Battle of the bitches
A special TV Choice survey shows Dynasty star Joan Collins is top in Britain's superbitch ratings. We take a look at TV's nasty lady

JOAN COLLINS is the
number one super-bitch.
And Dynasty fans are going to worship her for it.
In a special TV Choice survey 56% of the people interviewed said that Collins had the most bitchyTV personality of all.
She beat Annie Walker, the upper-crust pub-owner of Coronation Street, Margaret Thatcher and Penelope Keith to gain the highest bitch votes cast from 450 viewers surveyed.
Despite the fact that she has made few TV appearances in Britain in recent years, most of the people questioned thought that she played the part of the bitch to a tee.
‘It’s all that fake glamour, isn’t it?’ said Elaine Whitely, a 45 year old hairdresser.

Epic performance
‘You wouldn’t trust her
to tell your husband the time of day.’
One man figured in the top ten of the nation’s bitches — Lenny Bennett, acid-tongued host of quiz show Punchlines and Bennett Bites Back, the controversial gossip show.
Margaret Thatcher came third in the order of super-bitches, despite her great personal popularity in political opinion polls.
One interviewee, Mark Harlow of Swindon, put this down to an ‘insufferable quality of bossiness which she displays whenever she is on TV.’
Collins returns this week in the long-awaited new series of Dynasty.
She plays Alexis, ex-wife of Blake Carrington.
Carrington is on trial for the murder of his son’s ex-lover and Collins make a dramatic appearance as a witness for the prosecution.
But this is only the start of the impact Collins is about to make on British
soap opera fans, according to US Dynasty addict Rick Palmer.
‘Collins is sensational as Alexis,’ says PaImer, 'She's upped the show’s ratings no end.
‘And mean? She makes JR look like ET:
The series is well ahead of the stage at which British viewers catch up with it on New Year’s Day.
And, says Palmer, the best is all to come.
‘The fundamental dynamo of the plot becomes the battle between Krystle played by Linda Evans and Joan.’


Set them talking
‘They eventually meet up in an epic slugging match that set US soap opera fans talking for months afterwards:
The way she plays the villainous Alexis is, claims Palmer, ‘an epic performance, many times better than the recent movies she had made:
In the last few years Collins has made a number of sleazy sex films including The Bitch and The Stud and her latest, Nutcracker.
But Dynasty beats them all, claims Palmer
‘She has helped the show to bury Dallas,' he says.
Collins already hit the headlines in Britain when she was served with a writ just hours before meeting the Queen.

Copyright: TVCHOICE - 1-7 Jan 1983
Top 10 bitches

1 JOAN COLLINS...
She was the perfect glamorous bitch
2 ANNIE WALKER....
Snobbish woman, good at put downs.
3 MARGARET THATCHER...
Has an 'insufferable bossy quality'
4 PENELOPE KEITH...
The rich madam women love to hate.
5 HILARY TINDALL...
Ex-Brothers star with a hard face
6 ESTHER RANTZEN...
Too 'patronising' and self-righteous.
7 LENNY BENNETT...
Man with a nasty way with words.
8 KATE O'MARA...
The sultry survivor of Triangle.
9 ANGELA RIPPON...
Newscaster with a 'glacial glare'
10 PRINCESS ANNE...
Has an 'over-bearing impatience.'
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