To anyone who grew up in the 1970s, Louise Jameson will always be the glamorous, knife-wielding, leather-clad Leela from Doctor Who.

Others will remember her as matriarch Rosa di Marco in EastEnders, or perhaps more recently as mother-in-law from hell Eleanor Glasson in television series Doc Martin.

With a back catalogue of alluring yet strong women in her stable, it comes as a surprise then to find she’s up to her elbows in a chicken carcass when I track her down for a chat about her new play – My Gay Best Friend.

Not only is she starring in the show, set to be performed at Harrow Arts Centre, but she has also co-written the play along with her co-star and very own gay best friend Nigel Fairs.

“I met Nigel after he wrote me a script for an audio book called Big Finish“, she says, utensils banging in the background.

“He also did a lot of Dr Who sci-fi related stuff, and I was in Dr Who in 1977, so we worked together quite a bit – we just hit it off and he became my gay best friend... Hang on a minute, it’s trickier than you think basting a chicken and talking at the same time.. Right, so, we wanted to write together for ages, he’s been writing for years and years, since God was a boy. We ended up disappearing to Cornwall for five days and the result was this play.“ My Gay Best Friend tells the story of friends Rachel and Gavin, highlighting important issues, Louise says, about gay adoption, same sex marriage, and toyboys.

“It’s about what has brought these two people to this point in their lives, she explains.

“The stage is split into two, my character, Rachel, is stuck in a lavatory at a karaoke competition and doesn’t want to come out of her cubicle until her very best friend arrives – he’s promised her he will be there. One second, I just need to turn the chicken over...

“Gavin meanwhile has completely forgotten about the karaoke night and what it means to Rachel.

“It’s a comedy, but it has its poignant moments as well.“ You’d be forgiven for thinking that the play, a series of monologues and duologues written by the pair, is based on their own relationship and that the characters are similar to the actors portraying them.

“It’s nothing like our relationship,” Louise says.“We’re close and love each other, that’s the same, but we’re both mutually supportive, whereas in the play, it’s just Gavin supporting Rachel – she’s just a selfish cow.

“The kind of character I like to play is the kind that has no censorship between their brain and their mouth – there is no filter, one of those ‘what you see is what you get’ types.

“Rachel is one of those, I’m much more of a good girl. In a way, I’d quite like to be a bit more like her. But inevitably as I’ve written it, there’s me in there as well.

“Nigel is just like Gavin, although he’s got more chutzpah. On our first night he said to me – this is a bit like doing therapy, but in public.“ In fact their debut performance at the Brighton Festival Fringe in May 2012, proved a hit, winning the Argus Angel audience award, something Louise says she is particularly proud of.

So how does she feel about performing at the Harrow Arts Centre?

“I find the smaller venues the most exciting places to play,“ she says. “You can give it all the naturalism and intensity that you give a camera and you don’t have to worry about projecting right up to the Gods. You are participating in the ancient art of storytelling, you’re taking the audience on a journey.

“When people come to see My Gay Best Friend, I’d really like them to be moved, I’d like it to open up discussion.

“Now where have I put that oven glove? I’d better put the chicken in.“ My Gay Best Friend is coming to Harrow Arts Centre, Uxbridge Road Hatch End, on Wednesday, February 13. Details: www.harrowarts.com or 020 8416 8989