Last Tango In Halifax’s Anne Reid got the hump with spitting co-star camel

Anne Reid had some trouble with a spitting camel in the show.

Never work with animals or children is the well-worn piece of advice for actors. But the cast of new BBC One drama Our Zoo have to do both.

And Last Tango In Halifax star Anne Reid says the animals, at least, kept everyone on their toes.

“There was a monkey in Upstairs Downstairs which didn’t behave half as well as the monkey on this series,” confides screen veteran Anne.

“But it is unpredictable and the camel spat a lot. He kept filling his mouth with spit and throwing it over everyone. We were all ducking that was a new experience!”

The six-part series that starts this week is based on the real life story of the family who established Chester Zoo back in the 1930s.

George Mottershead, played by Inspector George Gently’s Lee Ingleby, is a former First World War soldier who took pity on animals he saw at Liverpool docks and sets about buying somewhere to look after them.

He moves into a draughty stately home with his wife, kids and parents and battles all the odds to establish a new kind of zoo.

Anne plays matriarch Lucy Mottershead and she says she’s happy it has all-ages appeal.

“I love that this is going to be a family show,” says Anne. “My grandson came on to the set. He loved the animals and I’m happy that he’ll be able to see his grandma in a television series.

“It’s delightful, the kind of things you can all watch. I didn’t know anything about this story before I started and I’ve never been to Chester Zoo but I’ll have to go now.”