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Describe your character

Sally is extremely well-meaning but finally pretty self-centred and maybe not as warm as she might like to think herself. She lives alone, but has a 30-year-old son, Steve: she seems rather keen to get him off her hands as soon as possible, and tries, with some success, to fix him up with Tom's daughter, Amber. She's a tough character I think, has some extremely non-PC views, and doesn't suffer fools gladly. She's fond of Roy and Tom, finds them rather amusing and is aware of their being attracted to her, using it to her advantage when wanting help in preparing a party or putting up a shed. She wouldn't, though, for a moment consider returning the affection in anything other than a neighbourly fashion. I doubt she realises the depth of their obsession with her, and might even find it rather unsettling – and possibly even depressing, as she clearly considers herself worth someone higher up the social scale – and probably richer, too.

What drew you to the role?

I love doing comedy in any case, and haven't done a live sitcom since the final series of Carla Lane's The Mistress, which is many years ago now. I've been lucky enough to do plenty of comedy on stage – in particular those of Alan Ayckbourn – but my film and TV work has tended to be far more "serious" (apart from the Frank Oz comedy Death At A Funeral last year), so it was great to be offered this role. I'm a huge fan of Peep Show and of Clive and Roger, so I didn't think twice. The scripts are beautifully written and Sally's character is enormous fun to play.

What was it like to work with Clive and Roger?

Their two characters are very different, on and off the set, and they complement each other beautifully. And, after their many years of playing TV comedy, I absolutely feel I'm working with the masters – we all get on extremely well personally, and have all been at it long enough to be able to give and take notes, comments and observations on each other's lines and performances without taking offence. This is always a fantastic way to work, I think, as we can benefit from each other's views and create a far more harmonious and enjoyable result if we work as a team rather than in isolation. And Katherine is such a fantastically gifted and charismatic comedienne that we're incredibly lucky to have her – I honestly can't think of three better actors to play these parts: it's a cast made in heaven.

What comedies do you enjoy?

Nothing unexpected – from Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Cheers, The Simpsons to Black Books, The Office, Peep Show, the Comic Strip, Seinfeld, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart... all the obvious ones, really.

Why should the audience tune in?

Well, of course, it's always impossible to predict anything, and it's dangerous to predict but... the combination of Clive and Roger is so delicious, and their characters so wonderfully drawn that I can't help thinking that viewers will absolutely love it. The best comedies always have a basis in reality – the characters have to be recognisable as well as exaggerated – and one needs to care about the people involved, however infuriatingly they behave, and this series certainly has all that – the two title characters are so charming, even while so hopeless in many ways, that they can't fail to win us over. Above all, though, the answer as to why we should all watch it is that it is very, very funny.