Young Isabelle Barker follows in family’s footsteps and lands role in BBC comedy Accidental Farmer
Dec 11 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Young Isabelle follows in family’s footsteps
HER mum, grandma and great-grandma had the performing bug from a young age.
So at the age of 18 months when Isabelle Barker expressed an interest in following in their footsteps it came as no surprise.
Now the five-year-old from Highburton is set for the spotlight after landing a part in a new TV show.
She was picked from dozens of children to star in BBC comedy Accidental Farmer alongside Ugly Betty and Extras star Ashley Jensen.
The show’s pilot – set to air on December 21 – sees Jensen playing Erin, a high-powered London ad executive who has it all until she discovers her boyfriend is having an affair.
She wreaks revenge by abusing his credit card buying a run-down farm in Yorkshire where she has to get to grips with characters including an octogenarian tenant and a piglet.
Children from all over the region auditioned but Isabelle stood out and was chosen to play Eve, the youngest of five children living on the farm.
Isabelle, a pupil at Highburton First School, spent two weeks filming on location in Malton in North Yorkshire.
Proud mum Zoe, 36, who runs the Huddersfield-based Strickland Cook Theatre School with her mum, Pam Strickland, said Isabelle had a ball filming the show.
She said: “We were really delighted when she got the part. She’s only five and it’s such a lovely opportunity.
“She was great and took everything in her stride like she had been doing it for years.
“She was absolutely buzzing to be part of the filming and loved working with the cast and crew. She had quite a few lines with Ashley who was really lovely with her.
“The whole experience was fantastic and it was great seeing the way she got on with it all. She had to do a lot of work with a pig which was interesting for her!”
