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vrijdag 5 oktober 2012

Tracy-Ann Oberman: 'We've discovered a British Jewish comedy voice'

Tracy-Ann Oberman has said that there has been a discovery of a British Jewish comedy voice in TV and movies in recent years.

The Monroe actress returns to Friday Night Dinner to reprise the role of Val, the best friend of mum Jackie (Tamsin Greig).

"All the references, especially in comedy, had come from America," Oberman told Digital Spy about openly Jewish characters in British culture.

"From the old-style comics - you think of Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, all of that.

"The only characters in this country who were Jewish were Fagin, Shylock, Dr Legg in EastEnders and Maureen Lipman's BT character."

Oberman continued: "There's suddenly been a change, with David Baddiel's film The Infidel, then you had Grandma's House and Friday Night Dinner.

"Then you had things like Strictly Kosher and Jewish Mum of the Year coming up, which I'm involved with. There's been a real discovery of a British Jewish comedy voice, which is great."

Asked about her return to the Channel 4 sitcom, Oberman said: "I'm really excited. It's been a busy year and the cherry on the cake was Auntie Val coming back - I love Auntie Val.

"In the new episode she's in, you see just how close that friendship goes, in that she'll back Jackie to the hilt in everything."

Quizzed on whether Val would ever recover from the burning of her red dress in series one, she said: "I don't think she'll ever recover from that - screaming in that bonfire!

"I think it was a bonding experience for her and Jackie."

Of how the show crossed over beyond the north-west London Jewish community, Oberman said: "People from the community either completely recognised it or didn't recognise it at all.

"Certain aspects of it were really real, but by adding the Mark Heap character made it more cartoony. It takes reality and then blows it up into an extreme. I think it's so beautifully acted that it does make it so realistic.

"Potentially you could set that as an Asian family, a Muslim family - families are families, aren't they? And you have that same dynamic whatever your cultural background."

Friday Night Dinner returns to Channel 4 on October 7. Tracy-Ann Oberman's play Rock, Doris & Elizabeth airs on October 16 on Radio 4.