Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Libraries Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe

S12 EP36: Jessica Hynes

08 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What parenting challenges does Jessica Hynes share?

0.031 - 9.817 Unknown

This episode is brought to you by Pizza Express. Now serving up After School Club, a selection of Pizza Express favourites for just £5 each. Available three till five, Monday to Friday.

0

9.857 - 28.751 Rob Beckett

It's a tasty way to reclaim those family moments. That's kind on the wallet too. Oh, Rob, also. You get the after-school meltdowns, don't you? They're hungry, they're tired, one wants to sit in the front, one wants to choose the music. Or you've brought the wrong snack, or you get home and they want to watch different things on TV.

0

28.832 - 38.666 Rob Beckett

Josh, when the kids come out of school and they just throw their bags at you, say I'm hungry, arguing with each other about who sits where in the car. Oh, my word.

0

38.886 - 49.878 Unknown

It's full of... Couldn't agree more, Rob. And do you know what? When you find yourself in that situation, in my experience, there's no 330 meltdown that can't be calmed with a £5 serving of dough balls.

0

50.078 - 61.27 Rob Beckett

For more info about what's included and how to redeem, visit pizzarexpress.com. Terms apply. Hello, you're listening to Parenting Hell with... Can you say Rob?

61.431 - 92.781 Unknown

Rob. Beckett. Beckett. Can you say Josh? Josh. Where did it come? Great. Well done. Swansea. Leicester. There you go. Lion bastard. My two-year-old daughter, Ania. Doing the intro. I've been waiting patiently until she was old enough to say, and I think she gave it a very good go. Solid. Ryan and Anya from Leicester. He may be from Swansea originally. Yeah. Do you want some physical comedy, Rob?

93.362 - 96.768 Unknown

Yeah, come on, give it to me. So, I'd lost... These are my reserved glasses.

96.949 - 97.75 Rob Beckett

Yeah, nice.

98.031 - 101.637 Unknown

I really like them, but... One of the things has fallen off. Okay.

Chapter 2: How did Jessica balance her career with motherhood?

130.57 - 133.935 Unknown

Old trousers, yeah? You know, like trousers from the floor from a few days.

0

134.576 - 140.884 Rob Beckett

Oh, so trousers you wore before? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, trousers from the floor, yeah. So you just put trousers on the floor that you've worn before?

0

141.084 - 153.901 Unknown

Well, there's a bit of a problem at the moment because our builders are doing... My wardrobes are behind a dust sheet because my builders are building a hole in the room my wardrobes are in. Got you.

0
0

154.522 - 175.785 Unknown

Normally I'll put my old trousers on like a chair. Yeah, well, things are all a bit... No, I'm not criticising you. But basically on a floor trousers. Put my old trousers on. Haven't worn them for, say, three days. Okay. Put them back on. Yeah. Downstairs, I'd make a cup of tea. Put my hands in my pocket, unthinkingly. Just get my glasses out of my pocket. There we go.

176.225 - 181.193 Unknown

Put them on top of my glasses without thinking. That's lovely. Didn't even think.

181.473 - 183.376 Rob Beckett

Just did that. And they actually fit quite well on.

183.576 - 197.813 Unknown

They do, don't they? So you got double... So I got double glasses. I put on double glasses. When I picked them out of the pocket, I wasn't even thinking, oh, there are my glasses. I just was like... Out of... Out of... Boom. Straight on.

197.893 - 198.374 Rob Beckett

Double glasses.

Chapter 3: What insights does Jessica offer on raising children?

239.962 - 242.388 Rob Beckett

What's your timeline for sleeping in a bed?

0

242.99 - 247.822 Unknown

About eight hours a night, ideally. Yes, obviously. About three to four months.

