Actress Harriet Thorpe — star of The Brittas Empire, Absolutely Fabulous, Wicked and EastEnders — joins Scott & David to share the three stories that shaped who she became, spanning the power of being read to and the courage to tell stories that matter,
Stories Discussed
Story 1: Ballet Shoes — Noel Streatfeild
Type: Novel. Read aloud by her mother every night at bedtime, Ballet Shoes gave a young Harriet the first spark — the idea that you could put on shows, that performing was a thing you were allowed to want.
Story 2: The Leather Boys — Gillian Freeman (writing as Eliot George)
Type: Novel Written by Harriet's mother in the early 1960s, when it was still illegal to be gay in Britain — a story about working-class biker boys who fall in love. Groundbreaking, brave, and the Brokeback Mountain of its day. The book led to the film, to LA, to Jack Lemmon's house for brunch — and to a childhood where acceptance wasn't radical, it was just normal.
Story 3: The Woman in White — Wilkie Collins
Type: Novel. The book that changed everything. Harriet was dyslexic and dreaded reading aloud in class — but Wilkie Collins's writing was so thrilling she couldn't stop. Mystery, strong women, detective work, and a story set on the streets she grew up on.