Hard Labour (film) where the Leighs had lived in Cavendish Road." "The polarity between the worlds of Mrs Stone and the lady who cleans her house (the central figure, Mrs Thornley, the Catholic house-cleaner) is icily delineated. In the middle is the new housing estate, where Mrs Thornley's son, Edward, (played by Bernard Hill in his professional début), a car mechanic, lives with his wife Veronica (Alison Steadman)." Hard Labour (film) Hard Labour is a 1973 television film, directed by Mike Leigh and produced by Tony Garnett which aired as part of the BBC anthology series "Play for Today". The film stars Liz
Alison Steadman in May" (1976) and "Abigail's Party" (1977). She received BAFTA TV Award nominations for the 1986 BBC serial "The Singing Detective", and in 2001 for the ITV drama series "Fat Friends" (2000–05). Other television roles include "Pride and Prejudice" (1995), "Gavin & Stacey" (2007–10) and "Orphan Black" (2015–16). Her other film appearances include "A Private Function" (1984), "Clockwise" (1986), "Shirley Valentine" (1989), "Topsy Turvy" (1999) and "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (2004). Steadman was born in Liverpool, the youngest of three sisters born to Marjorie (née Evans) and George Percival Steadman, who worked as a production controller for