Sian Gibson shares her petty act of revenge

Some women will go to great extremes to seek revenge when they have been wronged by men.

But while Sian Gibson admits that she’s got that passion in her – her execution is often found wanting. 

When asked  if she’s done anything in a moment of revenge, she replied: ‘I’m quite hot-headed, so any acts of revenge have been spur of the moment and inevitably quite naff, with lack of thought. 

‘I once opened a load of cans of beer in an ex's fridge so they would go flat…not quite Fatal Attraction.’

She was speaking to promote the new BBC One comedy The Power of Parker, which she created with Car Share writer Paul Coleman, and which she also stars in. ‘There aren’t masses of juicy roles for women our age in comedy, so it was lovely to write a role that I’d love to play,’ she added.

In the series, which is set in Stockport in 1990, Gibson plays Kath, the mistress of local business bigwig Martin Parker (Conleth Hill) –  a man ‘with the ambition of Alan Sugar and the looks of Robert Kilroy Silk’ – who unites with his wife  Diane (Rosie Cavaliero) to plot his downfall. 

Cavaliero was also asked about any acts of revenge she’d executed and replied: ‘I remember cracking an egg over my poor little sister’s head before tearing down her Shakin’ Stevens posters. I can’t remember what she’d done for me to take out such cruel revenge but she likes to remind me of it every few years. She is still traumatised.’

The three stars all said they enjoyed filming the series – but perhaps too much.

Gibson said: ‘One day that really sticks out is a day when I was filming a scene in Kath’s flat with Conleth and Rosie. The three of us got such bad giggles it was embarrassing and the more we tried not to laugh the worse it became. 

‘We ended up all having to film the scene separately and had to get split up like naughty children. I was delivering my lines to a wall, as I couldn’t look at their faces without laughing. Our lovely director Joe Roberts has a lot of patience.’

• The Power of Parker stars on Friday July 28 at 9:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

Published: 17 Jul 2023