Anita Dobson has said she thinks everyone has a tough time landing a job, whatever their career, but she’s pleased she stuck it out to bag her legendary soap role in EastEnders.

The actress rose to fame in the Eighties playing Walford landlady Angie Watts, but admitted it had taken a long time to get some work.

She said: “When I was at drama school, everybody said, ‘It’s a really tough year’, but it’s always been tough.

“Each year brings different problems, different economies, different requirements. I think you’ve just got to make the best of what you’ve got. It’s no good thinking, ‘This is worse, I’m a victim of a time where it’s more difficult’.

Anita Dobson and Bryan May
Anita Dobson with husband Bryan May (Ian West/PA)

“Life is difficult, whatever career you choose is going to be difficult – I don’t think I know anyone who has had a really easy time.”

She added: “There are always times where you question yourself; ‘I’m not getting anywhere, the work’s drying up’, and then somewhere out of the blue, something comes in and off you go again.

“Before EastEnders, and before that catapulted me into a different place, I do remember my mum saying, ‘You’ve not got married and you’ve not had any children and you’re still pounding the pavements, are you sure you want to do this?’

“So I said, ‘All right, I’ll come home, I’ll take three months off, and I’ll have a good think and see what’s what’.”

Angie and Den Watts
Anita Dobson and Leslie Grantham as Angie and Den Watts in EastEnders (PA)

Eventually, Anita landed some work and said: “My mum said to me, ‘I thought you were going to take some time out?’ And I said, ‘Well that answers the question doesn’t it? Whether I win or whether I lose, this is what I’m going to do’. As soon as I had made that decision, I got EastEnders.”

She added that she “knew how to bring some colour to Angie because I had been around a bit.

“I had been knocking around in the business for 15 years after drama school. I had done a lot, so although I went from nobody to ‘Who’s that girl’ overnight, for me, it wasn’t overnight – it was a long trek through Stepney Green to drama school.”

Armada: 12 Days To Save England
Anita Dobson as Queen Elizabeth I in Armada: 12 Days To Save England (BBC)

Anita, 66, can now be seen in the BBC drama Armada: 12 Days To Save England, where she will play Queen Elizabeth I.

She said of her four-hour make-up process: “I had false teeth! They put this substance on my face and skin, dried it gently with a hairdryer so the skin would stick into wrinkles, and then the make-up artist painted leather spots and pockmarks. There’s a shot of me sitting in a dressing gown with the script in my hand, and I look about 111!”

Armada: 12 Days To Save England starts on BBC Two on Sunday, May 24.