The press pictures I’m sent of impressionist and actress Debra Stephenson are very glamorous.

But I’m told she practices her celebrity imitations while walking the dog at the beach near her Poole home, so that’s where I meet her for our early morning chat.

It’s a beautifully bright day, if a little windy – perfect rehearsal conditions for Debra, who prefers to walk along the shoreline with the family’s adorable chocolate Labrador, Biscuit, so that the breeze carries her voice away from any fellow beachgoers.

She only moved to the area five years ago, but Debra already thinks of Poole as her home, which is why she wanted to stage her latest project at Lighthouse.

“I don’t like going away a lot,” she explains.

“Most of my work is away, so I thought ‘I wonder if I could just do my show here?’

“Most times I don’t get the opportunity to do stuff that I love, which is personal to me, such as singing impressions that I’ve done since I was a child.

“It’s a bit indulgent,” she smiles.

Debra 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, starring in prime time TV shows Bad Girls and Coronation Street.

But 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.”

Debra’s father was also a talented impressionist, but devoted his time to his young family rather than trying to pursue a professional career, and would help his daughter with her imitations.

“We even did a double act for local radio,” she says.

“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.”

Debra admits she isn’t sure if there’s a demand for a singing impressions show, but is open to seeing where the production takes her.

“I don’t know whether it might go well, go to other places or on tour, I’m just going to do it for my own satisfaction,” she smiles.

If the show does turn out to be just a one-off, Debra has plenty of other projects to keep her busy, including Dead Ringers for Radio 4, and topical ITV satirical puppet show Newzoids, which she describes as her “dream job”.

“Newzoids is so exciting,” she enthuses.

“I always wanted to do another show like Spitting Image. They did let me go in and do some voices for them when I was 16 on a couple of occasions, when Kate Robbins was on maternity leave.

“Newzoids is part of the legacy of Spitting Image. I wouldn’t say it’s the new Spitting Image, but there are obvious parallels.”

I ask if Debra has any particular favourite impressions, which launches her into a string of different characters.

“My favourite impressions change from day to day or week to week,” she begins, before taking on a Scottish accent.

“I might do something like Lorraine Kelly, because she’s nice, she’s so nice and it feels nice to be a nice person.

“There are other people that I might do just because I like their voice. I started partly by accident doing Sandy Toksvig.

“Then there’s some people that you kind of love to hate, someone like Katie Hopkins might be someone who you love to hate, you can look down your nose and it’s quite fun.

“My all-time favourite probably is Shirley Bassey.”

When she becomes Debra again, we realise it’s actually quite chilly, and she really needs to go indoors, as a cold could put her impressions show in jeopardy.

“Everything relies on the voices,” she explains.

“The show encompasses the people that I loved as a kid, but there are also people like Adele and Lily Allen. I wanted to make it a show that has something for everyone.

“I put this together and it does feel very exciting for me.”

  • Debra Stephenson’s Impressions Show is at Lighthouse, Poole, on Saturday, May 30.