And here he is bad-mouthing the Seventies, a few years after the style magazines focused on 'the decade that taste forgot'. He makes faces; he wears black jackets and he used to be shot behind wire. YOU CAN'T get more attitude than Dennis Leary, the American comedian who emerged in a modest way in a slot on Jonathan Ross's show He's all attitude. I came in with a bang and that's exactly how I want to go out.''The Jordache Story', Beth's own video diary about her family, is on Channel 4 tonight at 6pm(Photographs omitted).

There is still her father's body under the back patio which eventually needs to come up.'It would only be right to follow the story line through and I'm excited about that. She admires Oliver Stone, Quentin Tarantino and Jane Campion as directors and, like any actress, hopes to make films But for now she is still committed to playing Beth. 'At least I've had the excuse to kiss a woman now.'She has had offers for presenting jobs and record contracts but rejected them in favour of her acting career. 'I had a very long scene after the kiss, so if I didn't get it right, I'd have to do the dialogue again.' Then she laughs.

So I'm glad I'm doing something to help.' Even so, for a straight woman who plays a lesbian, there are bound to be some tricky moments: the kiss, for instance.'But kissing a man is just as hard as kissing a woman,' she says. Most were supportive and positive about Beth and I had lots of letters from people saying they were confused and that Beth had helped them to come out. So much had happened to Beth that people can relate to her.'When the storyline was at its peak, Anna's fan mail shot up from 20 letters a week to 100 'Fifty per cent of them were from gay people. It was only then that it registered that lesbians don't have children or get married and have to face parental rejection.'Her character has brought lesbianism into mainstream television for the first time 'People may not watch the news, but they watch soaps. I talked to one of them about it, as I couldn't identify with the idea of coming out. Women have always been attracted to women, it's just that society has never allowed them to be seen.'She is not gay herself: her current boyfiend is actor Darren Day, now playing Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Manchester She says playing Beth has been an eye-opener 'I do have lesbian friends.