Witches, principal boys, good and bad fairies, Islington actress Linda Robson has played them all over the years and has loved every moment.

Linda says she got into theatre almost by accident. “It was at my local primary and Anna Scher started up a drama group that was a bit like a youth club,” recalls Linda. “We didn’t intend to be actors, we did shows for OAPs and at libraries but then the BBC came and cast us in a series and word got around. We were quite down to earth and did a lot of gritty dramas.”

Linda co-starred with long-term collaborator Pauline Quirke in her eponymous comedy sketch show. The pair went on to star in in the BBC comedy, Birds of a Feather, alongside Lesley Joseph. Linda also appeared alongside Jenny Eclair and Dillie Keane in the original cast of Grumpy Old Women Live.

While working on Birds of a Feather Linda confesses she even appeared in panto while pregnant.

“It was the first year I ever did a panto,” recalls Linda. “I was nine months pregnant with Louis (now 18) and we were doing Dick Whittington at The Hackney Empire. I played the good fairy opposite Pauline as the bad fairy. We did three shows a day “It was such good fun. Pauline used to get quite stressed. She’d be be in bits on the floor and although I was heavily pregnant, I’d be skipping off to get sandwiches.”

Now the irrepressible Linda is back treading the panto boards in Jack at The Beanstalk at The Watersmeet Theatre playing eco-warrior, Fairy Organic.

Sporting a wand made from a cabbage and a recycled costume, she’s every inch the environmentally friendly fairy. Linda fits easily into the role having reported on green issues in London for BBC1’s Inside Out programme.

“I’m very environmentally friendly,” says Linda. “I drive the kids mad. If they put a plastic bottle in the bin or don’t switch off the lights I’m on their back. I’m a bit of a bin fairy.”

Mum of three, Linda, 52, says she’s not a natural singer or dancer but she definitely makes up for it with dedication and enthusiasm. For the future, she is contemplating a short sojourn in Ireland with the Grumpy Old Women Live tour and she will appear in Adam Deacon spoof gangland comedy Anuvahood next spring. She is also looking at a “promising treatment script for the stage” that will reunite her with Birds of a Feather co-stars Pauline and Lesley.

For now it’s back to the fairy dust, but the rest of the cast had better make sure it goes in the recycling bin after the show.

Jack and the Beanstalk runs until December 31 at The Watersmeet Theatre, High Street, Rickmansworth. Details: 01923 711063, www.threerivers.gov.uk