‘I was roped into hold Frank the sloth’

Keeley Hawes, 42, has enjoyed a string of famous TV roles – Lindsay Denton in Line Of Duty, Gemma in The Missing and Alex Drake in Ashes To Ashes. She has three children and is married to her Spooks co-star Matthew Macfadyen, 43.

What’s happening with Louisa Durrell in this series?

Louisa ends up having an adventure in London, which was great fun. We filmed in Richmond and it rained non-stop for 12 hours. They booked rain machines but we didn’t need them! It was odd to be filming in England, but good to take us back to the family roots, and a lovely contrast to the Corfu sunshine.

Will we see much progress with Louisa and Spiros?

We go a bit deeper into their relationship. Alexis Georgoulis, who plays Spiros, is brilliant. It’s a bittersweet thing. They’d be so good together, but Louisa would never go there, because he’s married with a couple of children. It’s 1937 and a very different time. Wait and see…

How does Louisa react to a new foreign family arriving in Corfu?

Her nose is put totally out of joint in every way. Spiros helps this new family, as he did when the Durrells arrived, and she becomes very jealous and competitive.

Is her Greek improving, though?

Louisa hardly speaks any Greek, and she didn’t in real life. Although I did learn to say, ‘Thank you, my star,’ which people seem to like.

Are the animal stars still stealing scenes?

Oh, yes. We have flamingos, and we have Frank the sloth. That was extraordinary. I don’t think I’d ever seen one before, and he was very heavy! We had Gerry [Milo Parker] sitting with the sloth and moving it, but he was too heavy,

so they roped me in, too. I have a scene holding the sloth!

Any emotional, tear-jerking scenes coming up?

There’s one with Gerry, involving a poem he’s written. I can’t even read it without crying my eyes out. It always has an added layer when you know these were real people.

Why do you think people love The Durrells so much?

It’s like the Victoria sponge of TV – it’s comforting, and you can forget about other things for a while. Yet it also deals with issues like World War II. It’s not mushy in any way, ever. The cute stuff is always cut with very sharp humour and observation, so it’s never twee.