Coffee & a Chat Carol Drinkwater

Coffee & a Chat

Best known for her portrayal of Helen Herriot in the BBC’s All Creatures Great and Small, Carol Drinkwater is heading to Norwich this month for the city’s Hostry Festival to discuss her latest novel An Act of Love.

’An Act of Love’ is set in 1943, wartime France, in what was known as the Free Zone, the unoccupied part of France ruled by the Vichy government,’ explains Carol. ‘It is set in a small hinterland village nestling in the lower Alps up behind Nice. Inspired by a true story, this small community of French mountain people, mostly farmers, voted between themselves to invite into their lives hundreds of struggling war refugees, foreigners mostly. So many refugees, mostly Jews, took up their offer that by the beginning of 1943 there were as many, if not more, foreigners than locals.’

Carol’s story focuses on a seventeen-year-old woman, Sara, who is on the brink of adulthood.

‘A young Jewish girl from Poland whose eyes are opened and passions awakened by new friends including a handsome young French medical student who turns out to be a member of the Resistance,’ says Carol. ‘Everything is blossoming for Sara, until the enemy moves into the Free Zone. One perfect summer before everything changes. It is a love story and story of human generosity and courage in our darkest hours.’

Like Sara, France is a country that is very close to Carol’s heart and one she now calls home.

‘I have been living in France longer than I ever lived anywhere else,’ says Carol. ‘Although I am Irish, I was educated in the UK but always felt a stranger there. I moved to France after meeting a French film producer in Australia. He asked me to marry him on our first date! I did not immediately accept but we began to spend time together in Paris and then we bought a crumbling ruin of an olive farm overlooking the Bay of Cannes. It has been my home ever since. France represents so much for me: colours, love, excellent food and wine, my own cherished spot in the world. Freedom of expression, happiness and hard work.’

Since buying the farm, Carol has discovered a passion for olives that have led her to publish memoirs and a television series about the fruit.

‘We bought an olive farm without really knowing that it had been an operating farm,’ explains Carol. ‘When we cut back our jungle of land we discovered we were the proprietors of sixtyeight centuries old trees. From there my passion began. Now we have somewhere close to 300 olive trees and I have travelled the entire Mediterranean to learn the history and secrets of this magical, mythical tree. I have written books and made films about those journeys.’ Best known for her acting career, Carol has seamlessly made the move to writing.

‘The two expressions have always co-existed for me. I have been writing since I was about eight and was first published in a magazine titled Girl when I was ten or thereabouts. I wrote a letter-article about my first dance and the woes that befell me. It was published and I was sent a five-shilling postal order. I was so thrilled,’ says Carol. ‘I was always writing, always keeping diaries, scribbling short stories throughout my younger years when I was building my acting career. For me, they are almost the one and the same. Both chart the inner lives of ‘my’ characters. As a writer I have more control, more input into the overall story than I do as an actress. I love both disciplines and feel very blessed to have been given opportunities to express myself in both careers.’

Best known for her starring role in All Creatures Great and Small, what are Carol’s favourite memories of her time on the show?

‘Goodness, there are so many,’ she smiles. ‘Mostly, I would say that as an overall picture I remember the camaraderie, the team spirit, the joy of getting up and going to work every day, knowing that what we were creating was appreciated. There was huge respect on the set for our fellow team players both crew and cast. It was an exceptional chapter in my life.’

As an actress, Carol has worked with some of the biggest names in theatre and film including Laurence Olivier and Alan Rickman. But what has she learned from those experiences?

‘My encounters and experiences have shown me that those who are the most successful are usually the most generous and considerate of their fellow artists,’ she says.