Actress Jaime Winstone has said that EastEnders legend Barbara Windsor paid her the ultimate compliment by describing her portrayal in the new biopic Babs as "more me than me".
Babs, which airs on BBC One next Sunday, chronicles Windsor's childhood in the East End, her rise to fame in the Carry On films and her first marriage to criminal Ronnie Knight.
The screenplay for the feature-length drama was written by former EastEnders writer Tony Jordan and includes cameos by Windsor.
Kidulthood star Winstone plays the young Windsor with Olivier Award winner Samantha Spiro portraying the screen icon in her fifties.
"Sometimes Barbara would be watching us filming and it was terrifying," Winstone said at a special screening of Babs in East London, where she was joined by the woman herself.
"I would look out and she would be there staring, and it was so surreal."
"But once she came up to me and said, 'Oh darling, you're more me than me', and that was a huge pat on the back."
"She said, 'At the end of the day, this is your role'," Winstone continued. "That's what makes her even more amazing - this is her life story and she had the grace to sit back and tell me it was also my job."
Windsor, who bowed out as EastEnders great Peggy Mitchell last year, told the audience: "I hope my mum and dad are looking down, and everybody else responsible for putting me on the stage from the age of six.
"I am so thrilled that you have all come to see little old me. Thank you so much. God bless you all."
Babs, BBC One, Sunday May 7, 8pm
