When TV director Simon Draper decided to produce a podcast with Miriam Margolyes, he kicked into motion a series of encounters that ended up changing his life in an unexpected way.
In 2024, Draper, whose credits include Rob & Rylan’s Grand Tour, had no work on the horizon and thought a project with one of his former collaborators – the 84-year-old national treasure, former Harry Potter star and outrageous anecdote-teller Margolyes – would be a good creative use of his time. (He previously worked with comedian and actor for 2016 documentary The Real Marigold on Tour, in which she visited a retirement home in Florida – and swiftly got booted out for getting in a row with a resident about Trump.)
Margolyes accepted Draper’s offer, and welcomed him and his camera into her home so he could track the podcast’s journey to fruition. A new one-off documentary film, titled Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me, tracks his tireless efforts to create the audio series, pitched as her “final act”, only to be met with increasing obstacles thanks to her free-wheeling way of life.
After completing just one episode of the podcast, Margolyes dropped a bombshell – she was going to Australia to embark on a lengthy tour. Realising his documentary would suffer as a consequence, Draper sold his guitar collection to travel across the world to be with Margolyes.
Upon his arrival, things aren’t as plain-sailing as he’d hoped – rather than getting to work on the podcast, Margolyes keeps kicking the can down the road, with Draper essentially becoming her errand boy. If he isn’t sitting around waiting for her to summon him, he’s performing small tasks for Margolyes, like helping her with her shoes or fetching her a coffee. (Her order? A decaf almond milk cappuccino, extra hot.) “She has the amazing power to draw the people-pleaser out of everyone, including me,” an obliging Draper says at one point as he hangs up her underwear on her hotel room balcony.
But he’s also there at a pivotal moment in Margolyes’ life, as her surge in popularity led to her performing sell-out shows at iconic venues like Sydney Opera House, and responding to droves of Cameo requests, from which she reveals she’s made more than £320,000 to date.
It soon becomes clear that their companionship is more important than any podcast could be. One moving scene shows Draper accompanying a worried Margolyes to a hospital appointment where she’s due to have a spinal injection. “I’m not chipper this morning, but I will be,” the unusually restrained star tells Draper. She’s clearly happy he’s with her, even if she’s not entirely sure why.
Draper is disarmed by his experience with Margolyes in Australia, becoming inspired by “her honesty and bluntness and way of expressing affection”, which “seems to make people feel alive” – and he returns home one guitar collection down but enriched by an experience that forms the basis of the documentary.
Speaking about the film, Draper said: “I thought getting Miriam Margolyes to make a podcast would be easy, after all, everyone’s doing them, but Miriam’s lifestyle is bonkers.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
“In two years, we made just five episodes, but hanging out with her was life-changing. Mim’s a woman with strong opinions and a weak bladder, and I feel lucky to have been able to capture all the chaos and sparkle of the bravest, most honest person I know.”
Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me airs on BBC Two at 9pm on Monday (13 April).
