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Like millions of men, I loved Joanne Whalley as nurse Mills in the BBC adaptation of Dennis Potter’s “The Singing Detective” (1986). There she was each week as the ultimate little sweetie, firing our fantasies as she patrolled the hospital wards whilst simultaneously strutting her stuff as a nightclub vamp in the character Marlowe’s wildest hallucinations. It was the culmination of a concerted period of small screen success, and by the end of the decade, the arresting dark-haired stunner was knocking on Hollywood’s front door.

What followed would be all rather underwhelming, yet the unconventional dreamboat would continue turning in first rate characterisations on screen. Professionally, all that would elude her were $5m pay days and tinseltown typecasting. No doubt, she’s enjoyed a more interesting career for it.