Acting fits bill ahead of cars and bars

Exploding cars and badly calculated bar bills — Polly Walker, who plays an erotic club owner Delphine Day in ITV’s Mr Selfridge, recently recalled why she would never have made it as barmaid or mechanic. “My dad had given me a car that used to be owned by my grandfather,” she says of her days as a drama student.

“It was bright yellow and not the best. But it was my car. My dad kept saying, ‘Have you checked the oil?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ Of course I hadn’t and the engine exploded. I got an evening job in the pub after drama school so I could offer to pay for the repairs. But I couldn’t do the maths and it lasted two weeks.”

Fortunately Mr Selfridge, returning for a second series this month, has provided a lengthier tenure of employment.