SOUTH coast based entertainer Debra Stephenson is one of the UK’s best loved and critically acclaimed impressionists, comedy performers, actresses and singers.

As a comedic impressionist she is perhaps best known as star of BBC One’s highly rated The Impressions Show with Culshaw & Stephenson, with her other credits in the field including BBC Radio 4’s Dead Ringers and ITV’s Newzoids.

As an actress Debra has had long running roles in Coronation Street and Bad Girls (both for ITV), whilst her entertainment credits include The Friday Night Project, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Strictly Comedy Dancing Christmas Special and Let’s Dance For Sports Relief to name just a few.

Now Debra, who lives at Sandbanks in Poole, has embarked on her first ever UK tour with her one-woman show, 'Night of One Hundred Voices' which visits the Medina Theatre, Newport, Isle of Wight on April 2 and Christchurch Regent Centre on April 9.

It is the culmination of a long-held dream for mum-of-two Debra, 43, who appeared on Opportunity Knocks at the age of 14, did voices for Spitting Image aged 16, and, on advice from Bob Monkhouse, forged an acting career too.

Singing impressions are her first love:

"That’s really my passion, because when I was little I used to listen to my nan’s old fashioned radiogram,” she remembers.

“I used to play the records when my parents were talking to her, because I was an only child. She had a great collection of the greats – Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe. I copied the voices. I think with impressions it is just about listening and listening and absorbing. Especially as a child you do absorb those voices. I began to do impressions.”

It is a talent that runs in the family.

"My dad use to do impressions and I think he would have loved to be an impressionist but he never had the confidence. He married young and had me to support so he put everything into being a teacher which was much more reliable. He was thrilled when I started showing signs of being an impressionist .

“He encouraged me and we even did a double act for local radio. We were very much a team. He still helps me now with my impressions and my scripts. People say ‘do you look in the mirror?’, but I go to my dad.

" As a child I went to singing lessons and drama lessons and by the time I was seven I wanted to be an actress and the impressions just took over. As a singer I trained classically and I also went to drama school at Manchester Metropolitan University."

This show- which follows a one-off show at Poole Lighthouse last year- flexes all of her comedic muscles as she presents a one woman variety show featuring songs from every decade from the sixties to the noughties, and some of her best loved impressions. Accompanied by the James Stead Orchestra, Debra will take on the personas of some of music’s most flamboyant characters, including Billie Holiday, Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse. She will also recreate some of her favourite impressions from TV, transforming herself into the likes of Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Sarah Millican and Davina MacCall.

Thrilled with the warm response so far she told me:

"It's a relief to get the first one out of the way and it's going well. All audiences can be a little bit different so I try to create a show that has something for everyone.

"We've got about 50 singing impressions and 50 spoken impressions in a night of music and comedy entertainment. There's even some snippets of opera and Shakespeare- a bit of culture! Obviously I look at film and TV with soap stars and the usual people you expect to see, such as Davina, Tess Daly, Claudia Winkleman and a lot about Strictly. Music-wise there is everything from Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald to Lulu, Cilla and Amy Winehouse. There's some of my favourite stars such as Barbara Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Julie Andrews and Adele and we don't miss out on giving Bond a medley. It rattles through at a pace because you never sit on anything for too long. There is no time for costume changes and make-overs between characters . You just have to become each person."

Debra revealed she practices her impressions walking along the beach at Bournemouth and Poole whilst walking her chocolate Labrador, Biscuit. "I find the sound of the waves on the shore helps. I can walk along doing all my voices and I just look like anyone else talking on their phone!

"I really enjoy the big vocal impressions - I like pretending to be these amazing divas . You connect with the audience . It's exciting and there's nothing that gives you a buzz like that. It's really nice and you always feel that the audience are just a big group of friends. That's what's nice about doing a tour - they are up for it. It's a real feel-good show. There's a lot of singing, clapping along and laughter . We all need that; people just need to feel and they want to relate to things other people are feeling. "

Debra moved to Poole five years ago with husband James Duffield, a builder, and children Max,13, and Zoe, nine.

She says she has a perfect work-family balance now she no longer has the commitment of Coronation Street.

"I do prefer doing this now as it fits in with my family life. With TV you have to go away for long periods of time - the same with theatre tours. I would like to do the West End but instead of complaining about not being able to have it all you have to make it work for you, so I'm on stage at the weekends but not during the week. Once you make your decision to do that everything else slots into place. It's about longevity. If you don't keep working - and with women if you have kids, it's hard to get back in once you stop.

"Since I've been doing this tour I've had more offers of work but I've had to turn them down but that's fine - the wheels are in motion. My aim is to keep working but still be at home a lot of the time.

"The children are getting older but they still need to be with me and I'm savouring every moment. My boy is 13 but I may actually need him more than he needs me! I actually took them with me up to Leeds for a gig. It was fun - a little bit more tiring but it was such a joy."

Work fits around the children now.

"I do voiceovers for Scream Street and I do Dead Ringers' once a week from time to time and there's also Newzoids and corporate work. I'm always busy but not like when I was in Coronation Street when I couldn't go home. I've said 'no' to doing that again whilst the kids are young. People say you should never say never. I'm grateful for that job but I'm definitely happier now. "

Although the family has a small boat and her husband and son enjoy going fishing she is a definite land-lover.

"I do like the boat but I'm not keen on going out to sea; I'm not into jetting to the pier and back! The kids are into watersports but I'm into yoga. One of my ambitions is to do yoga paddle boarding, although it's very difficult and you can easily fall in, and I don't like getting wet! It looks really cool so I've been practising yoga on land; I've been doing it on and off for years. The whole point with yoga is not to be good . The idea is to get something out of it for you. It's a real contrast to competing in the world of showbusiness - competing for roles, and it fits into my philosophy of mindfulness.

"This is a really great place to live and have a dog with the beach and New Forest. I love horses and one of the things about travelling to London on the train is spotting horses, deer and rabbits. Maybe later in life we will move to the Forest. When I get back from London I love to head out with the dog; you come back with those charcoal bogeys and you just think that can't be good for you!"

Finally, has Debra got a favourite impression?

"The change almost day to day. It's like having a favourite outfit but my favourite ones are of people I like: I like to do Lorraine Kelly ..." and here Debra goes into a vocal impression of the popular Scottish TV presenter, " she's so nice and so down to earth and nice ...!"

Debra's local dates:

April 2: Isle Of Wight: Medina Theatre

www.medinatheatre.co.uk/ / 01983 526523

April 9: Christchurch: The Regent Centre

http://regentcentre.co.uk/comingsoon.php / 01202 499199