WHEN the person you call answers the phone by saying “I’m sorry I am on the lavatory” you know things are going to be a bit odd.

But this is exactly what Jenny Éclair loves.

The comedian has always embraced the peculiar, whether it is appearing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here or cooking up a storm on Celebrity Masterchef, Éclair has thrown herself head first into anything she has done.

But her latest adventure might be the toughest one yet.

“We are going to save the world. We aren’t doing half measures, it’s not just a kiddies paddling pool. We are going for the world,” Éclair tells The Gazette.

No, she isn’t losing the plot, the 58-year-old is talking about her latest show Grumpy Old Women to the Rescue.

The superhero teaming of Éclair, Dillie Keane and Lizzie Roper will transform into their alter egos Menopause Woman, HRT Girl and Hatchet Face to tackle all the issues from the world where Donald Trump is president to the eternal struggle which is supermarket self-checkouts.

“What our lives are is being confused by all the stuff we as women are dealing with,” added Eclair.

“We find it difficult to find a day to save the world because our diaries are so full scheduling in doctor’s appointments, internet dating as well as saving the world.”

Éclair added: “The show is all about holding up a mirror to the audience’s life.

“It is that recognition that women have in their own lives. The whole aim is for the audience is to ‘say yeah I know how that feels’, otherwise there isn’t that familiarity and shared experience which brings out the laughter.”

It isn’t just comedy where Éclair shines, having appeared on the West End in several shows including Steaming, Mum’s the Word and The Vagina Monologues.

For many people their only exposure of Éclair would be through the reality TV shows, and Éclair told The Gazette that she took part in them for purely selfish reasons.

She added: “I’ve done them for money, I’ve done them to enhance my career and I never really had the snob thing towards these shows.

“I don’t mind doing something peculiar and in the case of being in the jungle it buys me writing time.”

The Grumpy Old Women rose to fame with the successful TV series which has now gone international.

Now the superheroes are coming out of retirement so have to put the extreme colouring-in, ukulele orchestra and novelty fudge-making to one side.

She added: “The idea of a middle-aged woman is a universal thing, so it is very shared experience.

“We have been lucky enough to go to places like Finland and Iceland and have the response that we are after.

“But right now we need to go out and save the world one more time.”

Grumpy Old Women to the Rescue will come to the Anvil on Sunday, 29 April.

For more information and tickets visit anvilarts.org.uk.