Performer and writer Bennett, from Armley, won awards and critical acclaim for the tales which first aired in 1988 and 1998 – revealing the innermost thoughts of an individual to audiences – and they since moved to radio and theatre.

Now, 10 of the original monologues have been remade for TV, plus two new pieces which 86-year-old Bennett wrote last year.

The show will return to screens on the BBC on Tuesday June 23.

The "contained" nature of the stories meant they could be easily filmed following the latest government guidelines on safe working practices during the coronavirus pandemic, said the broadcaster.

Killing Eve fans will be excited to hear it includes Jodie Comer (her episode is called Her Big Chance), while Martin Freeman – star of The Office, The Hobbit and Sherlock – appears in A Chip In The Sugar.

There are a number of the business's leading women reworking some of the old monologues, including Lesley Manville (Bed Among The Lentils), Kristin Scott Thomas (The Hand Of God) and Imelda Staunton (A Lady Of Letters).

Dinnerladies’ Maxine Peake takes on Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet, with Rochenda Sandall – known for a villainous role in Line Of Duty – in The Outside Dog.

Other episodes include Nights In The Garden Of Spain with Tamsin Greig (of Friday Night Dinner and Episodes fame), and Playing Sandwiches, starring Lucian Msamati (recently seen in Sky hit Gangs Of London).

Meanwhile, the 2019 pieces – called The Shrine and An Ordinary Woman – feature Monica Dolan, who won a Bafta for Appropriate Adult, and Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire respectively.

For Liverpudlian Comer, 27, the biggest adjustment filming in the format was “the stillness”.

“Usually on set there is a lot of chaos and noise, but as there were less people on set due to social distancing rules, it was very peaceful. This took some getting used to.

“Normally you have to zone yourself out of the noise to focus, but it was so quiet, which threw me off balance to begin with.”

Preparations for the role also had to be done remotely which reminded Londoner Msamati, 44, of days theatre touring with “everyone mucking in and getting on with it: no faff, no ego; it’s all about the story and the best way to tell it”.

“It was a delight to ‘Zoom-Collaborate’ with Jeremy Herrin, director, Jaqueline Durran, our costume designer, and Naomi Donne, our hair and make-up designer, on how best to realise the character,” he said.

“Other than a dodgy internet connection on one day, it was great.”

Brighton-born Manville said: “There’s absolutely nothing to compare Alan Bennett’s writing with."

In her monologue, he deals with her character Susan’s “pain and longing and loneliness, but laces it with such humour and self-deprecation.

“He understands the human condition,” continues the 64-year-old star, who was nominated for an Oscar for Phantom Thread.

“Susan is a wonderful woman who is full of potential and desperate to have a life of love and validation. She’s stuck in an awful marriage to Geoffrey, a vicar, and is isolated and lonely and the only humour she shares is with herself.”

Freeman, who’s 48 and was born in Aldershot, had the “intimidating” job of remaking the monologue originally performed by writer Bennett himself.

But it was a huge honour to be trusted with it, he adds.

“To be approved of by Alan, who I don’t know, is something I wish I could have told my mum,” he confides.

“I knew some of the monologues better than others; I remembered snippets of Alan’s but not too much, I’m glad to say!

“The first thing I said to Jeremy was, ‘Well, I’m not going to outdo Alan Bennett, am I?’ We knew we had to treat it as a new piece of writing, and not be swayed by the folk memory of the original performance.”

Asked what Peake’s first thoughts were when she was asked to play Miss Fozzard (originally portrayed by Patricia Routledge), she admitted: “Panic! These are classic pieces of writing performed originally by the best in the business. I said ‘Yes’ straight away then spent the next few weeks in a state of high anxiety.

“The magnificent Patricia Routledge is unsurpassable, and also I’m 20 years younger than when Patricia did it so I didn’t know if I could convince people I’m a suitable Miss Fozzard.”

Maidstone-born Greig, 53, said: “All of the characters are drawn with such compassion, the language so delicately chosen, the situations are so heartbreaking and oddly intriguing, the peculiar idiosyncrasies of each character so funny and detailed, that audiences get drawn into privacy.

“It’s like accidentally overhearing hearts that are too full to keep any more secrets.”

Scott Thomas believes that the way Bennett writes means “one word can trip into an idea of something else”.

“It’s all brilliantly observed, calibrated and witty,” said the 60-year-old Cornwall-born star, known for films such as Four Weddings And A Funeral and The English Patient.

“He takes no prisoners, but he is never cruel. Everybody is boiled down to their absolute core, and he manages to make you understand who a character is and what they are about in the space of three sentences.”

Stars speak before Leeds-born Alan Bennett's Talking Heads returns to BBC TV