I two-timed Harry Enfield but he still cast me years later ...as a sex worker

WITH HER appealingly-goofy lopsided grin and large, quizzical blue eyes, Helen Lederer is often underestimated. She is one of just a handful of female comics who did the near-impossible and broke into the male-centric world of 1980s comedy.

- JANE WARREN and SANJEETA BAINS

The 80s and 90s were not exactly welcoming for women comics. Many felt Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Victoria Wood were quite enough, without a quirky blonde storming her way on to the scene to show up the boys as well.

Not that this was going to stop Helen. She forged a career as a regular on some of the biggest shows of the era, from sketch shows Happy Families (1983-85), Naked Video (1987) and French and Saunders to sitcoms The Young Ones, Bottom and Absolutely Fabulous (as boozy journalist Catriona).

But it wasn't easy. "People would actually ask me, 'What is it like to be a woman and funny?"," says Helen, 69, and still staggered by the overt sexism.

"One is held accountable for being a female comedian, and I've often been asked to justify it as a life choice. I was funny and ambitious, which wasn't seen as a comfortable mix."

Helen grew up Eltham, South East London and studied criminology before landing a place at drama school.

Once she started standup, she became friends with Ben Elton and Rik Mayall at the Comedy Store in London. But there was a certain pecking order once they made it to TV.

"Don't crash my laughs," Rik apparently warned her once.

Helen says: "I'd do the feed [the line that precedes the punchline]. I was very earnest in the 80s. Like a comedy secretary." Yet it is the liaisons off camera which really raise an eyebrow.