Trollied

Miriam Margolyes interview

Miriam Margolyes on success, sexuality - and meeting Will.i.am. "I'm surprised I haven't been more successful," says the Trollied star.

Miriam Margolyes: 'I have fallen in love with myself'

The actress talks about her sexuality, Muriel Spark and Sky1's supermarket-set sitcom Trollied.

Sky1's big attempt at a mainstream sitcom is now in its fourth series. This is partly down to solid writing, but it's mainly because Trollied has an ensemble large enough to absorb cast changes. Jane Horrocks and Mark Addy have gone, and in their place come Stephen Tompkinson and Miriam Margoyles. It's hard to fight the sensation that Trollied is basically Waterloo Road with a deli counter, but it's likely to deliver regardless.

One sitcom that really didn't surprise me at all was Sky One's Trollied, which delivered its second annual Christmas Special.

Whilst the Gavin and Julie story was definitely there to appeal to long time fans of the show, I've always felt Trollied is at its best when focusing on the funnier supporting characters. For example foul-mouthed Colin (Carl Rice) led a band of the male store-workers against a group of young cub scouts who had attacked them several times. Equally funny was when the hopeless Neville (Dominic Coleman) ended up doing the Christmas shopping for his ex-wife's new husband and later put a bet on it being a white Christmas.

The latter half of the episode, which saw the employees being snowed in, showcased the strength of the programme namely the focus on a group of disparate characters who formed a very strong family unit. After a dodgy third series, which saw the show lose some of its big name cast members, it was refreshing to see the show back to its best.

Though I wasn't a fan of the story that focused on security guard Ian (Victor McGuire) badgering the store's Santa, the majority of the plots were strong.

I have to say I laughed all the way through and found the material between Gavin and Julie to be rather touching. Whether the show can survive without Jane Horrocks remains to be seen, but I did feel she got a fitting and respectful send-off in this rather good Christmas Special.

Like The Royle Family before it, Trollied has lost some of its naturalistic wit and become slightly caricatured. But there are still proper belly laughs in this hour-long episode, most - it has to be said - thanks to the subversive Colin, who gets to wear an elf costume, wage war against some boy scouts and do a frantic interpretation of Gangnam Style. It comes close to topping the karaoke performance of Last Christmas that wowed Lisa in the 2012 special.

Speaking of Lisa, she's looking similarly flabbergasted tonight - but this is down to the fact that Geri Halliwell has turned up at Valco, waxing lyrical about her carb-free diet. Although, she's plainly tempted by Lisa's chips.

A double bill to end the series. The Supermarket Of The Year competition approaches - but where have all the customers gone? Julie and France might be regretting that makeover. Gavin thinks again about his future when he comes off worse after an encounter with a shoplifter. In the second episode, France comes up with an idiot scheme to fool the award judges, and Anna has some good news to impart. Valco will open its doors again for a Christmas special if you're still into this after three brightly lit series.

Giggles are few and far between down at Valco, which is a shame because with such a strong cast the supermarket sitcom should offer much better value. Adeel Akhtar's Ray is stuck behind the fish counter, while new broom Richard baffles the staff with phrases like "amazeballs.com" and "brainstorming blitz". A running joke about Sue's ugly baby rumbles on, and Andy slaughters a pig in front of the customers. Yes, all the ingredients are there, but it would be handy if it were funnier.

The lack of any real action for the mighty Colin (he gets just one paltry line!) means that this can never be a truly vintage Trollied, but Richard's plans to re-energise the store provide some decent laughs. OK, so he's a bit caricatured and painted in broader brush strokes than some of our favourite characters, but without Richard's bonkers management style we wouldn't get the sight of Andy butchering a whole pig during a demo for Valco customers. I say butchering, it's actually more like destroying. As for Andy's partner-in-crime Kieran, well, he's thinking of moving on and away from Warrington. Hence lovelorn Katie's pained expression.