get along beautifully off camera, that is. On camera, we're a pair of bitchy ladies who are absolutely foul to each other and we're having so much fun doing it. Joan and I seem to have a chemistry that delights the viewers."

There've been stories in the press that this may be Dynasty's last year. Stephanie's reaction to that was straightforward. "Perhaps. But that's not been determined yet. And as far as I can tell, there's every reason to expect the series to continue for quite a long time. We're doing so many exciting things on the show.

"But, for however long Dynasty lasts, may it always retain the marvellous sense of fun that made it so special all these years."