It’s darker Foster as cheating Simon is back on the scene
EX-CORRIE actress Suranne Jones is set to return to our screens as Doctor Gemma Foster this week and her life looks more complicated than ever.
New season trailers revealed Gemma is about to have her life turned upside down again – and her cheating husband Simon is once more the cause of it.
The series picks up two years from where the last episode left their crumbling marriage after Gemma sensationally exposed his affair – and it seems love rat Simon (played by Bertie Carvel) is back to spark more trouble.
The tension is almost unbearable within the first few minutes of the opening episode and leads viewers to ponder the question most were left with at the end of season one – will Simon finally pay for his actions?
Suranne, 39, admitted: “I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to do a second series because it was a standalone piece. To do a follow-up just because something was successful, I didn’t feel that was the right thing.
“But Mike and I met and we questioned, ‘Have we ever seen a couple on television dealing with divorce, the aftermath, when everyone else has turned their backs and got on with their lives?’
“You have to have this person in your life because you’ve got a child together. It’s very dark, very uncomfortable. As in, how much you f***ing hate someone and you have to be in their life.
“We talked about The War Of The Roses and Kramer vs Kramer and that kind of thing. But actually, on TV, it hasn’t been dealt with.”
At the end of the first series Simon escaped Parminster with his pregnant mistress Kate (Jodie Comer) leaving a shellshocked Gemma to pick up the pieces. The fact that they are back in each other’s lives begs the question – is there a fresh bout of justice about to be served? The actor that plays him, Bertie Carvel, doesn’t rule it out. He said: “What made the first one so compelling was that she [Gemma] is driving the story and Simon’s completely reactive. He’s just desperately trying to spin plates and juggle everything – keep everybody smiling and put the genie back in the bottle.
“I think this time around Simon is… he’s gone away and has rearmoured himself. He’s coming back with a plan and an agenda. That definitely wasn’t the case the last time round.
“The notion of ‘what’s the comeuppance for this character?’ is absolutely a driver. The notion of culpability and blame and who wins.”
If the five-part second series repeats the 10.5million peak viewing figures of the first then the BBC will certainly be among the winners.
And Suranne, who had a baby earlier this year, will probably be up for a few more acting gongs too.
Doctor Foster hits out screens on BBC One on Tuesday at 9pm.