It’s quite a commute from a North Oxfordshire village to the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, but it’s a journey that actor Gillian Bevan will soon know well.

Gillian, who played Gina Hope for a year in TV’s Holby City, lives near Banbury, and has just taken over the pivotal role of Mrs Wilkinson in the hit stage musical Billy Elliot.

Mrs Wilkinson (her first name is never revealed) is the ballet teacher who recognises Billy’s real talent and fights his cause. She has plainly been round the block a few times, but her enthusiasm for her pupils, even the clod-hopping no- hopers, remains undimmed.

“That’s what is so adorable about her,” Gillian agreed.

“She’s not a stupid woman at all, she has had an education, and someone has obviously instilled a love of ballet in her. She understands that dance is not just about the steps, it’s also about you as a person.

“She never gives up even though the girls that she teaches, for 50p a lesson, are pretty hopeless really. It is extraordinary that this boy comes along who is suddenly able to do all these things — although he’s obviously pretty fit because he has had boxing classes.

“It’s terribly touching that she makes him a project and sees it through, then inevitably she has to let him go.”

In a way, Gillian’s own career path has been similar to Billy’s.

“I think I was the first person in Stockport to go to the Central School — I had to audition for the local education authority because I don’t think they’d ever had anybody go to drama school before.

“I went to a convent school, and we had an extraordinary biology teacher who was passionate about amateur dramatics. It was an all-girls school, but she used to do Gilbert and Sullivan: from the age of about 12 I shamelessly played all the male leads in the Savoy operas.

“I had no fears, and managed to learn all the patter songs.

“We also did a Shakespeare production with a local boys’ school: that was so exciting, it was the first time we were allowed to go there.”

But Mrs Wilkinson does have to demonstrate ballet moves to her pupils. How are Gillian’s dancing skills?

“I wouldn’t call myself a dancer, I’m an actor who can sing and dance a bit — although having said that, the rehearsals for Billy Elliot were like being in boot camp. I did three three-hour sessions a day, and didn’t meet any of the other cast for the first three weeks.

“I was just learning the steps, the skipping, the tap dancing, and generally trying to piece it all together.

“I’m very happy to say that my muscles are now nicely toned, and I’ve lost a lot of weight! I’m as fit as I’ve probably ever been in my life, which is a bonus.”

Billy Elliot is set in the north-east of England during the 1984 miners’ strike. The harsh realism of the situation remains very potent.

It also means that Gillian must deliver words such as “arl” and “howay” correctly.

“It’s a beautiful language. There are several people in the show who really are natives, so I’ve spent hours in coffee bars chatting to them in a Geordie accent.”

Billy Elliot is at the Victoria Palace, London.

For tickets visit www.victoria palacetheatre.co.uk or by phone 0844 248 5000.