TESSA Peake-Jones will never forget the generous gesture which meant she could fulfill her dream of a career in showbusiness.

Best known to TV audiences for playing Raquel in the classic comedy Only Fools and Horses, Tessa is coming to the Lowry next week in a new version of Terence Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy.

She has become one of the country’s most popular actresses but it could all have been so different.

“I was so broke when I first started out,” she said. “I’d got the chance my first job as a dancer but I couldn’t even afford point shoes to go and do pantomime,

“I was working with in the gas board as a temp and a woman I was working with bought me my point shoes. You never forget those things. Without the generosity of others, someone saying ‘I believe in you, here’s a pair of point shoes’. I wouldn’t have been able to do that job.

“So I am very aware of the importance of supporting others. If someone’s got talent then it’s our job to encourage them and help them through.”

Tessa kept in touch with the woman as her career progressed.

“I would send her postcards from wherever I was working,” she said, “and she was alive long enough to see me in Fools and Horses. It was such an incredibly kind thing that she did. She’d only known me for a few months and we just worked together. She’s obviously seen my enthusiasm and then saw my face fall when I hadn’t got the money which meant I couldn’t do the job.”

Tessa has helped aspiring writers and performers throughout her career.

“I believe very much in encouraging new writers,” she said. “It’s very hard for people who write. They just can’t get their work on unless they can get a theatre or a name to back them.”

The Winslow Boy is anything but a new production, widely recognised as one of the great stage plays looking at class and hypocrisy.

“It is such a joy to be part of this production,” said Tessa. “It is so well written and the company are fantastic to work with.”

Set in Edwardian London, a family fight to clear their name after their son is expelled from naval college for stealing a postal order.

“It has been staggering how many people come up to us after a shows and say how relevant it is today.” said Tessa. “The other thing that surprises people is just how funny the production is. At first glance it may look like a period piece but there is so much more to it.”

The Winslow Boy comes to the Lowry as part of a major UK tour.

“This is something I haven’t done for 30 years, and I’m loving it,” said Tessa.”The last tours I did were before I had my children. This is the first job I’ve done since then where we’re going away.

“It’s such a novelty going to all these amazing places and I love it. I might be feeling a bit different about it in two or three year’s time but at the moment, I’m like a child at Christmas.

“Now that my kids have left home, I can do what I want. It’s fantastic. I don’t have to worry about childcare and all the things that a working mum does, particularly when you are in this business.

“It is so unpredictable, so up and down. You might be up at five in the morning for filming. All those things when you’ve got kids are incredibly hard to manoeuvre and suddenly now I can accept any job I want to do and get on with it. It is like having a new life again.”

The Winslow Boy, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Monday, April 9 to Saturday, April 14. Details from 0843 208 6000 or www.thelowry.com