Ex-Hampstead and Kilburn MP Glenda Jackson to return to acting

MP Glenda Jackson with comedians Eric Morecombe and Ernie Wise, in 1971 during her acting career. (Pic credit: PA) (Image: PA Archive/Press Association Images)

The 79-year-old will star in a “mash-up” adaptation of novels by French writer Emile Zola which will be broadcast every day over an “intensive” week on Radio 4 in November

The first instalment will be Blood Sex and Money and two more week-long seasons in the adaptation of Zola’s once-shocking 20-volume novel series, Les Rougon-Macquart, will follow at six-monthly intervals.

Glenda Jackson MP speaks during a tribute to Baroness Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons, London. (Image: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

In May, Ms Jackson stepped down from her Labour seat which she won in 1992 when the constituency was called Hampstead and Highgate.

In an interview with the Times after the general election the mother-of-one insisted she had no regrets about her career in parliament.

Glenda Jackson talking to Brent teacher Hank Roberts (Image: Jan Nevill)

She added said she was not sure what she was going to do next.

In her new role she will star as 104-year-old Adelaide Fouque, alongside Robert Lindsay and Murdered By My Boyfriend actress Georgina Campbell, in the production

The drama, which delves into Fouque’s mind as she sits in an asylum, will draw the listener “into 19th Century France and the tragic, farcical reign of Napoleon III, as it marches forward towards a modern, industrialised society”.

Ms Jackson won two Oscar awards for Best Actress in Women in Love (1970) and A Touch of Class (1973).

She has also won a string of other awards for her performances including an Emmy for her role in the BBC television serial Elizabeth R (1971).