‘Hannah’s stylish clothes are her armour’

Actress Nicola Walker has starred in popular TV shows including Last Tango In Halifax and Unforgotten, and now she’s back on the box, leading the cast of The Split. Nicola, 47, is married to fellow actor Barnaby Kay and mum to Harry, 12.

You play divorce lawyer Hannah Sterne. What attracted you to this role?

That’s as much as I knew about it before I read the script. What I was interested to see is what the writer, Abi Morgan, would do with women in that world – and with a family of women.

Hannah has a very stylish, chic look, killer heels and all…

I like the way Abi described it – that Hannah was putting on her armour, and she is. She’s expected to look a certain way, and there’s a place of safety in looking that way – a place to hide. It’s very clear what that look’s about – it’s because of the people that she’s dealing with, who expect you to look a certain way.

Did you meet with any divorce lawyers for research?

We met a fantastic lawyer. She was brilliant – empathetic, but clear at the same time. She told us she has to say to clients sometimes, ‘I’m a very expensive counsellor! If that’s what you’re looking for, go and get yourself a counsellor.’

Did you shadow lawyers during their working day?

We didn’t get to go into court, and you’d never be able to go and speak to a client. But we got to meet the lawyer, and that was very interesting. The show is about all these people – sometimes messing up, sometimes being fabulously heroic and, in the next turn, being cowards – just like real

people. I was interested in what the person is behind the idea of a high-powered divorce lawyer, which I’d only ever seen in newspapers, or on the news, when it’s a case involving someone terribly famous. In the first episode, Hannah’s estranged dad returns. Will they reconcile? One character asks, ‘Do you think children ever forgive you?’ That’s our emotional push – whether or not they can forgive their father for leaving the family 30 years before. They’ve all got a different version of what happened, too, it turns out. That’s revealed more as the show goes on… The Split, Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm