Liar: Who do you believe?

capable storytellers, there’s no room for superfluous content — everything that makes the final cut is deserving of the viewers’ attention. Think of other shortseason thrillers like The Affair, Top of the Lake and Big Little Lies (which was as shocking as it was deliciously ridiculous).

Speaking to Sunday Times, Froggatt says she loved Liar after reading the first episode. “I was hooked. I thought it was a brilliant script and I really didn’t know who was telling the truth. I felt uncomfortable about the fact that I didn’t know who was lying. I thought it threw up a lot of interesting questions about society and how we perceive people,” she says.

Froggatt describes her character Laura as “a strong, intelligent woman” who “doesn’t always make the right decisions”.

This isn’t the first time Froggatt has dealt with a sexual assault storyline: her

Downton character was raped, and the storyline met a backlash from viewers and media. Was she nervous about tackling the topic again?

No, she says, because “I certainly never want to shy away from a project because it is based on a sensitive issue”.

Froggatt says the best experience of her career was winning a Golden Globe Award (for best supporting actress in a TV series in 2015) and “working with some incredible and talented people”. She’s currently watching Ozark, The Crown and Godless.

Is this the “Golden Age of Television”, as many critics have said? Froggatt thinks so.

“The production values are high, the scripts are fantastic and because of this TV is attracting international movie stars in a way we haven’t seen before,” she says.

What can South African viewers expect from Liar? “A brilliant thriller that will throw up a lot of questions. It’s a real talking point.”

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LLiar starts on BBC First, March 14 at 8pm.