Denise Welch and I meet in rehearsal rooms in North London on 23 May, a day after her 59th birthday. But, for a variety of reasons, this birthday has added significance for the actress.

It is also the anniversary of her beloved mother Annie’s death five years ago. Against expectations, though, Denise has always taken comfort from the fact that her mother died on her birthday. ‘She brought me into the world and first held me on 22 May,’ she says. ‘I was holding her as she left the world on the same date in 2012. To me, that somehow completed the circle of life.’

But now, sadly, there is a new reason to recall the date each year. When she awoke the previous day to the news of the terrorist atrocity in Manchester, a city she knows well, Denise took some time, she says, to organise her thoughts. Even now, she struggles with her composure, her eyes spontaneously glittering with tears.

Was it frivolous, she kept wondering, to be excited about landing the role of Mrs Otter in the new musical adaptation of The Wind In The Willows at the London Palladium? ‘But the way I see it today,’ she says, ‘is that, in so brutal a world, I’m happy to be involved in a show that will lift people’s spirits. There’s nothing wrong in providing a bit of escapism.’

She was delighted but surprised to be asked to audition for the role, as well as that of the Bargewoman. ‘I’m not known as a musical theatre performer but I got the job, and I’m thrilled,’ says Denise. ‘The book was my favourite from childhood and Julian Fellowes has adapted it for the stage. So the pedigree couldn’t be better.