Memorable TV

Blue Murder returns on 3 December and guest starring in the first episode is Kate Ford in her first appearance since leaving Coronation Street, we spoke to her recently about her role in the show. Why did you choose Blue Murder as your first role after Coronation Street? It was quite an attractive part for me to play as she is so different to Tracy. It was really nice to be working back at Granada. What sort of person is Adele and how did you find playing a character that’s so different to Tracy? Adele is very honest. What she says is the truth even though she’s been hiding a secret. She really cherishes her home-life and her children and she realises that she has everything she’s always wanted, whilst Tracy was always looking for something else. How does she end up getting mixed up with Dwayne? She’d just had her second child and wasn’t feeling especially attractive, so she started getting dressed up and going out flirting with guys. When she met him in the club she was really flatter...

Cranford is all set to the big BBC period drama smash of the year, an epic tales of a year in the life of a village, Cranford features an all star cast, one of whom, Francesca Annis, we caught up with recently. Francesca Annis plays Lady Ludlow in the five part drama and perhaps more than any character in Cranford, embodies the desire to maintain the old order, but progress is threatening the status quo. "She represents old conservative paternalism," says Francesca Annis. "Lady Ludlow is almost feudal but, at the same time, she's very aware of her responsibilities towards the huge number of people she employs. "She has 64 indoor servants alone and takes great care of them all, refusing to countenance cutting back because she doesn't want to see any of them end up in the workhouse. "She's determined to keep her estate intact but times are changing and she can no longer afford to. She is offered the possibility of raising money by selling land for th...

Kris Marshall's career is definitely on the rise, he is all over the ITV Network at the moment, starring not only in the recent Catwalk Dogs but also new comedy drama series about estate agents Sold, we caught up with him recently to chat about his new role. Kris says being an estate agent is the last job in the world he would ever want to do. "Working for commission is something I would never have considered. Ever. Essentially I'm quite a lazy person and I'm most definitely not a salesman. Being an estate agent was never my calling." Kris believes his character Matt in Sold is the most unscrupulous estate agent you are ever likely to meet. "He is the biggest liar, the biggest poseur and in no small way self-obsessed. It is hard to find anything in him that is redeemable but I’ve tried to create a back story for him to understand him better. "Basically I think he's a wannabe city boy who didn't make the grade. He has been an estate agent for...

Caroline Catz found the perfect way to unwind after a day’s filming on Doc Martin by joining the Port Isaac rowing team. “I went out with the Port Isaac rowing team in the gig in the evenings after work which was great. We rowed out from the harbour right out to sea. “I had to be right at the back so I didn’t smash my oar with someone else. I am an absolute learner and I was petrified by these giant pieces of oak- the oars. “When someone pushes the boat off you have to hold your oar up in the air before you put it in the sea. But I was so scared I was going to bash someone over the head with my oar. They are so heavy, it feels like you are holding a tree. “It is really hard work, tough on your arms and wrists. It is fantastic exercise, but it is also very relaxing. The first time I went I was so petrified I was just looking at the oar all the time, trying to keep it in rhythm, so not looking around. “I had always wondered what Port Isaac looked like from the sea, and to travel along t...

Daniel was not only drawn to the powerful story at the heart of My Boy Jack, but also the chance to play a character who represents such a tragic and human part of World War I history, a period he has always been fascinated by. “The story was the first thing that attracted me to this project. It’s tragic and beautifully written. I think the strength of the story is the key thing that draws anybody to a drama. You can have a good character to play, but it doesn’t amount to anything if it’s a weak story. “On this occasion I was lucky enough to get that combination - an amazing character to play in just a phenomenal story. I’ve also had a relatively long-running fascination with World War 1. I think this comes from growing up surrounded by films and books inspired by that time – I consumed everything including the last series of Blackadder. “All war is, to a certain extent, beyond anyone’s imagination, but particularly what it must have felt like to be ‘in the trenches’. These were prob...

Neil Pearson has to be one of the UK’s best known and most popular actors whose varied C.V includes roles across a variety of genres from comedies such as Trevor’s World of Sport, and the classic Drop the Dead Donkey to heavyweight thrillers such as the Kindness of Strangers and The State Within. Now with Frankenstein, he turns his hand to horror. Speaking about his latest on screen role Pearson says: “Waldman runs the lab at which Victoria is conducting her research; a brilliant scientist, she is pushing at the limits of what is ethically acceptable and he is very much there to supervise and be supportive. However he is always mindful of the fact that he has a job to do and that’s where the difficulty lies for him. On the one hand he’s keen to see where the work of his most brilliant scientist will lead and on the other hand he has to look over his shoulder at his own employers and make sure that he keeps both sides happy. Waldman is very much caught between the proverbial rock and ha...

Martin Clunes, who plays the irascible Dr Martin Ellingham in the popular ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin, has quietly over the last three years turned the character into one of the most watchable on the box, we spoke to him recently about the third season of the show, which airs on Mondays @ 9.00pm on the ITV Network. Martin Clunes admits he was dreading having to put his life-saving skills to the test for an episode of the new series of Doc Martin. Despite having learnt a lot about medical procedures from playing the grumpy Dr Martin Ellingham for the past three years, Martin has never had to resuscitate a patient on screen. “In this series I had to do my first defibrillation. It was a big day in any TV doctor’s life,” says Martin. “It was a big and nasty procedure. The defibrillation doesn’t work and the doc has to pound the patient’s chest to save her. “I was dreading that day, and everyone was tense on set. We used a dummy to substitute for the actress who was the patient when...

Rebecca Hall was delighted to be offered the role of the woman who helps the billionaire Elliot (Michael Gambon) discover his family's secret past in Joe's Palace. "I was just thrilled," beams the actress, who at the age of just 25 is already building a substantial reputation for herself. "I've always been a huge fan of Stephen Poliakoff, and I was bowled over when he asked me to appear in Joe's Palace. This script seems to have an incredibly spare use of language, and yet it's so rich and intriguing. There is so much going on, he has an incredibly poetic way with prose." The relationship between Rebecca's character and Michael's is particularly intriguing. According to Rebecca – who has also starred in Starter For Ten; Wide Sargasso Sea; The Prestige; and will soon be seen as Winifred, Eddington's (David Tennant) sister in the BBC Two/HBO film, Einstein And Eddington – "she's an average North London girl who works in Elliot...

Jason Merrells plays Jack Rimmer in the BBC's Waterloo Road, the drama about a modern day, progressive comprehensive school. Jason, has, over the last few years, become one of the brightest lights on the British TV scene. We caught up with him recently to talk about the third season of the show. What happened to Jack at the end of the last series? "He was struggling to help save Izzie, who had been stabbed. He also saved the school from Jerry's Creationist ideology." Do you think Jack's experiences have changed him at all? "He is more determined than ever to turn Waterloo Road around and make it a success." Do you think Jack's relationship with Davina will last, or is Steph still in with a chance? "Steph will always be waiting in the wings for Jack, and he will occasionally take her on. He is however, head over heels with Davina and wants to spend the rest of his life with her." Jack's still reeling from the death of Izzie – how does t...