Losing it

About Helen Lederer

Helen Lederer is probably best known for her role as the dippy Catriona in Absolutely Fabulous, in which she appeared alongside Jennifer Saunders in all six series of the show as well as creating the 'girl at the bar' in Naked Video. However, to many she is known for her unique brand of wit and observational humour. A comedy writer with an extensive portfolio that includes writing and performing her own material, Helen has starred in a great number of top TV comedy and radio shows. Helen was part of a group of early 1980s comedians, including French and Saunders, the late Rik Mayall, and Ben Elton, who made their names at London's famous Comedy Store. She was a guest on ITV's Saturday Night Live with her solo comedy act, as well as performing at the first Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal along with Lenny Henry. TV appearances span such shows as The Young Ones, French and Saunders, Happy Families, One Foot in the Grave, Bottom, Love Soup, Miss Marple, Casualty and Hollyoaks. She plays Miss Bowline-Hitch alongside Bernard Cribbins in the much-loved children's TV series Old Jack's Boat. Helen also played Rich Aunt Ruby in Horrid Henry: The Movie. On BBC radio, she has been a regular panellist on shows including Just a Minute, Quote ... Unquote, Open Book, A Good Read and Woman's Hour, as well as writing and performing in two of her own comedy series, All Change and Life with Lederer. Her columns include Woman & Home, the Independent, the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Telegraph, and she is currently the 'agony aunt' for Woman's Weekly. Helen's comedy books include Coping with Helen Lederer and Single Minding. She's done a variety of theatre work, following hot on the heels of Julie Walters in Educating Rita, playing Doreen in Alan Bleasdale's Having a Ball, as well as appearing in The Vagina Monologues, Calendar Girls and The Killing of Sister George in London's West End, interspersed with many fringe theatre plays.