Catherine Tate teases I’m a Celebrity return – but was terrified of leeches in the outback
When Catherine Tate developed the idea for a brand-new royal comedy, she never thought it would take her all the way to Australia.
Catherine created the series with producer Borga Dorter, who pitched for the show to take place on another continent entirely.
“The series was originally Queen of Canada,” explains Catherine. “We were told that Canadian broadcasters will take a long time to say yes, four years on and we’ve still not heard!
“I’d come back from a tour of Australia, where I didn’t realise there was a fanbase for me over there, and I said ‘do you know what? I think this would make a really good idea for Australia’. And Queen of Oz is a catchier title.”
The six-episode comedy follows Princess Georgiana, a spoiled member of the British monarchy who spends her life partying and being plastered all over the tabloids. In an effort to get her as far away from London as possible, and at the same time, hoping to prevent Australia from leaving the Commonwealth, Georgie’s parents send her away to become the Queen of Australia.
It’s no secret that in recent years the British royal family have become front page news from Prince Harry removing himself from the spotlight to King Charles’ coronation. So has Catherine based her new comedy series on a particular royal?
“It’s an entirely fictitious creation, I wasn’t thinking of anyone,” says Catherine. “It’s also a piece of entertainment, you have to take artistic licence and it’s nice to create something from scratch.
“How would I fare as a member of the royal family?” she asks herself. “As Catherine Tate in the royal family, I’d imagine a bit like Georgie. I think it would be awful to be constantly looked at and scrutinised. I can imagine nothing worse than having to dedicate your life to the public, that’s no mean feat.”
Georgie is mortified to be moved to Australia, and there were some aspects of the country that Catherine wasn’t too keen on either.
“The outback was mad! I’ve never seen a leech before!” exclaims Catherine. “The nearest I got was one on my Uggs, that was bad enough. And I’m ginger, so anything above freezing makes my skin burn.”
Catherine was also surprised to be recognised for her television work on the other side of the world.
“I genuinely had no idea there was a fanbase there,” she says. “I was in the American version of The Office and in Doctor Who. So I’ve got three prongs of the fanbase, comedy, sci-fi and international things. I’m always surprised when a lot of people want me to swear at them like an old lady character of mine called ‘Nan’.”
So is it safe to say that Catherine isn’t planning any more trips to Oz?
“Who knows, who knows!” she teases. “I’m a Celebrity – I’m not saying never, I’m just saying, not now. I could literally do anything in the jungle, you could put me with rats and bury me underground, anything like that – but I couldn’t be eating that old gear they give you."
Queen of Oz begins on Friday 16th June, 9.30pm, BBC One
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