First look at Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph as they reunite on The Good Ship Murder

It’s great to have them back!

The Good Ship Murd3r drops anchor in Cape Verde this month and it’s bringing along two very familiar faces – Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph are on board as guest stars!

The Birds of a Feather favourites appear together in an upcoming episode of the Channel 5 cosy crime drama. It marks their first acting collaboration since 2020. That year saw the much-loved sitcom return for a special episode, bringing the gang back together one last time.

Neither actress pops up in TV dramas all that often these days so this is a rare treat for their fans. Linda is best known to many as a regular Loose Women panellist. Meanwhile, Lesley has joined as a guest panellist!

So what can viewers expect? Here’s a first look at Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph’s characters in The Good Ship Murd3r – and everything we know so far about the episode.

Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson reunite in The Good Ship Murd3r (Credit: Channel 5)

The Good Ship Murd3r welcomes Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson to the guest cast

Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson join the guest cast of The Good Ship Murd3r series 3 in episode 5. Their appearance follows recent guest turns from Emmerdale’s Lesley Dunlop and River City’s Sally Howitt.

The veteran actresses play “two merry widows Tilly and Elsa”, who embark on a grief cruise to celebrate the lives of their late partners. When the ship docks in Cape Verde, they join a small group heading ashore to visit a local shrine and pay their respects.

But the trip takes a dark turn when Tilly (Lesley Joseph) is found Murd3red. As Jack begins to piece together what happened, a number of suspects emerge. These include creepy fellow grief cruiser Noel, who appears to have been stalking Tilly. There’s also shifty restaurant critic Angel, who is hiding something, and Emiliano, a market trader with questionable contacts and a police record.

Kriss Dosanjh also guest stars as Noel. Viewers may recognise him from roles including Ashok Masum in Casualty. He’s also known for playing The Brigadier in The Larkins, and Hassan Habeeb on Coronation Street.
The veteran actresses as ‘two merry widows Tilly and Elsa’ (Credit: Channel 5)

What are Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph famous for?

For many viewers, Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson will forever be Dorien Green and Tracey Stubbs from Birds of a Feather. They played the roles from 1989 right through to 2020, alongside co-star and close friend Pauline Quirke, who portrayed Sharon Theodopolopodous.

In 2021, Pauline was diagnosed with dementia. Linda and Pauline are childhood best friends in real life. Earlier this year, Linda revealed that her friend no longer recognised her or her children.

Speaking on Loose Women, she said: “It’s very sad. We’ve been best friends since we were 10. I’ve known [about the diagnosis] for three years and we’ve managed to keep it quiet. She doesn’t know who anybody is. She doesn’t know who I am or who are kids are.”

Lesley Joseph as ill-fated widow Tilly (Credit: C5)

Was Birds of a Feather axed?

Birds of a Feather was a huge hit in its original BBC One run from 1989 to 1998. ITV revived the sitcom in 2014, where it continued for six more years, with the final episode airing on Christmas Eve 2020.

Pauline’s character Sharon Theodopolopodous was notably absent from that final Christmas special, which aired a year before her diagnosis.

The series centred on chalk-and-cheese sisters Sharon and Tracey, whose husbands were jailed for armed robbery. Sharon moved from her Edmonton council flat into Tracey’s comfortable Chigwell home in Essex, where they soon had to deal with their nosy – and eventually beloved – neighbour Dorien.

Of course, Dorien became notorious as the middle-aged married Jewish woman with a weakness for younger men.