Meet the real Calendar Girls at the Chiswick In Film Festival

Image: Julie Walters and Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls; Photograph IMDb

Celebrating 21 years of Calendar Girls

Producer Suzanne Mackie and screenwriter Tim Firth will be with three of the original Calendar Girls – the middle-aged Yorkshire women of the Women’s Institute who inspired the film Calendar Girls (2003) starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters – at the Chiswick In Film festival.

They will be talking to Jo Coburn, better known as a BBC politics presenter, who when not spending her time interviewing politicians, is a bit of a film buff.

Suzanne, a long-term Chiswick resident, saw a small article in one of the papers when she was working for Harbour Pictures. She went up to Yorkshire to meet the women who had made the nude calendar, and knew immediately, she told The Chiswick Calendar, that their story was perfect film material.

“They were feisty, fun, honest, independent, fantastic women. They were women of a certain age celebrating community and friendship, showing how you can support each other through something devastating, and celebrating women. They were everyday women.”

The fundraising idea of making a naked calendar to raise money for a cancer charity came from Tricia Stewart. Her friend Angela Baker’s husband John died from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1998 and they wanted to raise the cash for a sofa for the visitors’ lounge in the hospital where John was treated.

Images: Julie Walters as Annie Clarke in the film (Angela Baker in real life) with John Alderton playing her husband;  Helen Mirren as Chris Harper in the film (Tricia Stewart in real life) with her Ciarán Hinds as her husband; Photograph IMDb

The film follows their progress from the idea’s inception to its success beyond their wildest imagining. The original calendar was released on 12 April 1999 and became an instant success, selling out in the first week.

The group had an additional 10,000 copies printed, which sold within three weeks. Nine months after its launch, the calendar had sold 88,000 copies

They have now raised over £3 million for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research (now Blood Cancer UK), the UK’s leading blood cancer charity, and their journey has taken them to the United States to be interviewed on the Jay Leno and Rosie O’Donnell TV shows as well as countless interviews with the British press.

Tricia, played by Helen Mirren in the film, and Angela, played by Julie Walters, will be at Chiswick Cinema with another of the original Calendar Girls, Christine Clancy, for a Q&A session with a screening of the film at 5pm on Saturday.

Images: Calendar Girls poster; The women of Knapely (left to right, front row: Lesley Staples, Angela Curran, Julie Walters, Rosalind March, Penelope Wilton, Annette Crosbie. left to right, back row: Janet Howd, Celia Imrie, Georgie Glen, Linda Bassett) prepare to bare all for their photographer, Lawrence (Philip Glenister, right); Photograph IMDb

For Suzanne Mackie Calendar Girls has also been a huge part of her life. She was a young producer when she pitched this idea, which was immediately taken up by Buena Vista / Disney. She has since gone on to become executive producer of the hugely successful TV series The Crown, and to launch her own production company Orchid Pictures.

At the time, the story particularly resonated with her because her own mother was dying of cancer, a fact which she shared with the group, which is why they trusted her, she thinks.

“They were very like my mother.”

I asked at what point Helen Mirren and Julie Walters came on board.

“Once we had a script we were happy with, I think. Julie and Helen joined at about the same time I think. Once you get one, others follow.”

The others in this case were Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Celia Imrie and Penelope Wilton. Geraldine James played the disapproving Marie, chairwoman of the Knapley WI group, Ciarán Hinds played Rod Harper, Tricia’s husband, and John Alderton played John, Angela’s husband.

Nigel Cole directed and Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth were the screenwriters.

The best line in the film, which Helen Mirren deliver completely deadpan:

“We’re going to need considerably bigger buns.”

Did they have a laugh making it?

“They had a really good laugh. It was a very fun shoot, it was empowering.”

And when did she know she had a success on her hands?

“When I watched the finished film the whole way through with the director. I had a tingle down the back of my neck that doesn’t happen very often.

“I remember sitting watching it at Cannes and overhearing someone say: “well that’s a hit.”

Come and see it at Chiswick Cinema this weekend and meet the real Calendar Girls. If you are a holder of The Chiswick Calendar Club Card, drop us a line at info@thechiswickcalendar.co.uk for a £10 ticket. Otherwise just book on the cinema’s website.

Book tickets: Calendar Girls + Discussion / Q&A chaired by Jo Coburn

Our sponsors

The Chiswick In Film Festival is a collaboration between The Chiswick Calendar and Chiswick Cinema, with film industry professionals Andrea Carnevali and Rob Sprackling. We would not be able to bring you this cinematic feast in this way without the support of our sponsor.

Chiswick in Film Festival 2024 is kindly sponsored by The London Bath Co. whose shop is on Chiswick High Road and who offer superior, fully fitted bathrooms and kitchens from design to installation.

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