Cherie speaks out for breast cancer

A slightly hungover Zoe Ball gossiping with Cherie Blair. Denise Lewis being told she was not fast enough. Geri Halliwell freaking out the director with just a little bit too much information.

Even by the standards of Oscarno-minated director Mike Leigh, it was a special shoot.

The four women were among the 10 celebrities who came together to film an advertisement for Breast Cancer Care, which was screened for the first time last night.

And, while Leigh, the man behind Vera Drake, is known to be one of the more demanding directors in the business, the women who were roped in to help the charity's information campaign - they all worked for free - made their presence felt in their own little way.

Ball turned up on a little less than top form. "I need help," she wailed as she looked for a makeup artist. "We had a doctors and nurses party for my birthday weekend and I haven't recovered."

By the end of it all, however, she was to be seen happily gossiping with Cherie "like two mothers at the school gates", according to one observer.

Mrs Blair, who is said to have charmed everyone with her enthusiasm, turned up with two protection officers and a press secretary - an entourage only exceeded by that of Geri Halliwell, who arrived accompanied by two dogs, her mother, make-up artist, stylist and agent.

When she fluffed one of her lines she explained away the mistake by saying "I'm pre-menstrual". Quite how Leigh reacted is not a matter of record, but Halliwell acknowledged that she may have gone a bit too far even by her outspoken standards, adding: "Sorry. Too much information for a man."

Joan Bakewell, meanwhile, just did regal. As she sat in her seat to read her lines - all the celebrities read out the Breast Cancer Care manifesto, with the best takes spliced together to make the ad - she said: "So this is films. I've never seen all this. The last filming I did was for TV in the township of Soweto, South Africa, and believe you me, you did it and got out, quick."

There then followed a discussion about how to pronounce the word foyer, which came up in the extra dialogue for the cinema version of the ad. "How should I pronounce this?" she asked Leigh. "Foy-ez or

Foy-er? How would you normally say it? " he said. "Entrance," she replied, firmly.

Not everyone was word perfect first time. Jerry Hall apologised for her dry " cotton mouth", while Lorraine Kelly had to do a second take after saying "breath" instead of "breast".

A life in film does not beckon, apparently. "Why would anyone want to be an actress?" she said. "They must be mad." Denise Lewis was - possibly for the first time in her life - a little off the pace. "You could be faster," Leigh told her, "but I know who I'm talking to. I use the word with caution."

While everyone was doing an average of 10 takes, Alison Steadman did it in one. Then Leigh asked her to change it a bit, so she said she would do it again from the change.

Leigh made some chuntering noises. "What, you want the whole thing?" Steadman said. "You weren't happy with it?"

Not many people could get away with that - except, perhaps, a woman who has worked with Leigh for more than 30 years, and was married to him for 27.