I'm feeling fantastic in my 50s!

Actor Sally Lindsay on family, ageing and hit TV show The Madame Blanc Mysteries

- VICKI POWER

Sally Lindsay has been a fixture on our screens for years in hit series like Coronation Street, Phoenix Nights, Mount Pleasant and The Madame Blanc Mysteries. Now 51, which used to be a tricky age for female actors, Sally says it's her best decade yet.

For starters, she's feeling fantastic. 'I've got my HRT right now, the right balance,' admits Sally with disarming frankness. 'I'm perimenopausal and it's no walk in the park, is it?

'I went to an amazing doctor, Dr Naomi Potter [a menopause specialist], because I didn't get any answers from a GP. Now I've got a one-to-one with one of her amazing superhero women doctors every six weeks, and they say, "How are you doing?" and I say, "I'm going well - maybe a little bit more on that, bit less on that."

Sally is also mindful of her health. 'I do take loads of vitamins in the morning. I'm on [cholesterol-lowering food brand] Benecol, I'm on collagen [for skin and joint health]. I'm on everything!' she says with a laugh, clearly enjoying life.

That's no surprise. Not only is she back for a fourth series of The Madame Blanc Mysteries, which she created, stars in, co-writes and executive-produces, but Sally says she's also taking time to appreciate life more.