‘I had a sense-of-humour failure while filming a birth scene’

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH best

Sophie Rundle, 29, who plays Alice, also stars as Ada in

Peaky Blinders. She previously starred in The Bletchley Circle and Brief Encounters.

So your character, Alice, becomes the first settler to have a baby?

Yes. And, as that’s the reason the women have been brought over there, she symbolises the future of Jamestown. It’s a very isolating position for her. I imagine it must have been a terrifying thing to be a new mum and have no one to ask, ‘Am I doing this right?’ Plus, everyone wants a piece of the baby.

The water-birth scene looked pretty gruelling...

It was a horrible day’s filming, as the stunt lady who had the belly on literally threw herself down a cliff face, which was horrifying and a bit embarrassing – I had to crawl in and do the last roly poly. It was really freezing that day, too. I had a sense-of-humour failure at one point, and insisted the director sang me a song, and then I cheered up a bit!

Have you filmed a birth before?

Yes, that was my fourth or fifth – but the first in the water.

And was that a real baby?

Yes! We had about four or five babies – bigger ones by the end. We all had our favourites – some were more chilled-out than others! And it was hard because the babies just scream and scream – although, of course, they take that sound out.

Is it great being part of

such a female-led drama?

It is. Audiences want to see fleshed-out female protagonists. It’s important we have women front and centre – it’s a conversation everyone’s joining in, which is exciting.

How did you cope with making

Jamestown and Peaky Blinders at the same time?

I’m lucky to be doing both of them, but it was quite hard remembering who was who. You’ve got Alice, who is this gentle, pure-hearted woman, and then there’s Ada, who is all guns blazing. You don’t want Ada in the Jamestown settlement. She’d destroy them all!

Jamestown returns to Sky Atlantic and Now TV on Friday with a double bill, 9pm