DOROTHY PAUL has done pretty well for a woman of limited talent. Now, before her legions of fans start to throw stale jeely pieces at the Evening Times windows, it should be pointed out that this isn't a personal perception of the Dennistoun doyenne.

Back in 1991, one critic simply didn't rate the lady.

"When I was doing my one-woman show at the Pavilion, a W Gordon Smith wrote: I must have been the only one sitting on my hands while the rest of the audi-ence were on their feet applauding this woman of limited talent.' FACT FILE Dorothy began a performance career as a singer before becoming famous in the early 60s in TV's One O'Clock Gang. She has appeared in countless drama productions but her part as Magrit in Tony Roper's The Steamie saw a turning point in her career. Her one-woman shows were marked by a Scottish Bafta. In recent years she's had guest appearances in Taggart and Still Game, where she played an entirely convincing dolly bird. Her one-woman returns to the Pavilion in April.

"Now, I was really upset by this. I didn't ignore it. I cut it out of the paper, with the rest of the crits which were good, and put it up on the foyer wall for everyone to read."

It says a great deal about her; she knew she had a great show and knew her audience adored her. And she had the nerve to let this critic know he was in the wrong theatre.

It's this defiance that has seen her survive in the business for 50 years.

Two years ago, however, Dorothy Paul's determination seemed to have left her. Her fans were shocked when she announced she had performed her last stage show.

Dorothy maintained she simply couldn't hack it any more. She was too feart' to go back up there.

"I just couldn't face it," she recalled of the time of panic attacks.

"As you get older nerves get worse. I couldn't see how I could go on."

This week, however, Ms Paul agreed to return to the Pavilion next year with her self-penned one-woman show. And even without advance publicity 1000 seats are booked.

"It's incredible," she said of the response.

Why the change of mind? Hadn't she decided to stay home and paint fruit, (she's sold eight paintings to Glasgow galleries) and look after her grandson, the apple of her eye?

"Well, there are reasons, darlin'", she said. "The first is I hate it when people say Have you retired?' Because you know people like me don't retire.

"In showbiz you don't stop. You slow down, do other things. I've still been doing after-dinners, that kind of thing.

"But another reason was I missed the characters in the show, that intimate world I create in a theatre, the chats with the cleaner and so on."

However, most import-antly, Dorothy admits she's coming back because she has to.

Like every other performer she needs the affirmation that comes with applause.

She admitted. "We do need it. It's impossible to give it up."

Dorothy is a classic entertainer in the sense that she's terrified of an audience yet can't wholly exist without their endorsement. She's a perfect example of the imperfect showbiz creature: sensitive yet tough as old boots.

"When I sang in am-drams there was no problem, but once I became a professional that was different.

"I was clueless and terrified. And I can remember greetin' to my mother before I appeared in the Tivoli in Aberdeen going to the doctor's for medicine to deal with the nerves. The medicine' turned out to be alcohol.

"Later, just before going on stage in my one-woman shows, I'd say to my assistant in the audience Do you think they're hostile?' "And she'd say Who do you think they paid good money to come and see tonight, Dorothy?'"

That's the terror. But here's an example of the toughness. For years the actress battled against male audiences who didn't want to see a woman on stage. But she had an even greater battle with the male comedians who didn't reckon a woman could be funny.

Dorothy was the first woman to launch her own show. And she was lambasted in the business.

"I think I do have a bit of tungsten in my heart," she says of that period in the 60s and 70s.

"And I still do have that. Yet, what keeps me going is the audience. There's a warmth to them, but they're about surmounting hardship."

Having survived 50 years in showbiz, Dorothy personifies the surmounting of hardship.

"Well, perhaps," she said.

That's why you know the Paul light will never go out entirely. It will just fade, until we can't quite see her anymore.