HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR CHARACTER DEVELOPING THIS SERIES?
She’s dealing with life in prison quite well now, and getting accepted. She seems fairly secure, curiously.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT BEING IN BAD GIRLS?
It’s the people, I’d have to say. A really nice group of people, who I enjoy being with.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER?
It’s a double-edged thing, actually, because she’s a good person, a nice person. I say double-edged, because they’re not always the most interesting to play. For some extraordinary reason I often get cast as people like that - I can’t think why! Playing nasty people is quite often easier in a curious way. She has an integrity about her which is appealing but you have to be careful that it doesn’t tip over into being too dependable. But she does have an edge to her actually, and she has a dry wit, almost a sarcasm. But it’s not a malicious one.

WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER?
Becoming too dependable.

DO YOU LIKE THE COSTUMES THAT YOUR CHARACTER WEARS? WOULD YOU WEAR THEM OUT?
No! I wouldn’t. She’s a very conservative dresser – very middle England in her clothes, which I’m not.

HOW DO PEOPLE REACT TO YOU ON THE STREET?
I get letters from people telling me how terribly nice I am and then they tell me all their problems, which of course you can’t get into. It’s not a true friendship, so it’s not wise to offer advice. I get a lot of letters from quite young people, which really surprises me because you’d think they’d write to the younger members of the cast.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR CHARACTER? ANY TRAITS THAT YOU SHARE?
I’d like to think that I have the wit. I do get cast as nice people a lot, so I’m obviously a nice person!

WHAT SCENE HAVE YOU MOST ENJOYED OR HATED FILMING SO FAR?
Curiously the scenes that I found the most satisfying, probably of anything I’ve ever done, were the scenes where Barbara first arrived, with all that hysteria. It was terrifying, particularly in a studio where you don’t yet know the cast and crew. But actually, having done it, I felt rather good about it. It’s all or nothing, you can’t hold back on it because it becomes embarrassing to watch. If you see something on screen and you are embarrassed, it’s because the actor’s not actually committed to it. And I hope I was.

I hate going up on to the top bunk. I’m not tall enough to reach it, so to get on to it I have to have three strong men to lift me up and down again!

WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?
My partner is a besotted car boot sale person, and we do that a lot. We go to them at seven o’clock in the morning. People see me walking through a car boot sale and they come up and say ‘You look just like that woman in Bad Girls…’. We have a stall occasionally but we mostly buy. I must say, on days where you don’t have to get up at 5.30 in the morning to go to film, getting up to go to one of those is not what I really want to do! If it was left to me I’d be at home reading the Sunday papers.

HOW WOULD YOU GET ON WITH YOUR CHARACTER IF YOU MET THEM IN REAL LIFE?
I would have to get through the reserve that she has. She’s not someone you’d get to know easily I think, but when you do you make a very good friend of her. I think I’d have to make an effort and I hope I’d bring out the more light-hearted side of her. She’s got a good brain which appeals to me. I’d like to sit down and have a talk with her.