She may
have ditched the shoulderpads and lip gloss, but former Dynasty
superbitch Stephanie Beacham hasn't lost any of her venom, as
she'll show when playing a feisty new character in the ITV1 prison
series, Bad Girls.
Insider
can exclusively reveal that when the fifth series of the camp
drama starts early next year, Stephanie will be joining former
Corrie star Amanda Barrie, who played Alma Baldwin, at HMP
Larkhall.
Ageing glamour
queens Stephanie and Amanda will add plenty of glitz as
banged-up conwomen Phil and Bren. 'They'll be two strong women
who won't take any nonsense from the other G-wing inmates,
including top dog Yvonne Arkins (Linda Henry),' says executive
producer Brian Park.
'We've had the
Peckham boot gang and other inmates, like Denny, who came from
the sink estates, so it was time to explore criminals of another
age and class.'
Aided and abetted
by the return of Shell Dockley (Debra Stephenson) Park's
promising a new series as explosive as the series four finale -
watched by almost seven million viewers - when a fiery inferno
looked like causing the deaths of Shaz Wylie (Lindsey Fawcett),
mercy-killer Barbara Hunt (Isabelle Amyes), butch Glaswegian Al
McKenzie (Pauline Campbell) and drug addict Buki Lester (Kim
Oliver).
When the new
series starts, only three weeks will have elapsed since the
fire, which was started by Snowball Merriman (Nicole Faraday) in
her failed escape attempt. 'It's had a huge impact on the
inmates, leaving plenty of scores to settle,' says Brian.
