COOKING up a storm!

SARAH LANCASHIRE on the joys of playing an American culinary pioneer

- EMMA BULLIMORE

JULIA

NEW TUESDAY, 9PM, 10.05PM, 11.10PM & 12.15AM, SKY ATLANTIC DRAMA (BOX SET, SKY BOX SETS & NOW)

Forget Delia and Nigella - long before they brought their mixing bowls to the airwaves, a trailblazer called Julia Child single-handedly transformed TV with one of the first modern cooking shows, The French Chef.

Julia, who began broadcasting to America in 1963 at the age of 50, is already the subject of the 2009 film Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep. And now, Sky Atlantic is releasing a new eight-part series, Julia - with four episodes being shown this week. Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire is taking on the lead role, opposite Frasier's David Hyde Pierce as Julia's husband, Paul.

The much-anticipated biopic will explore how Julia managed to change attitudes on food, feminism and the role of television, as she launched her hugely successful series and defied her critics.

TV Times caught up with Sarah, 57, to find out more...

Why were you so keen to sign up for Julia?

Well, I had previously decided to take a year off acting, and then I auditioned for this job purely because the writing was so beautiful.

The big hurdle was the auditions because I've never auditioned well – going back to my days at drama school, they were always concerned that I would never get over my terrible nerves, and I never have.

But five auditions down the line, they offered me the job and she's a character unlike any I would ever be offered in the UK; she's unique.

So she was too good to walk away from, and of course, let's not beat about the bush, I'm on the wrong side of 50 and so these roles don't tend to come along very often.

Julia is an inspiration to many people - what did you like about her?