BBC drama for Gavin & Stacey star

Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones is to play Hattie Jacques in a new drama about the Carry On star’s love life.

The one-off, to be screened on BBC4 later this year, will focus on the affair she had with a Cockney second-hand car salesman while married to Dad's Army actor John Le Mesurier.

'I'm thrilled to have been asked to play her,’ Jones said. ‘She was an incredibly talented and fascinating woman both on and off screen and so much more than just the “funny fat lady”.’

Jacques, who appeared in 14 Carry On films as well as enjoying a long on-screen partnership with Eric Sykes, died in 1980 from a heart attack at the age of 58.

She was married to Le Mesurier from 1949 to 1965, and had two sons. He shouldered the blame for their divorce, hiding the truth about her affair with John Schofield from the media. According to a 2007 biography, he moved in to the attic of the family home so Schofield could share her bedroom. When Schofield left her for an Italian heiress, Jaques began comfort-eating and swelled 20 stone, Le Mesurier again said her weight loss was his fault.

It is the second BBC4 biopic to focus on the infidelity of one of Le Mesurier’s wives. Hancock And Joan, which aired two years ago, focused on the affair between Le Mesurier’s final wife and Tony Hancock, just six months after their marriage. Again Le Mesurier gave his tacit blessing for the affair.

The one-off drama, Hattie, has been written by Stephen Russell, whose credits include Shameless. It will be made in Glasgow by production company Angel Eye.

Executive producer Jemma Rodgers said: ‘The drama has a wonderfully warm heart and takes us behind the scenes of the public face of Hattie Jacques to reveal her unconventional but very modern relationships.’

Published: 17 May 2010