ON SET WITH...

Sharon Small

48, best known as Glasgow-born Sharon, Inspector Lynley DS Barbara Havers in The BBC2 drama Mysteries, is starring in from the novel by Iain Stonemouth, adapted us behind the scenes Banks. Here she takes shot in Scotland... on the show, which was

2

MONDAY

I’m a huge Iain Banks fan so I really wanted to be part of this. I play Connie Murston, the wife of local crime boss Don (Peter Mullan), who turns a blind eye to what he gets up to in the fictional town of Stonemouth. The suicide of their son Callum was the catalyst for what happens in the story – on top of Connie’s grief she’s worried for her daughter Ellie (Charlotte Spencer) because Callum’s friend Stewart (Christian Cooke) has come back to Stonemouth. He was Ellie’s boyfriend until two years ago when he cheated on her and was run out of town by Don.

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TUESDAY

They’ve written scenes in for me that aren’t in the book to make Connie more present in Don’s life. I think Connie’s quite aware of what Don’s been up to, which is why, as we saw last week, she’s having an affair with local businessman Mike MacAvett. He’s the new power in town and he understands Connie and is interested in her. She’s attracted to men with money and power. This is a pivotal time for all of them – Callum’s death and Stewart coming back into the mix have made everybody face up to what they really feel about their lives.

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WEDNESDAY

We’re at a cemetery in Macduff, Aberdeenshire, which doubles for Stonemouth today to film Callum’s funeral. It’s a difficult scene as Don and Connie have to confront Stewart (right) while they bury their child. On top of that I have bad sinusitis so my head feels like it’s in a compression chamber, and my feet are numb with cold.

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THURSDAY

We’re in the Murstons’ house in Helensburgh today, a fabulous contemporary house overlooking the Firth of Clyde, for a scene full of tension between Don and Stewart. Emotions are high, but all Connie wants to do is grieve for her son. Peter Mullan is just gorgeous. Working with him is a real treat and he tells lots of funny stories. It’s great being surrounded by Scots again. Occasionally I have pangs and wish I lived up here, but I have an English partner and I’m doing a lot of theatre in London because there are so few TV parts around for women over 40.

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FRIDAY

We’re still at the Murstons’ house in Helensburgh, and it’s my biggest scene today in which Connie has an emotional heart-to-heart with Ellie about coming to terms with things and moving on. It’s about saying to my daughter, ‘I’ve made bad decisions but you’re braver and you’ve got to do better than me’ and that the secret of a long life is forgiveness. It’s quite a big thing for Connie to say and it was lovely to have such an intimate scene with Charlotte. It’s really Connie’s biggest moment of the whole show, but oddly I always find these things are over in a flash.