Mrs Patmore is a right old bitch but I'm 'telly mum' to my Daisy

SHE is known to millions around the world as the formidable cook Mrs Patmore, most often seen elbow-deep in a mixing bowl chiding her assistant Daisy down in the Downton Abbey kitchen.

- BY CHLOE THOMAS

Now, as the third and final film - The Grand Finale comes to cinemas this week, actress Lesley Nicol agrees the character she played for 15 years is not exactly the warmest of people.

Lesley says: "Mrs Patmore is a right old bitch. All she did was shout at people with not a sniff of humour."

The 72-year-old recalls the moment she first met Sophie McShera, who plays long-suffering Daisy, likening their encounter to love at first sight.

Lesley says: "I could see this girl and she was wearing, well it was a trailer trash coat and I had the same coat on and I thought, 'This is it, this is a sign' and it was, because I fell for that girl immediately. We became so close, we still are, she calls me 'telly mummy."

The actors' bond even influenced how the characters came to be portrayed on screen.

Lesley reveals: "[Writer and creator] Julian Fellowes saw that Sophie and I were so close, we have a great sense of humour and a really good connection, so he developed it as a mother-daughter relationship, which made it interesting.

The ITV drama, which follows the lives of the posh family who own the grand house Downton Abbey and their staff through the years from 1912 to 1925, made household names of many of its stars, including Lily James, who played Lady Rose in season three, Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham and Michelle Dockery, who is Lady Mary Crawley.