My beautiful Oz

Miriam Margolyes on the country she came to call home…

- IAN MACEWAN

MIRIAM MARGOLYES ALMOST AUSTRALIAN

NEW FRI / BBC2 / 9PM / EP 1 of 3 / TRAVELOGUE

With an Australian home, partner and citizenship, Miriam Margolyes considers herself to be ‘almost Australian’.

This week, the irrepressible Call the Midwife star is on a mission to find out more about life Down Under as she hits the road in a new three-part travelogue for BBC2. Here, Miriam, 79, tells TV Times all about her adventure…

What was the motivation behind your 10,000km journey?

I wanted to find out more about the places of Australia that I didn’t know, and the people outside the showbiz bubble.

How did you find driving a motorhome for your trip?

It was scary at first, as I drive a little Ford Fiesta in England! But I insisted on having a toilet on board, and that made it necessary to have a larger vehicle.

What’s the Australian dream?

To have your own little patch of ground, with your own house and a swimming pool. There’s also the assumption that everybody lives together in some sort of Neighbours world. There are places like that, but I wouldn’t want to live in them!

Does Australia deserve its nickname of ‘the lucky country’?

It is certainly lucky in that it is an incredibly beautiful country that has fantastic weather and, because of the diversity of the people who live there, there is a richness of culture and food.