Were you once cool, collected and confident but are now simply hot, bothered and prone to shouting at supermarket managers?

Do you find yourself turning into your mother; saving used wrapping paper, cutting out gift tags from old Christmas cards with zig-zag scissors and keeping leftover scraps of food on plates in the fridge?

If you're more inclined to ask Santa for comfy slipper socks rather than silk stockings don't worry, you're not alone. The Grumpy Old Women are right behind you - and they're rolling into Bradford this weekend.

Grumpy Old Women Live, based on the popular BBC2 series, is a glorious celebration of reaching that stage in life when you've earned the right to tut-tut loudly about babies with their ears pierced, write letters to the council using the word "shoddy" and drool over Lakeland catalogues.

Described as theatrical HRT', the show runs through the issues that get up the noses of women of a certain age. Despite being a grumpfest the show - starring musical theatre actress Dillie Keane, screen icon Britt Ekland and former Coronation Street actress Denise Black - is far from a miserable experience.

It is, says Dillie, an uplifting celebration of reaching that certain age. Co-written by Jenny Eclair and Judith Holder, the show strikes a chord with females who find themselves asking: "How did it happen? One day I had a poodle perm and a twinkle in my eye, the next I can't find my bifocals and I'm arguing with that pushy woman on the sat-nav, which I have no idea how to use by the way."

Dillie says the show reassures people that they're "not the only Walkman in an iPod world. The Grumpy Old Women (GOWs) are with you all the way - they're equally baffled by digi-boxes and camera-phones."

For three women currently making a living out of being grumpy, Dillie, Britt and Denise seem remarkably chipper.

"I'm having a ball," beams Dillie, who says the trio have become firm friends. "It would be difficult to do this show if there were no chemistry between us. We're all different characters - that's important for the show - but we've had such a good time together."

Dillie made her name as a founder-member of comedy cabaret troupe Fascinating Aida, while Britt was in such films as The Wicker Man and Get Carter. Denise has appeared in TV dramas such as Bad Girls, Queer as Folk and Coronation Street - in which she was reunited with old flame' Ken Barlow earlier this year.

Dillie says the pals are relishing the "unparalleled buzz of performing in front of an audience who are absolutely up for it."

"Playing live gives you an incredible amount of energy," she adds. "We need to feed off the audience, and luckily that always seems to happen. It's such a lovely feeling when a line you're weren't sure about in rehearsals gets a huge laugh in the theatre."

So why are the Grumpy Old Women such a hit? Former Bond girl Britt says it's simple: "People can relate to this show, it's universal. As soon as I read the script I understood that feeling of being grumpy and old. I thought, Oh my God, I've said and done exactly the same thing. Surely no one else thinks like that! It's such a treat for me because I'm rarely allowed to play someone like that - I usually have to wear flouncy clothes and be a charming, fluffy creature! I've done a few tired farces in my time, so it's gratifying finally to do something that sounds like it could have come from my own mouth."

Denise says the show is liberating in that it celebrates women growing older. "I knew it was the end of the line for me when Ken Barlow turned me down!" she laughs. "Ageing is an invisible door that you go through. One week when you go into a room you're met with approval - something tasty has come in' - the next, they're looking past you to see if there's anything more interesting coming. At the moment you're at your peak, you're seen as turning from lamb into mutton. But as you get older you feel stronger."

Dillie adds: "In America you're not allowed to get old - over there, this show would be called Grumpy Middle-Aged Women. But when you see those American women whose faces are stretched beyond belief by plastic surgery, you think, who are you kidding?' At some stage, you have to get old."

One subject featuring heavily in Grumpy Old Women Live is men, but Dillie says it's more gentle mockery than ranting. "The thing this show does best is not whinge, but be very funny about issues we can all relate to. We don't rant about men, we laugh about men's foibles but we never say, Go and get yourself a better one.' "Men sit in the audience quivering, but I can assure you they have a good time. The only problem may be getting to the bar at the interval - it's always jam-packed with women. When my partner came he asked his son to get him a drink and the lad replied: Not likely, there are far too many women there. It's scary!'"

  • The Grumpy Old Women are at St George's Hall on Saturday at 8pm. For tickets ring (01274) 432000.