"It's my era – The Specials, Selecter, Fine Young Cannibals – those were the days when I used to go out," laughs the mother-of-two.

Testimony of the enduring appeal of the Eighties chart-toppers is that her 20-year-son likes them too.

"I don't know if it's a London thing but I think all ages respond to their sense of get-up-and-go."

Strong did get a night out in 2002 to see the West End opening night of Our House, the musical set to Madness songs.

"I had no idea in the world I would end up being in it," says the former Only Fools and Horses star who is now halfway through the UK tour of the show.

"That's what's lovely about this business, you never know where it will take you."

Strong has no background in song and dance, although her last appearance in Sheffield was in karaoke comedy Girls Night, but she wasn't required to show any serious pretensions to holding a tune.

"On the whole it's a straight role for me in Our House with only a bit of singing with the rest of the cast. And I'm playing a mum at home, so there's no reason for me to fly around the stage to Peter Darling's choreography. The kids do all that.

"I'm having a good time, it's nice to do the kind of work you don't normally do. Most of my theatre work is straight and heavy. There's an eight-piece live band and it's fabulous to be right there in it."

The story follows the fortunes of 16-year-old Joe over two consecutive nights where he must confront the troubles of right and wrong, falling in love and growing up, offering two versions, one where he gets deeper into trouble and the other where he does the right thing.

"I think it's a far more substantial story than most musicals," considers Strong. "It's by Tim Firth, who wrote Calendar Girls, and it keeps you on your toes following the story.

"I play an old-fashioned traditional Irish mum who loves her home and her community and that's what the son tries to do when he attempts to protect the street from the developers."

Getting into the Irish brogue came easily to Strong, who loves doing accents, but some time ago recognised that not every actor does and has produced a series of instructional CDs with distinguished voice coach Penny Dyer.

"I realised there was a gap in the market and took the idea to Methuen and they commissioned it. The first series is for Welsh, Yorkshire, Geordie, RP and London and general American and each one has a different actor learning the accent."

So you get Sheridan Smith, who grew up in Doncaster, on the cockney disc and Londoner Strong doing Yorkshire.

But she is in Irish mode right now. Strong is a mum herself and it is only now that her children are of an age (20 and 18) where she feels able to undertake a tour which takes her away from home for long periods.

"It's nice to be able to do that and see some of the country.

Up until recently all my theatre was in London and that can be a bit insular."

Are either of the children following their parents (her husband is Footballer's Wives actor Jesse Birdsall) into the business? "No we've done a grand job, they are both living normal lives," she reports.

Our House is at the Lyceum from Tuesday to Saturday.

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