'81? I'm More Like Eight!'

Amanda Barrie on her youthful outlook on life, running a dating agency for pensioners and why everyone still calls her Alma

- Hannah Davies & Elaine Reilly

Former Coronation Street star Amanda Barrie tells TV Times she had an absolute riot filming The Baby Boomers’ Guide to Growing Old, which begins on More4 this week.

‘We were like children!’ she says of the other 12 senior celebrities taking part. ‘Never mind 80, we were more like eight year olds!’

The four-part series sees famous over-65s, including Johnny Ball, 79, Esther Rantzen, 76, ex-EastEnder Laila Morse, 71, and comedian Roy Hudd, 81, explore different aspects of ageing, starting with a guide to love and romance.

As Johnny chaperones Esther to a dance class, Amanda joins cricket commentator Henry Blofeld, 77, in running a dating agency for elderly singletons. And the continuous innuendo had her in stitches!

‘I laughed so much with Henry, we really gelled,’ says Amanda, who starred as Alma Baldwin in Corrie from 1981 to 2001. ‘We had makeovers and Henry was put in shorts! We got very giggly.’