You know her as Annie Sugden, the matriarch from TV's Emmerdale, a role which she has played for over twenty years. But actress Shiela Mercier has played many roles in her eventful life, some more heartbreaking than anything on the screen.
Here, she tells her own story; how, unlike Annie she had a wealthy background; her broken engagement to a French Desert Rat; how she helped her brother Brian Rix on the road to success, and was herself involved in the famous Whitehall farces; and, last, but not least her experience on Emmerdale, and the people and stories on screen and behnd-the-scenes.
She also deals openly and frankly with the joy and pain of her personal life, revealing, for the very first time, the traumatic secret of her experiences as a young woman, kept hidden until now.