0
0

250.658 - 274.776 Rob Beckett

time of recording and is that because the building work or the building work in my daughter's and my son's room at the moment right okay so at the moment you're all just you're basically as a family moving from room to room and your son and wife are in the bed and you and your daughter on the floor yeah how does she feel about sleep on the floor she went in the bed the other day with rose and your son no with rose she was like i've got to have a go and so where's your son on the floor were you

0

274.756 - 282.914 Unknown

Do you know what? I think Rose went on the floor. Rose went on the floor and she's like, this is awful. And I was like, yeah.

282.934 - 299.853 Rob Beckett

Do you know what you've got to see? Is it worth, while the building was getting on, just buying a cheap double bed or single bed mattresses that you can put in around the side that says the floor becomes bed's... We are on mattresses. You are on actual proper mattresses. No, not proper mattresses. No, what mattresses are you on? Maybe we should just buy a bed.

299.994 - 307.473 Rob Beckett

I just think... But if you've got space, why don't you just buy another bed and just accept that you now live in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Well, why don't we buy one of the beds?

307.594 - 309.218 Unknown

Why don't we think about...

309.198 - 337.821 Rob Beckett

the beds that are by a bed that's going to be used in one of the other rooms when they're ready yeah and then you just move it yeah I think you can't no wonder you feel tired yeah just accept it and go right we're all in the same room for the next four months while we do renovations and then once the building work's done we can try and get the kids back in their rooms this is Jessica Hines you can't sleep on the floor sorry I thought this is I'm sorry yeah you can't but you can't sleep on the floor this is Jessica Hines there you go

Chapter 4: How does Jessica's role in 'Patience' reflect her personal experiences?

428.057 - 428.878 Jessica Hynes

Yeah.

0

428.858 - 431.822 Unknown

And so your whole life just changes in one kind of year.

0

432.163 - 439.994 Jessica Hynes

Yeah. I mean, I did. I think, you know, I was already, you know, I mean, I did kind of I'd already packed in quite a lot anyway. Yeah.

0

440.154 - 454.495 Rob Beckett

You know, 25 is quite young, though, sort of like in the world of acting TV to have a child and also two massive shows at that point that really launched you into sort of popular culture. So was it an overwork? How did that year feel at the time?

0

454.559 - 462.173 Jessica Hynes

Well, it felt like I was just packing a lot in. Yeah. Packing a lot in.

462.693 - 471.205 Unknown

But, you know... So when you come to the second series of Spaced, are you doing that one with a small... Yes. You're writing it and recording it.

471.245 - 478.494 Jessica Hynes

We wrote nearby, which was lovely. Simon came over and we had a little office that was nearby so I could come back and forth while I was writing.

478.534 - 489.429 Rob Beckett

Is that the perfect... As an actor-writer, is that the perfect writing job with a newborn baby? Because being on set and early starts, is it a bit more logistics and all over the place?

489.449 - 500.941 Jessica Hynes

Yeah, I mean... I wouldn't necessarily say that, but during the process it's definitely easier, I would say, because it's less intense and obviously there's less early morning.

Chapter 5: What parenting advice does Jessica give for navigating teenage years?

623.326 - 627.254 Rob Beckett

We regularly go back there to do the ride. The kids love all the rides like Universal and Disney.

0

627.274 - 627.975 Jessica Hynes

And they know them all.

0

628.255 - 640.018 Rob Beckett

We know them all and stuff. And then we go to, there's a few different resorts that we go to where we've been to before that are really good. So we're very comfortable going back there and the kids love it and we love it. And we know that if we go there, we're going to relax straight away.

0

639.998 - 640.419 Jessica Hynes

Yeah.

0

640.519 - 643.403 Unknown

When I was a kid, we used to go to the same place every year.

643.423 - 644.204 Jessica Hynes

Nice. Where was that?

644.224 - 647.909 Unknown

Which was Pembrokeshire in West Wales. And Pembrokeshire's lovely.

648.189 - 648.289 Jessica Hynes

Yeah.

648.309 - 664.791 Unknown

But I think I, because we went every year, I think I've actually got more fond, nostalgic memories of that place because it felt like we were going, than if we'd dotted around and you'd go, oh yeah, we went on that holiday. Going to the same place actually makes it almost more vivid in a way.

