Dangerous liaison
Sally Lindsay plays a police officer who starts to ask tough questions about a suspicious home invasion in new thriller Intruder.
FOR the first time in her career, Sally Lindsay is playing a police officer. And it is a role the former Coronation Street star, 47, has absolutely relished.
Intruder is her second collaboration with director/writer Gareth Tunley (they also worked together on Cold Call, which was Channel 5’s first original drama).
The series, a gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller about cover-ups, corruption and murder, follows affluent, high-flying married couple Rebecca (Elaine Cassidy) and Sam (Tom Meeten) whose lives are shattered by a break-in by two local teenagers at their luxurious coastal house.
Family Liaison Officer Bailey (Sally) becomes embroiled in the ensuing investigation, as it transpires there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.
“She’s a character that I based on my mum,” explains Stockport-born Sally, who spent five years on the Weatherfield cobbles as barmaid Shelley Unwin.
“Bailey is an FLO, which is a very underrated cog in the police machine, in the fact that they are the only people that have contact with the families and they know exactly the relationships and inter-relationships within the family.
“My mum is a social worker, and my stepdad is. And she used to say, when she walked in a room, after five minutes, she knew what was going on in that family, and they just had to sort of protect either the children or whatever was going on.
“It’s this sort of sixth sense that these amazing people have.”
At first, Bailey is quite a low-key character, but as the drama continues, we see her really honing her skills as a police officer and detective, and Sally thought it was “just fantastic that she just got stronger and stronger and stronger in her own abilities”.
The mum-of-two, who is also known for Sky comedy Mount Pleasant, may not have portrayed a copper before, but she has created a police drama.
On a night out, Sally and her former Corrie co-star Suranne Jones came up with the idea for ITV hit Scott & Bailey, about a female detective duo, because they both that there needed to be more TV roles detailing the lives of professional women in high-powered jobs.
“I’ve always been obsessed with police drama, whether it’s Midsomer Murders, any high end sort of police drama – I love them all,” reflects Sally, before revealing she and Gareth have talked about “maybe taking Bailey’s journey on... but I don’t know whether that’s going to happen”.
“I loved playing a copper because I loved just how clever she was, but how understated she was.
“And I think for a female copper, that’s perfect, in a way, that she empowers herself and realises actually, ‘I’ve got this. I’m better than all you lot,’ even though at the start she doesn’t think that at all.”
The latest in a long line of intriguing Channel 5 dramas, Intruder was filmed in Ireland.
Rebecca and Sam’s house is apparently known as “the toaster house” by locals in real-life, because of its unique shape.
The property is certainly an interfelt esting space to see on screen, with its incredibly high ceilings and beach views.
Sally notes how, when bringing a show to life, “Gareth likes the house to be a character as well” (it was the same in Cold Call, she adds).
“It was a sign of Rebecca and
Sam’s wealth; it was a sign of their achievement. It was different, it was supposed to be kooky – they were the only people that could have this because they’d made it in life.
“And then this horrific thing happens, which makes them prisoners” she elaborates.
“I think it’s really important to Gareth to get that house right to start with.
“What happens in that house, it’s very sort of prison-like and closeting. This huge space is like a trap.”
Shooting took place last autumn and so, as is the case with most shows hitting our screens currently, there were strict Covid-19 guidelines in place for the cast and crew.
“I think we were the only production in Ireland at that time that didn’t stand down,” Sally recalls.
“I was staying in this flat in Dublin, which was lovely, but it was near St. Stephen’s place and usually, that’s where it’s all happening and it was just so weird because it was dead.
“But the amazing thing was it was the (time of the) USA election, so Trump and his shenanigans, that was my entertainment.
“That literally kept me sane, because we were so isolated; we couldn’t see each other, we couldn’t talk about the day in the bar afterwards.”
On the topic of lockdown, has
Sally picked up any new hobbies during this past year, while we’ve all been at home?
“We’re genius in finding programmes you can watch with 10-yearolds that don’t bore you senseless,” quips the mumof-two (she is married to drummer Steve White, and they have twin boys, Louie and Victor)
“So, therefore, we’ve gone through Cobra Kai. It’s basically like watching The Karate Kid again every night.” Chuckling, she adds: “Hobbies have been: trying to keep the kids sane, dog walking, trying to drag the kids out on dog walking, trying to play football with two twins when you’re rubbish.
“One of my favourite hobbies is unstacking the dishwasher and stacking it again.”
But she is grateful to have had her job during this difficult time.
“I’ve worked a lot during this lockdown, which has been bizarre, from the first voiceover day under the duvet, and then when we were allowed out, I’ve done a couple of documentaries and stuff.
“We all said that before, how lucky we are that we managed to film a drama.”
And a brilliant drama it is too.
She... realises actually, ‘I’ve got this. I’m better than all you lot’ On her ‘underestimated’ character’s evolution in Intruder
■ Intruder starts on Channel 5 on Monday at 9pm