Following on from the much-celebrated first series of BBC Two’s hit comedy Miranda, Series 2 is released on DVD next week and sees Miranda Hart continue her hilarious route through life, stumbling from one disaster to the next.

> Buy the Miranda Series 1-2 boxset on Amazon.

CultBox caught up with actress Sarah Hadland, who plays Miranda’s best friend Stevie, to find out more…

What’s your favourite episode of Series 2?

“I’d probably have to say the Christmas episode that we did, with all the dressing up and my costume. I think Ian Hislop was on Have I Got News For You wearing the same jumper so I was quite chuffed! I think that’s the only time I’ll ever be wearing the same outfit as Ian Hislop.

“Miranda and I had a bit of a corpsing moment, fortunately not in front of the audience, but we had one dry run with the cake where I had to scoop out the icing and eat it in one go. Because it was quite messy to do, we only had one practice and it was just a bit of a disaster!

“Trying to eat that and carry on talking, it all went very wrong. That’s probably the worst we’ve ever laughed but we had to carry on, covered in icing.

“That was a really good fun episode to do. We also had Tom Conti, which was amazing.”

Would you like Tom Conti to return as Miranda’s father?

“He was very funny so I hope he does come back, that’d be brilliant, but I don’t know what storylines she’s got planned.”

Would you like to do another Christmas episode?

“Yes, I think that’d be a great thing to start. The show seemed to lend itself really well to that, there’s always such a drama around Christmas so that’d be fabulous to do again.”

What’s the latest news on Series 3?

“I think we start back next summer. She’s writing it soon I think. “

Do you have any idea what we should expect?

“No, still early days! Whenever we meet up, she’s scribbling down anything that happens!”

What do you personally hope to see happen in Series 3?

“I’d like Stevie to get a lovely hunky boyfriend, that’d be nice! Hopefully some more stuff in the shop, I always love that, there’s so much physical comedy in there because we have so many props.

“I’d like a lot more slapstick. It’s quite a traditional old-fashioned style, but people seem to really like it and it’s great fun to do, so hopefully there’ll be plenty more of that.”

Who would you cast as Stevie’s hunky boyfriend in an ideal world?

“Hmm! That’s a good questions, George Clooney would be nice! Maybe that’s the kind of thing he’d like to do, Miranda? Maybe a big Hollywood star would quite like to do a quirky little British sitcom…”

Johnny Depp did an episode of The Vicar of Dibley once…

“Oh yeah! I’ll suggest it to Miranda, I think we should go for it; George Clooney for Stevie’s boyfriend!“

What do you miss most about filming the show?

“It’s cheesy to say but we do all get on very well. Patricia Hodge and Sally Phillips are absolutely lovely. We just have a brilliant time and everyone’s very supportive of each other.

“You’re just part of a little family once you start in that little Miranda bubble in the studio for a while each year. It’s brilliant being a part of something that everyone really enjoys.”

And is there anything you don’t miss?

“It’s always very nerve-wrecking in the live studio. You really look forward to them and really dread them at the same time!

“The studio audience does make you feel like you’re doing a stage production, but at the same time you’ve got the cameras close to your face, so you have to tread the line between performing for the audience and being over the top. But that’s all part of it!

“Hopefully it makes you perform a bit better when you’ve got those nerves.”

Do you get recognised much when you’re in public and what sort of thing do people say?

“Yes, not too much, it’s kind of a nice amount! It does always come as a shock to you. The most common thing I get is people wanting to push me over! You sort of go ‘what you talking about?’ then realise they’re a Miranda fan. I get ‘I just want to push you over, you’re so tiny!’ and you have to say ‘no, probably don’t do that’.

“And I get asked to sing ‘what have you done today?’ down the phone a lot but I say no – it wouldn’t feel right without the Heather stick.”

You were also in the last James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Do you like to think that you count as a Bond girl?

“Well, technically I suppose I sort of am! A mini-Bond girl! It was quite weird when I auditioned for it. There was a room full of models so I wasn’t even nervous, I just knew I wouldn’t get it, then they decided to go for me instead!”

What was Daniel Craig like to work with?

“His eyes are very beautiful; very piercing blue eyes. He’s not very tall, but he was very nice. You sort of felt sorry for him, there’s such a huge amount of attention, all that pressure resting on him!”

What else have you got coming up?

“I’m currently filming a new BBC Two comedy called The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, which is written by a brilliant writer called Mark Evans. It’s kind of a Dickensian comedy, set in Victorian England, it’s a sort of spoof.

“There’s a Christmas special to start then three half-hour episodes that follow and I’m in those. I’m playing a character called Miss Primley Tightclench, which is fantastic, I think that’s the best character name ever.

“He basically wrote a series on BBC Radio 4 called Bleak Expectations which was very successful and now it’s finally moved to TV. It’s got a fantastic cast: Stephen Fry, Tim Mcinnerny, Robert Webb, Katherine Parkinson… it’s extraordinary.”

> Buy the Miranda Series 1-2 boxset on Amazon.

Watch our exclusive chat with Miranda star Tom Ellis about when Series 3 will air…