Chapter 6: How does Jessica describe her relationship with her children as they grow?

878.491 - 887.128 Jessica Hynes

I do love babies. To the point that I would often, like, make friends with babies, like other people's babies. Oh, would you? In a queue.

0

887.489 - 888.992 Unknown

Oh, in a queue.

0

888.972 - 900.453 Jessica Hynes

Crying on an aeroplane. Oh, really? You offer to hold? Oh, I would always offer to hold. Really? I would hover around. You know, if they're there by the loos, just rocking the baby, I'd just kind of go.

0

900.473 - 903.058 Rob Beckett

What's your success rate on the yes from that offer to hold?

0

903.9 - 928.142 Jessica Hynes

Well, in some cases, maybe perhaps I should have waited for a yes because... LAUGHTER you've clapped like the Pope I'm just joking of course I waited for years but yeah no I mean surprisingly but then it becomes almost a case of them not wanting to be rude because of the pleading look in my eyes they think she really really wants to hold this baby maybe I should just let her hold it

928.122 - 936.679 Jessica Hynes

But my children will now say, if they see a baby, they're like, mum, just leave the baby. Leave the baby. Don't touch the baby. Just don't approach the baby. Don't look at the baby.

936.699 - 943.532 Unknown

So would you take your seat, not if the seatbelt sign was on, but if you were seated on a plane?

943.698 - 946.984 Jessica Hynes

Seated on a plane. I gravitate towards the crying baby sound, yeah.

947.344 - 947.825 Rob Beckett

Wow.

Chapter 7: What does Jessica reveal about her experience in 'The Royal Family'?

1036.42 - 1039.445 Unknown

In my 20s, I was like, why would I do that?

0

1040.326 - 1042.85 Jessica Hynes

Yeah, it seems so, like, what?

0

1043.451 - 1043.771 Rob Beckett

Yeah.

0

1044.653 - 1045.193 Jessica Hynes

I understand that.

0

1045.494 - 1048.659 Rob Beckett

Like, what you just thought, that would never be me, kind of thing.

1049.28 - 1056.19 Unknown

Yeah, because I just thought, I just didn't see the, I was just too selfish about it.

1056.17 - 1057.373 Jessica Hynes

Or just young.

1057.834 - 1059.98 Unknown

Just young. And when you're a child... And both are the same thing often.

1060 - 1075.204 Jessica Hynes

Like children, you know, are not going to... No. They're not, you know... I mean, they might want to play. Yeah. And maybe you like the idea of having a baby. But the reality of it is obviously... That comes with maturity, doesn't it? Like engaging with the reality of it.

Chapter 8: What future projects does Jessica Hynes discuss?

1181.956 - 1193.535 Rob Beckett

every corner it's easy to get to easy to navigate and full of warm people who'll make you feel right at home start planning your own scottish holiday today at expedia.co.uk slash visit scotland

0

1196.975 - 1206.515 Unknown

Do you, with parenting, I can imagine you just being a very brilliant doting mother. Good, hold that.

0

1206.615 - 1213.65 Jessica Hynes

I'm trying to picture you. Keep that. I never want to, you know, disavow you of that perfect image of me. I'd like to...

0

1213.63 - 1219.299 Unknown

I'd like to lean into that.

0

1219.319 - 1220.881 Jessica Hynes

You could elaborate on that.

1220.901 - 1222.163 Unknown

Okay, so there's a baby.

1222.464 - 1223.465 Jessica Hynes

Lovely.

1223.485 - 1236.565 Unknown

I love this. It's difficult to get to sleep, but you don't mind. It's like a kind of... I love it. Like a... advert for a bank about getting your first mortgage when the couple's really happy. You know that advert? Yeah, I do.

1236.585 - 1239.149 Rob Beckett

And you've never needed to tell your kids off or raise your voice ever, have you?

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.