The Good Ship Murder: First look as Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph reunite on screen for Channel 5 cosy crime
The Birds of a Feather stars are back onscreen together
The Good Ship Murder sails into Cape Verde this month with two very special VIP’s in the guest cast – Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph.
The Birds of a Feather actresses reunite on screen in an upcoming episode of the Channel 5 cosy crime drama. And it’s the first time they’ve acted together since 2020. That year, the popular sitcom from the 80s and 90s returned for a special episode.
Both leading ladies rarely take on acting roles on TV these days. Although Loose Women viewers will know Linda is a regular talking head on the panel show. So that makes their reunion on The Good Ship Murder quite something for their fans.
Here’s a first look at Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph’s characters in The Good Ship Murder, and everything we know about the episode so far.
The Good Ship Murder welcomes Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson to the guest cast
Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson join the guest cast of The Good Ship Murder series 3 in the upcoming episode 5. This follows appearances from Emmerdale’s Lesley Dunlop, and River City’s Sally Howitt.
The veteran actresses star as “two merry widows Tilly and Elsa”. The pair have embarked on a grief cruise to celebrate the lives of their departed loved ones. When the ship docks in Cape Verde, the two of them join a small group going onshore to visit a small shrine to pay their respects to those they have lost.
But then Tilly (Lesley Joseph) is found murdered… As Jack investigates, he discovers various suspects including creepy Noel, the fellow grief cruiser, who seems to have been stalking Tilly. There’s also shifty Angel, a restaurant critic with a secret, and Emiliano, a market trader with some shady contacts and a police record.
Kriss Dosanjh also guest stars in the cast playing Noel. The actor is best known for playing Ashok Masum in Casualty, The Brigadier in The Larkins, and Hassan Habeeb on Coronation Street.
What are Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph famous for?
Of course, their fans will know that Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson made their names playing Dorien Green and Tracey Stubbs respectively in Birds of a Feather. The duo portrayed the roles between 1989 and 2020, alongside co-star and friend Pauline Quirke, who played Sharon Theodopolopodous.
Tragically, Pauline was diagnosed with dementia in 2021. Linda and Pauline are real life childhood best friends.
Back in February, Linda revealed that her childhood friend no longer recognised her or her children.
Speaking on Loose Women, she said: “It’s very sad. We’ve been best friends since we were 10. I’ve known [about the diagnosis] for three years and we’ve managed to keep it quiet. She doesn’t know who anybody is. She doesn’t know who I am or who are kids are.”
Was Birds of a Feather axed?
Birds of a Feather was a hugely popular sitcom back in the day. It originally ran from 1989 until 1998 on BBC One. It was then brought back by ITV in 2014, and ran for six years, with the final episode airing on Christmas Eve 2020.
However, Pauline’s Sharon Theodopolopodous was absent from the 2020 Christmas special, a year before her diagnosis.
The series followed chalk and cheese sisters Sharon and Tracey whose husbands were sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lived in an Edmonton council flat, subsequently moved into Tracey’s upmarket house in Chigwell, Essex.
Once there, they both had to contend with their nosy next-door neighbour – and later friend Dorien – a middle-aged married Jewish woman with a penchant for younger men!
