KATE O'Mara, the glamorous former star of the BBC maritime drama Howard's Way, drops anchor in Salford this week to star in The Hollow at the Lowry theatre.

The actress took on the role of Lady Angkatell in the play, which came from the pen of the woman they call the mistress of suspense, Agatha Chrsitie, as Kate says it's a role of great comedic value.

"She's a rather potty aristocrat who is ruthless underneath - it's a funny part and I get a lot of laughs. It's a nice part in as much that she appears to be very absent minded and quite funny, but underneath she's really very determined," she says, adding that she gets pleasure from the positive reaction her character receives from audiences.

She was also enticed by the prospect of playing a comedy role, because she believes comedy roles pose greater challenges than the more serious parts.

Kate, who was born in Leicester, comes from a long line of actors and her career has seen her work with some of the leading lights of the stage and screen, from Peter O'Toole to former 007 Roger Moore, who she starred alongside in the 60s cult classic, The Saint. One of her most famous roles came in the 80s when she played the seductively named Cassandra "Caress" Morrell in the American soap opera Dynasty, a show famed for its shoulder pads and big hair. Fellow British actress Joan Collins played her screen sister, and Kate says there was no time to draw breath when shooting scenes for the show.

"That was an extraordinary experience - it was quite different from anything else I'd ever done because although I had worked for the Americans before, I'd never worked in Hollywood. It was a bit of an eye opener quite honestly, because they work very, very fast," she says.

Despite her star studded CV, Kate isn't the type of person to dwell on her past and she's looking forward to playing the troubled, but brilliant, singer Marlene Dietrich on the London stage next year.

* For the full interview see December's Lifestyle magazine.