Wendy Richard's final appearance

Thursday, 19 March 2009

Wendy Richard's final message of hope will be aired tonight.

The 'EastEnders' actress - who died from cancer last month - recorded a poignant documentary in November last year about her battle against illness, which is filled with messages to inspire hope in others.
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In the documentary Wendy - who played Pauline Fowler over 21 years in the soap - says: "You're there to give hope and encouragement to other women going through the same thing. So even if you're just popping out to the shops, you want to look your best."

The documentary, titled 'Wendy Richard: To Tell You The Truth', sees the actress giving strong-willed advice to her former colleague Natalie Cassidy, who played her on-screen daughter-in-law Sonia.

She said: "You must never give in. You've got to fight."

The video also shows James Alexandrou - Wendy's son in the soap - speaking about her determination to beat the disease.

He is seen half joking: "If I was cancer, I'd be scared of you."

The hour-long programme is to be shown just days after her husband John Burns, 45 revealed Wendy had no idea her cancer was terminal.

He said: "The first I knew she wasn't going to make it was about four minutes before she died. At no point were we told that the cancer was terminal."

Tributes were held for the actress by members of the soap's cast and crew at her funeral last week (09.03.09).

'Wendy Richard: To Tell You The Truth', will be shown tonight (19.03.09) on BBC1 at 8pm.