Su Pollard is currently celebrating five decades in the entertainment industry with a one-woman show, Still Fully Charged. Ahead of her visit to Jersey this week, she spoke to TOM OGG about the production, her success in the UK singles chart and her enduring fondness for her breakout role as Peggy in Hi-De-Hi

STILL Fully Charged is the title of the new show by Su Pollard – and, if her conversation with this writer is any indication, it’s a fitting title indeed.
Now aged 75, the much-loved actress, singer, comedian and all-round entertainer speaks exactly as she did when she first found fame back in the 1970s, with words pouring out at a breathless pace and with a life-loving enthusiasm that quickly proves infectious.
And Islanders will be able to experience Su’s irresistible energy and humour in the flesh this week when the erstwhile Hi-De-Hi star brings her one-woman show to the Jersey Opera House.
“I’m really looking forward to coming over because I absolutely love Jersey,” says Su, chatting over the phone during a break between Still Fully Charged rehearsals.
“The last time I performed in Jersey must have been, ooh, 30 or 40 years ago. I was in a farce called Don’t Dress for Dinner and it was terrific. I think the theatre was run by Dick Ray and the play had me, Lionel Blair and Les Dennis in it. It was fabulous. I stayed at a wonderful hotel with Lionel – I can’t remember the name of it – and we were in Jersey for the whole summer. Flippin’ ‘eck. We weren’t allowed to go home in case we got stuck in the fog and couldn’t get back, so we had to stay in the Island for months, which was very nice.
“As I recall, the Jersey audiences were absolutely great, and I’m sure the same is still true today. I think we’re all going to have a marvellous time.”
Described as a “one-woman variety show packed with fabulous songs, hilarious stories and much-loved characters”, Still Fully Charged is now in its third run, having performed to sell-out crowds across the UK, but this will be the first time Su has performed the show in the Channel Islands.
“I’m just hoping that people will come along, have an evening of great enjoyment and then go home feeling like they’ve had lots of fun,” she says. “There’s nothing political – I don’t do that sort of comedy. This is a show for everyone – you can come if you’re five years old or 85 years old.
“The show is celebrating my 50 years in showbiz,” she continues. “It’s got songs, banter, plenty of comedy, lots of clips from some of the different shows in which I’ve appeared over the years. There are clips from an old Bob Monkhouse Show, and one hosted by Val Doonican, and modern-day shows like Would I Lie to You? And then there will be a Q&A with the audience. Oh, and Peggy makes an appearance.”
The Peggy in question is, of course, Peggy Ollerenshaw, the maid who looked after the staff chalets in the BBC sitcom Hi-De-Hi, which was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (Dad’s Army, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum), and which regularly attracted upwards of seven million viewers per episode when it first aired in the 1980s.
“Oh, I think most people still recognise me from Hi-De-Hi to this day,” says Su with a laugh. “In fact, a lot of younger people, who probably weren’t even born in the 1980s, are familiar with me from that show because a lot of grannies and parents show their children or grandchildren the show. It’s nice to think that people still have such nice memories of this lovely sitcom from all those years ago. It brought them such fun and joy.
“Back then, families would gather round and watch shows together. There was no TikTok or social media or any of that. And then the next day at work or school everyone would talk about what they’d watched the night before. It’s sad that has now largely gone.
“I have people sometimes say to me: ‘Don’t you get fed up of people talking to you about Hi-De-Hi?’ And I always say no. People have got such lovely memories of the show – I’d never want to say or do anything to spoil that.”
Although she had already appeared on TV in such programmes as Opportunity Knocks and Two Up, Two Down (another Perry-Croft sitcom), Su credits Hi-De-Hi as being her “big break” in the entertainment industry.
“Whatever job you’ve got, you need a break in order to progress, and Hi-De-Hi was definitely the break for me. I got panto work, offers to perform in big musicals – all kinds of work as a result of Hi-De-Hi. It meant everything to me. And I still absolutely adore it. It’s such a lovely show. I’ve got great memories of working on it. The rest of the cast were so wonderful – we were lifelong friends, although, sadly, there aren’t many of us left today. But Jeff [Jeffrey Holland] and I are still close friends.”
Much as she loves Hi-De-Hi, Su says that she rarely rewatches it nor any other shows in which she has appeared.
“I’m not very good at watching things that I’ve been in because I’m too self-critical,” she says. “I find myself saying: ‘Ooh, I don’t like the way I did that’ or ‘Eeh, I wish I hadn’t said that like that’. I prefer to have the memories. It’s funny, though, when I do watch these old shows, whether it’s Hi-De-Hi or You Rang, M’Lud?, the dialogue all comes back to me. I always know exactly what lines are coming next.”
Readers might not be aware that, at the height of her Hi-De-Hi fame in the mid-1980s, Su also enjoyed chart success with Starting Together, which reached number two in the UK singles chart in 1986.
“Oh yes, and I perform that in Still Fully Charged as well,” she says. “It’s amazing how many people still remember it, all these years later. Isn’t that incredible? The song was remixed into a disco-type sound, which a lot of younger people seem to really like. I still get asked to sing the song at weddings or people ask: ‘Can you send a message to my Auntie Flo and sing a few lines from Starting Together please?’
“It was only a one-off, though,” she adds. “In this business you either go down one route or another, and I guess I just wasn’t meant to be a pop singer. Although I did get to appear on Top of the Pops.”
It is still, she says, hard to comprehend that she has now been working in the industry – acting, dancing, singing and more – for over half a century.
“I suppose I’ve been extremely lucky,” she says. “I think if you have more range then you’re more likely to stick around for longer. I never say ‘no’ to anything unless it’s not particularly good – I do try to keep a good standard. And I also like to do different kind of things, which is why I really like appearing on quiz shows. It brings you a whole new audience and, well, it’s just nice to work, darling.
“I’m very fortunate that I’ve still got the energy and that people still ask me to do things.”

*Su Pollard – Still Fully Charged will be at Jersey Opera House on Wednesday 15 October. For more details, or to book tickets, visit jerseyoperahouse.co.uk