If Stephanie Beacham appears to concentrate on The Colbys co-star Charlton Heston's lines with unusual intensity, there's a good reason. She is almost deaf and depends on lip-reading to get her scenes right.

Stephanie stars as Sable in The Colbys, and manages the fast-paced TV production schedule despite her handicap.

"I notice more and more that I'm deaf. A little while ago I thought something could be done for nerve deafness, and I got my hopes up.

"I had never thought about my impediment, never resented it, until then - when I realised how much I was longing to hear in stereo."

Stephanie is deaf in her right ear and has only 70 per cent hearing in her left.

"My children fight to be on my left-hand side," she says. "They've plainly realised that I don't answer them when they're on the right."

Her two children, Phoebe, 11, and Chloe, 9, are from her marriage to actor John McEnery.

Her co-stars on The Colbys play to her better ear.

"Linda Evans quietly moved me around to her right side. It's very hard to put yourself in the position of the newcomer, especially when I didn't appear nervous. But Linda's delightful. She had the sensitivity to give me my best shot.

"Chuck (Heston) does that endlessly. I love him, he's such a gentleman and a delight. There is no personal involvement, just an enjoyment in getting it right."

Stephanie frankly says that her face has "five more years of film, maybe three".

She gets $20,000 an episode for The Colbys and says: "The money means I will be able to be independent and keep my children."

She has not divorced and has no plans to do so.

"I have no bitterness about marriage, but I feel I will live singly and devote myself to my kids.

"There are times when I just love to get into bed with a garlic sandwich and a good book."