Catherine Tate stars as the 'spare' heir in new six-parter 'Queen of Oz'

If you were among the millions who tuned into this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, held in Liverpool, you’ll know the (real) highlight was seeing Catherine Tate on our screens again.

She was given the task of revealing the results from the UK jury and, to the delight of Doctor Who fans everywhere, crow-barred an enthusiastic “allons-y” into proceedings.

It was, it turns out, a reminder that one of the smartest women in entertainment was making her way back to our screens with this six-parter.

Catherine doesn’t just star as Princess Georgiana (known as Georgie to her friends), the ‘spare’ heir to the British throne whose party-girl lifestyle and constant public scandals threaten the monarchy’s future.

The entire project is based on one of Tate’s original ideas; she co-wrote it alongside fiance Jeff Gutheim, and is also among the executive producers, so Catherine’s dabs are all over it.

If it’s anything like her previous projects, Queen of Oz will be an absolute hoot.

As a teenager, Catherine knew she wanted to act, securing a place at the Central School of Speech and Drama on her fourth try, but ditched the Sylvia Young Theatre School after a week, saying “it was very competitive”.

She was a member of the National Youth Theatre, and in 1988 enjoyed a two-year stint with a touring production of Blood Wedding, featuring Daniel Craig and Jessica Hynes, before joining the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Catherine combined this in the 1990s with a smattering of TV work, and launched her stand-up career in 1996. By the turn of the new millennium, she was part of sketch shows including The Harry Hill Show and That Peter Kay Thing. Her successful one-woman Edinburgh show led to her being cast in 2002 comedy Wild West opposite Dawn French, and two years later, after encouragement from then-BBC controller of comedy Geoffrey Perkins, she co-wrote and starred in The Catherine Tate Show.

The flame-haired performer has barely looked back since and could quite happily have rested on her comedy laurels, basking in the armfuls of awards she received.

But she didn’t.

Instead, Catherine showed her range with appearances in ITV series Miss Marple and BBC period drama Bleak House, as well as returning to the stage for the original West End production of Some Girl(s). Arguably her biggest year was 2006, when she appeared in long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who as Donna Noble.

Her character, a thirtysomething London temp worker, went down a storm with fans of the franchise, while her on-screen chemistry with David Tennant made for some of the show’s most compelling and hilarious moments.

Catherine said at the time her casting was a risk for showrunner Russell T Davies, as she was, back then, “known by the vast majority of people for wearing wigs and comedy teeth”, before adding: “for one brief moment I was the most important woman in the whole of the universe.”

She’s returning as Donna later in the year. Before then, it will be interesting to see what Catherine does with her latest alter ego. The opening episode sounds promising, where a welcoming reception is Georgie’s first public appearance in Australia. Unfortunately, an offensive faux pas from the jetlagged new Queen makes the night go from bad to worse.

Perhaps she should take a leaf out of teenager Lauren’s book and not be “bovvered”.